Varscona Hotel on Whyte

What a terrible experience. I had my wedding ceremony at the Varscona on June 3rd, and choosing this venue is forever going to be the only stain on my wedding day. I could not regret it more. First of all, they had told me I would get free parking in their parkade for myself and all wedding guests. However when I arrived, the parkade was full. After some phone calls and lots of waiting around, I was directed into some locked parking area that would mean my car would not be accessible to me at my convenience and I would need to request to use a shared fob, and return it each time. Also, I had booked two adjoining hotel suites for the groom and I a couple months in advance. I had also selected the option to check in early at 10am for both of us for an additional fee. Obviously the timing of everything is critical on the morning of your wedding so I was surprised and extremely disappointed when I had arrived to check in at 1030 and was told our rooms were not ready, and that we would not be able to have adjoining suites even though this request had been approved months prior. If I had known this would not be possible for my wedding day, I would have chosen a different hotel. What is the point of booking ahead and making plans if your venue won't hold up their end! And at the same time as this, I had members of my family, wedding party, and hired decorators arriving and had to worry about parking for all of them. So of course we had delays in getting our entire wedding party ready because of this. Not to mention, I had to spend a good part of my morning phoning hotel staff and speaking with managers instead of enjoying the most important day of my life, making memories with my friends, and taking photos of ourselves getting ready. The Varscona hotel just added huge stress and nothing but negativity. The front desk staff and the hotel manager were lacking customer service skills, and did not seem sorry, but rather just treated me as if I was burdening them by informing them of the many problems they had caused. When they were finally able to find us a two rooms on the same floor, I was only offered to have a reduced rate on one of the rooms...and was told in a way that sounded like management was doing me a huge favour. And there was only one elevator, which is very old and slow. When it was time to get downstairs to walk down the aisle I was waiting for the elevator for about ten minutes...this is only a minor thing, but it's just one more thing to add to the whole experience. Getting access to my car after checking out the next day was a huge pain, and I had to wait by the front desk with my luggage for 20+ minutes before I could finally leave. I had told the desk staff that I had the worst experience ever and thought that I should not have to pay for the rooms, and the front desk staff just tried to assure me that getting a discount on one of my rooms should be good enough but I insisted she call the manager again right then and there. When they finally decided to not charge me for the rooms, I left. However the charge showed up on my credit card that day, and is still there four days later... I expect this is yet another error and will be following up with them if the charge is not refunded by the end of the week. I can't even believe how many things went wrong. So ridiculous.

I stayed here 8 months ago, it was different, not sure what happened, stayed again May 2023, breakfast was not included like last visit, we paid for breakfast Sat/Sun, and without any warning, the restaurant was closed all week for renovation. They gave out unhealthy boxed breakfast, no thanks. Hotel looked and felt dirty, the parking garage to the hotel entrance reeked of urine. Tweakers and homeless were everywhere, noisy, people yelling at all hours of the night, motorcycles racing up and down Whyte Ave, windows are single pane. The door to the fitness room slammed constantly, ice machine is in the same room...weird. Keurig machine leaked, mentioned to the front desk but nothing was done. The gal that checked us out barely said a word to us. Microwaves are in some rooms and need to be requested. Hotel is way over priced for what they offer, especially Friday/ Saturday rate. Most staff looked unhappy and not helpful. Will not return.

Our experience has really been lovely. Sheet are clean and fresh. Beds are soft but firm. We don’t much care for the design of the shower but it does look good, but water seems to leak onto the floor while showering. Very pretty rooms.The only big negative is the sounds from the street on the weekends. It’s not the hotels fault though. We would definitely stay here again. Maybe bring ear plugs?

We stayed at the Varscona for 23 days with expectation of once a week room cleaning. You would think that one cleaning per week would ensure adequate towels, toiletries, bed changing, and sink and toilet cleaned but this did not happen. Our floors were not vacuumed or bathroom cleaned for 23 days. There was a huge language barrier with housekeepers. The beds were very comfortable but pillows were awful. There were yellow stains on the sheets, comforters, and towels but were clean. Just gives you a dirty feeling when you see that. The temperature in the room was only heat, heat, and heat. Even opening the windows didn't make a difference with air quality at all. The outside noise on the weekends was very disturbing. People hollering from the bar on Whyte Street. Homeless people loitering in the underground parking area. This hotel is very rundown including rooms, and building. Carpets were disgusting. Very dumpy. Staff not trained properly. During checkout staff wanted to charge us for breakfast vouchers that we didn't even use. Adrian did fix this for us. Four staff members would ask you for these vouchers every morning. We only stayed at the Varscona for convenience purposes. We will not stay there again. We are now at the best western in St. Albert for one night, a quality hotel. A welcome package was ready for us when we checked in. Plush rooms and service is phenomenal so far.

A nice boutique hotel in the heart of Whyte Avenue. Close to shops, restaurants and bars. My room was comfortable and spacious, well decorated. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. I had a great sleep.

Place is run down. Bed was pretty comfortable. Rooms are clean. Common areas are trash. Ripped and faded carpets. Duct tape on doors. Every stairwell smells like urine. Location is amazing and I would stay here again if they renovate, which I can only assume is going to be real soon. Every staff member I interacted with was great!

Great nite stay, very cumphy room with coffee. The pillows were nice. Great spot to go to the Irish bar downstairs. They have good secure parking also. Thanks April.

My stay at the Varscona Hotel can be described as disappointing at best and I would not recommend you waste your money. The hotel does not have secure parking. Parking is in an insecure impark with no gate and no camera. While parked in the hotel parking my back window was smashed and items were stolen out of the covered back of my SUV. The hotel response was basically can't help you.The noise emanating from the street kept us up until 2 am. The rooms are not sound proof and we could clearly hear people on the street being raucous , vehicles, and motor bikes like the noise was in the room with us and we were a number of floors up.We spent our honeymoon night there and it was a horrible experience. It was not romantic or quiet. It was loud and unsafe as it is next to a pub with insecure parking. My items in my vehicle were secured and hidden in my vehicle. The area is frequented by young and intoxicated people. I would highly discourage people from staying there unless you don't want to sleep and want to gamble with your vehicle being vandalized.

Fantastic location. Whyte avenue may be the most fun street in Alberta, and I am a Calgary man, typically biased against Edmonton but you cannot deny how fun this street is. The hotel itself is awesome too. Great price and everything was clean and well taken care of despite being a cool older building. I guess I wish there was a pool. Maybe they'll build one someday.

Attended a work meeting here in their conference room. The room was kinda small for how many tables they tried to squeeze into the front. Otherwise, It was pretty nice.Food at these types of hotels can be mixed, but the food served was very high quality and tasted amazing. I wish I had gotten up for seconds.If your meeting is for a small ish group of like 15-30 would recommend.