Edmonton
Where To Stay

add to Travel Bag (NEW)  

Whether you are in Edmonton for business or pleasure, or just stopping over—perhaps on your way north to Alaska, or west to the Rocky Mountains—you will have no difficulty finding suitable accommodations.

Since Edmonton’s biggest tourist attraction is the West Edmonton Mall, many visitors want to be as close to it as possible. Unfortunately, attraction-wise, this part of the city doesn’t have much else to offer, nor is it near the scenic river valley. So, keep in mind that many of the larger hotels throughout the city offer free courtesy shuttles to the mall (and to the airport, which is about 29 kilometers or 18 miles south of the city). Also, public transit offers express bus service to the mall, and getting there by car from anywhere in this small city is only a matter of minutes.

The West End
If you really want to spend all of your time at West Edmonton Mall, you might want to try one of the 100-plus theme rooms in the 355-room, 12-story, Fantasyland Hotel, located right in the mall. For more modest budgets, there’s the smaller West Edmonton Mall Inn, just across the street on the north side of the mall.

A number of places to stay are clustered within about a five-block radius of the intersection of Stony Plain Road and 178 Street, an easy walk or a short drive from the mall, and close to the west end’s abundance of eateries. If you are looking for executive-style comfort at moderate prices, try the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites. For clean, comfortable rooms or suites in hotels with excellent amenities, there are the Executive Royal Inn West Edmonton, Best Western Westwood Inn and West Harvest Inn. Several popular chain hotels like the Comfort Inn Edmonton and the Sandman can be found in this area as well.

The Mayfield Inn & Suites, a bit northeast of this area, is a 300+-room hotel complex that offers a host of amenities. It is known for its dinner theatre, which often features celebrities from around the globe.

Downtown
The grande dame of Edmonton hotels is the chateau-style Fairmont Hotel MacDonald, with a luxurious décor, impressive river-valley views, landscaped gardens and impeccable service. Also perched above the river valley is the architecturally interesting Crown Plaza Chateau Lacombe, a round, high-rise hotel.

The Delta Edmonton Centre Suite Hotel is located in the Eaton Centre shopping mall, so you can literally shop till you drop. And, like many of the other upscale, in-the-heart-of-downtown hotels, such as the Westin Edmonton and the Sutton Place Hotel, it is part of the pedway system that links many downtown attractions.

The more intimate, 34-room Union Bank Inn, on Jasper Avenue, offers individually furnished rooms with gas fireplaces and goose down bedding. Several well-known chain hotels like the Days Inn, the Econo Lodge Downtown, and the Holiday Inn Express, are located a block or two off Jasper Avenue. So, too, are some one-of-a-kind hotels like the Alberta Place Suite Hotel and the Signature Suites Edmonton House, which offer daily, weekly and monthly rates.

Old Strathcona
This lively part of the city only offers a few accommodations, but they are interesting ones. At the upper end of the scale is the charming, European-style Varscona Hotel, located right on Whyte Avenue. At the lower end of the scale, also on Whyte, are the Strathcona and Commercial hotels, which are Old Strathcona landmarks. They offer simple, small-town-hotel-type rooms (some with sinks only) with no extras, but you will be where the action is. If you want something that falls between these two options within easy walking distance of Old Strathcona, try the Signature Suites Campus Tower, which offers practical, apartment-style suites at reasonable prices. If you want to try something really different, there’s the Old Strathcona Hostel, run by Hostelling International. There are no age restrictions and it is considered an outstanding urban hostel.

Calgary Trail
There is a wide range of accommodations in the south part of the city, along Calgary Trail, which actually consists of two one-way streets—one northbound, the other southbound. The upper-end choices include the Coast Terrace Inn, the Delta Edmonton South Hotel & Conference Centre, and the Greenwood Inn. In the moderate range, there are such chain hotels as the Econo Lodge, the Ramada Inn, and the Super 8.

Airport
The Edmonton International Airport is technically not in Edmonton at all. It is across the highway from the industrial town of Nisku, and the city of Leduc; both places offer numerous hotels, inns and motels, all about three to seven minutes from the airport. From a tourist perspective there isn’t much in the area, but it's a fine place to get a good night's sleep between flights.

Bed & Breakfasts
If you prefer the bed and breakfast route, there are just over a dozen scattered around the city, and for the most part, they are relatively modern, private homes. Two hotel-style bed and breakfasts in historic buildings include La Boheme, in the colourful northern neighborhood of Highlands, and the Glenora Bed and Breakfast Inn, close to the Royal Alberta Museum in the quaint neighborhood of Old Glenora.