Sandman Hotel Calgary City Centre

I stayed at the Sandman on business for a week. The hotel itself is nice and the staff is friendly. The coffee maker in my room was pretty gross, but it was quickly replaced after I informed the front desk. The location is convenient: right next to the light rail station, so it’s easy to get around.
I’m a little irritated and am leaving a bad rating because some money was stolen from my suitcase. I keep a resealable plastic bag in my suitcase with quarters specifically for laundry. The bag had a couple of dollars in loose quarters, plus an unopened $ 10 roll of quarters. On my second to last day at the hotel, the $ 10 roll was taken sometime after I left for the day. Most of my clothes were hanging in the closet or folded in the chest of drawers, so it would have been pretty easy for the housekeeping staff (or whoever) to open my suitcase and find the quarters. I feel a little violated that they went through my suitcase and irritated that they helped themselves to my money.
While I was staying there, another guest mentioned in the elevator that a man broke into her room and stole $ 200. The man was seen leaving, but they were unable to catch him.
The rooms are not provided with safes. If you stay at this hotel, be sure to take your valuables with you!

Booked this hotel through
and was able to book a great rate with one of their sales. The hotel was a great location to walk to and from pubs downtown and was right across the street from the 8^th Ave station to hop on the C-​train to get around easily. There were also coffee shops nearby and a Moxies right in the hotel itself. The room was clean and comfortable, although the bathroom was quite small. Staff were friendly and accommodating, and the $ 5 underground parking was very reasonable. Would definitely consider staying again if the price was right.

They can’t seem to ever get their wifi to work. Even after calling Tech Support. Goes in and out, and I’m talking about it working for maybe a few seconds to a minute then it stops working. Still shows you are logged on until it actually logs you out, which then takes forever and a year to sign back on. I’ve been trying for 10 minutes to post this. And probably longer when it actually does. It’s one thing to be on a plane and not get wifi but on the ground is another, it should work. Period.

This hotel is horrible! Plan and simple. Internet is slow as molasses and it is advertised as high speed. Parking for any car bigger than a compact is $ 35 and it is outside of hotel area in a shady parking lot. When you turn the shower on it sounds like an earthquake is happening. Just don’t stay here!

We stayed two nights at the sandman when in town for business. This place is a bit shabby around the edges, but served a purpose. The staff at front desk are nice enough, the elevators are finicky, and the rooms are fine. I didn’t love the overfirmness of the bed or how running both an iron and a hair dryer — on separate outlets — kicked out the breaker.
There are a lot of things that could make the sandman slightly better; water pressure improvements, replace the peeling bathroom wallpaper and giving everything a much needed facelift.
I don’t think I’d pick this place again, unless I am in a pinch for a place on short notice (as was the case with this stay).

Alright, if nothing else available. Decent location downtown but very tired and outdated rooms. Not at all like other Sandman locations. Needs a major overhaul and then I’ll be back

My company has been sending me here every other month for a few years. As lodging it is quite serviceable. The rooms are clean, comfortable, and in good condition. Some might find the lack of bathroom counter space or particularly firm bed objectionable, I was no fan of the lack of electrical outlets near the end tables.
But what really hurts this place is the abominably poor WiFi. Don’t plan on using the internet if you stay here. During off-​peak hours it is slow and barely usable for basics like e-​mail, but during peak hours it becomes difficult to impossible to even connect, or to stay connected once on. WiFi is best in the corner rooms. In the central rooms it can be flat out impossible to connect.

I don’t know what we paid for this as it was part of a package, but probably too much.
We booked this months ago and specified that we have a twin room, so they gave us a room with one bed. When I queried it they said it was first come first served and they had nothing else. They then gave us a king and a pull out sofa. The sofa bed is like sleeping on a bag of shrapnel from World War I.
Also, they have a pool, although it’s more like a paddling pool and pretty useless.
There’s no hot water in the sink, just luke warm.
The wifi is super slow and just painful at times.
The only reason it got 1 star is because it was actually clean.

Don’t stay here if you need to use the Internet. I have been here multiple times over the last couple years and the Internet disconnects and is painfully slow. If you want to even send an email out from your room, good chance you won’t be able to. This has been a problem for years and they have not addressed this problem in any way shape or form.

The Sandman Hotel gets a big «meh» from me. It’s an okay hotel, totally fine, a roof above your head, you know, but nothing on top of that. It was a disappointment for the amount of money I spent.
Yes, there’s an exercise room, but there’s no water in the water cooler and the alcohol-​wipes dispenser is empty. Yes, there are gym showers you can use, but the hot water doesn’t work. Yes, those are plants around the pool, but oops, they’re fake. Sure, there’s a hot tub, but argh, I wish the jets worked! You get the idea.
There were three sad holes on the back of my bathroom door where there once was a towelholder. Without giving you TMI, let’s just say there was also a space/​comfort issue between the tub, the toilet, and the bathroom door.

Desperately need to stay down town and everything else is booked, then I guess you could go here.
Small rooms and even smaller bathrooms that have ancient air conditioners and smell like cigarette smoke. It was very clean though and the bed and pillows were nice.
I wouldn’t go back unless I desperately needed to stay down town. Especially at the price they make you pay.

Don’t know what the other guest are talking about. The rooms are big, spacious and very little noise. Guess there just picky people and can’t be helped. I think this is a perfect place to stay. Right in the middle do downtown. Can’t beat it.

Warning — This is a truly awful place to stay. My wife and 2 sons were very excited to visit the Calgary Stampede for the first time. A friend of mine made the hotel reservations based mainly on the proximity of the hotel to he light rail line. Truthfully the ONLY good thing going for this sub-​standard hotel is its location. The rooms are old, small and cramped. The bathroom is so tiny that you cannot open the door if anyone is in the bathroom. The air conditioner in the room is so loud you have to decide which is worse: stuffy, hot accomdations or the loud noise from the cooling unit. The wireless internet may be free but that’s because it is so slow and unreliable there is no way on Earth anyone in their right mind could charge for it. Download speeds average 0.09 mbps!!! When I called hotel services I was transfered to their IT department. The technician told me that 20 people were online so I had better wait until midnight when most would be sleeping! The elevators work sporadically. Today all 4 elevators didn’t function for a quarter of an hour. Also the magnetic room keys stop working after their 2^nd use. I never keep my keys near a cell phone or credit cards… and all the other guests I spoke to described the same problems. I have stayed in motels in 3^rd world countries that were far superior to this miserable dump!

My stay at the Sandman City Centre was merely OK. The first night we got here (some colleagues and I were attending a conference in Calgary) the hotel had a water main break and we were shipped off to the south location for the night. In retrospect this was a good thing, as the south location was a much nicer hotel, but it was kind of a hassle. The Sandman paid our cab fare and other than some wasted time there were no issues with the relocation.
The next night we were back at the City Centre location. The first night we were back, there was a scheduled power outage from 12 am to 4 am. I wish they had told us this at the south location (we did ask if everything was A-​OK at the other location before checking out and hauling our luggage across town). Not wanting to go back and forth (we had to be at the conference early the next day) we stayed in the room despite the power outage.
Compared to the south location, the room was in dire need of an update. I don’t really care much about décor, but when wallpaper is peeling, the lights won’t turn on, the heater doesn’t work and the bathroom hardly gives you room to move around, I get a bit annoyed. Lucky for us, the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and maintenance arrived at our room quickly after we voiced our complaints.
I will also note that there was no fan in the bathroom — when my room mate took a shower her shampoo /​conditioner /​etc fragrance filled up the entire hotel room and it was difficult to breathe (I don’t use overly fragranced products on my body and I’m not used to the smell). The room also got really humid and too hot whenever one of us took a shower. So if you’re picky about that kind of thing, you might want to go elsewhere.
The wi-​fi was spotty and it was a nuisance performing simple tasks like checking e-​mail. It really depended when you logged in – during the day it wasn’t as difficult to get online, but in the evening the ‘net would slow to a halt.
Oh, and bring ear plugs if you’re a light sleeper, because even from the 12^th floor, you can hear everything going on outside.
This is one of the cheaper options for hotels in the downtown area, so it does have its merits. And it’s right beside the train route, so commuting from here is easy. If I was spending the money on the room myself, though, I don’t know if this would be my first choice.

Friendly staff and nice location don’t make up for a room that is no more than adequate. The room looks just like the photo. If you’re in Calgary with a restricted budget and aren’t planning on spending much time in your room, it is a decent place to stay and more economical than the Sandman’s newer competitors.

I stayed here a really hectic trip which had me fly to San Francisco and Calgary in 2 days, with long meetings in each city. I reached the hotel late at night, and was quickly checked in. The room was ok. It was clean, decent sized. Nothing to create the wow factor. In fact updating the bathroom is highly recommended. Complimentary wi-​fi and coffee in the room, but no water bottle to make the coffee

Great downtown location– right in the heart of it all! Plenty to do nearby, and lots of neat sculptures and art to look at!
I see the other mediocre reviews, but I think this place is pretty nice. The view from any room is great– especially at night! The surrounding buildings all have really neat lights. My room both times I’ve stayed here was on the corner so I had two walls of windows– really nice! The rooms are nice enough and I have not noticed any cleanliness issues. Pretty nice tv and desk area. I found the beds to be comfortable enough. The bathroom is VERY tiny, but does seem clean. The toiletries smell very good and seem high-​end. I also like the separate kitchenette room– microwave, fridge, sink, and toaster! Plus dish soap and scrubbies! I appreciate things like that when I am traveling!
I’ve used the gym a few times– it’s nice enough. Water cooler and stack of towels in there are appreciated. I think the hotel restaurant, Moxie’s, is overpriced when you are within walking distance of many decent restaurants. If it were too cold or raining, I might just eat here, though.
The C-​train is right in front of the hotel and can be loud throughout the night, as it comes by every 5 minutes. It is convenient as this section is Free, so if you walk too far for dinner and are too tired to walk back, C-train’ll give you a free ride back to the hotel! :o)

Well the one good thing is it’s downtown. That’s where it ends. The beds are like cardboard covered rock, the bathrooms are in dire need of updating or regrouting and the water pressure is awful. Will never stay there again.
Keep your money and sleep in your vehicle

Economical business hotel in downtown Calgary. If you need to be there but all the other nicer downtown hotels are booked, this will make do for a night. $ 129/​night (Internet reservation) was not bad at all and there was free Internet in the rooms. Rooms were rather small but not too annoying. Moxie’s restaurant downstairs is pretty decent too. Parking is underneath the hotel and a slight pain — you can’t park in the many reserved spots and the spots are pretty narrow in general. Safer to get around by driving at night versus walking around the rather empty streets at night.
Bottom line: DId the job as I needed a place right in downtown and was reasonably priced but probably won’t stay here again unless I had to. The Marriott and Westin — this place ain’t.

If you are on a budget but don’t want to stay in a hotel that you can risk getting a communicable disease, then the Sandman is the place for you!
I stay here quite often when I am in Calgary working and it’s not too shabby. It’s right downtown, the train is right outside the hotel so it’s super convenient to get around the city. they have a Moxie’s restaurant in the lobby, which delivers room service and they have a pool/​gym…
The rooms are typical of a mid class hotel. picture burgundy carpet and forest green bed covers… you get all the usual suspects. iron, hair dryer… ice bucket. free wire​less​.no mini bar though… they loose points for that for sure!
Service is decent. I have no complaints about them… Moxie’s service is hit and miss. be prepared to wait for your food and for the order to sometimes be wrong… but they always offer a free beverage or dessert when they screw up!
To sum it up… not the Hilton but better then a HoJo