During my recent trip to Canada, I had a one-night layover in Calgary. After considering some of the many different hotels that can be found around the airport, I ultimately decided to book one of the few different Holiday Inns around the airport, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary. Instead of paying the 162 CAD cash rate, I redeemed 20,000 IHG points for the night.
While I chose it because of its proximity to plane spotting locations, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose it even if I was just looking for a place to stay near the airport.
Continue reading this review to see what the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary was like.
Getting to the Hotel – Airport Shuttle
The hotel is located on the southern side of Calgary Airport, about a ten-minute drive away.
In case you do not have a car, the best way to get to the hotel is using the hotel’s free shuttle. Just keep in mind that you can only do so once from the airport and once to the airport during your stay.
On the way from the airport to the hotel, I was told to take any of the cabs waiting in front of the terminal. I was also instructed not to pay the driver and instead ask the driver to go to the hotel’s reception to get a voucher. It was my first time experiencing this type of airport “shuttle” and, naturally, I really liked it as I didn’t have to wait for a shuttle bus to show up.
In case you are wondering, the ride from the airport would have been about 25 CAD if I had to pay for it.
On the way from the hotel to the airport, there is an actual shuttle that runs every 30 minutes. I took the one leaving the hotel at 7AM – there were two other passengers onboard the seven-seater.
Check-in & Lobby
At the front desk, I was welcomed by a nice receptionist who checked me in smoothly. Once I had the room key in my hand, she also explained when breakfast was available and booked the next morning’s shuttle to the airport for me.
In addition to the front desk, there was also seating in the form of a couple of sofas and sofa chairs and a counter with bar-height chairs.
Additionally, in a corner near the hotel’s entrance was a desk with a computer. I didn’t see a printer there, though.
The ground floor was also home to a breakfast room, gym and pool, and a few other facilities but more about those later. There were some rooms on the ground floor too.
Guest Room
I was assigned room 402 at the end of the hallway on the top, fourth floor. While I am an IHG Diamond Elite member, I wasn’t offered an upgrade since the hotel only has one room type.
The hallway, while nothing to write home about, looked nicer than many other more sterile-looking hallways at similar hotels.
Entering the room, I was surprised to find the air conditioner set to 16 degrees Celsius. As such, I first turned the air conditioner off and then explored the rest of the room.
Past the entrance, on the left side was a wall-mounted mirror. On the right side was a bathroom.
The bathroom was simple but sufficient. In addition to a sink and a toilet, there was a bathtub with a wall-mounted shower head.
Amenities were limited to large bottles of Dove hand wash and body lotion mounted next to the sink and of Dove body wash and conditioner and J. R. Watkins shampoo mounted above the bathtub.
Going back into the room, next to the bathroom entrance was a small kitchen counter. While there was no cooktop, there was a small refrigerator, a coffee machine, a sink, and a microwave oven.
There were also three coffee capsules and some tea bags (there were both decaf coffee and tea too which I thought was nice).
The centerpiece of the main part of the room were two comfortable queen-size beds with a nightstand between them.
The nightstand was home to a phone and an alarm clock which was showing completely wrong time (not ideal for an airport property or in general). Above it were power outlets and USB charging ports, as well as reading lights.
Across from the bed was a closet with an iron inside it, a luggage rack, a relatively large TV, and a work desk.
The office chair behind the desk was comfortable. There were also plenty of power outlets and USB charging ports in the work area.
Lastly, in the far right corner of the room, by the window, was a sofa chair with an ottoman and a reading light.
In addition to the hotel’s parking lot and some of the nearby hotels, Calgary Airport could be seen in the distance from the room’s window.
Breakfast
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary served a complimentary buffet breakfast between 6:30AM and 9:30AM on the day of my checkout. The breakfast was served in the breakfast room next to the reception. On weekend mornings, breakfast is served from 7AM until 10AM.
As for the breakfast offering itself, starting with drinks, there was a dispenser with apple juice, orange juice, lemonade, and water.
There was also a tea and coffee corner.
Sweet items included a selection of cereals, oatmeal, and whole fruits.
There were also cinnamon rolls and yogurts.
Additionally, there were sliced bread, bagels, and muffins.
There was a pancake maker too.
Lastly, there were sausages, baked beans, omelets, and boiled eggs (those were in the same refrigerator as yogurts).
One last thing worth noting is that the plates were paper and utensils plastic.
Dining
There were no restaurants (other than the breakfast room) at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary. That said, there was a vending machine selling a variety of snacks.
Vending machines selling drinks were all out of order and instead pointed people to “Front Desk Market.”
In addition to (mostly canned) drinks, sweet and salty snacks, ice cream, and cup noodles were available in the store at the front desk.
While none were at the hotel itself, some restaurants and cafes were within walking distance of the hotel.
For example, there was Chop Steakhouse next door and there was a Tim Hortons about a ten-minute walk away.
Gym, Pool & Other Facilities
On the ground floor, down a hallway behind the reception were the hotel’s gym and pool.
The gym was relatively small. That said, there was a decent selection of weight and cardio equipment.
The pool area included a swimming pool, a hot tub, and even a waterslide. There were also some seats and sunbeds.
Lastly, along the same hallway that led to the pool and gym was also a coin laundry.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary Summary
In my case, I really enjoyed my stay at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airport-Calgary due to its proximity to the airport perimeter and the ability to do some plane spotting within walking distance.
Even if it wasn’t for that, though, the hotel would have been a perfectly fine place to stay at prior to a morning flight out of Calgary Airport. The room was fairly large, the breakfast buffet was decent, and the hotel had all the facilities one could expect at this category of hotel. The airport-to-hotel shuttle in the form of a cab was a very welcome addition.
That said, there are plenty of other similar hotels around the airport too, so if I wasn’t using points or looking to do plane spotting, I would probably just choose the simple option with a free shuttle.
