The Strathcona Hotel

My room was the tiniest hotel room I'd ever seen, which is fine because I didn't really need a big room, it was just surprisingly small and did not have a chair or anything, just the bed (which took up most of the room) and a couple tables. There was this red light in the closet that I was some mix between looking modern and making it look like a place you would take a hooker (a hooker you are paying a LOT of money but aren't planning on spending the night in the hotel afterward--actually, this is probably why the comforter was not super warm and the warm blanket was hidden in the closet where I didn't find it till my last night) It was irritating that I had to pay for Internet in my hotel, then the Internet ended up being *so slow* that it was hard to get stuff done. It was also irritating that a lot of other little amenities you would expect from a hotel room were missing (like lotion? and soft towels? the towels were kinda crummy and rough). There was also a gym next door that we got discounts on using for being a guest at the hotel, but it still cost $10 to use. In spite of all that, the service was excellent. I was impressed with the fact that basically from the time I checked in, every staff member knew which room I was in without asking every time I was down at the desk and many of them knew my name!

It's not the most feature-packed hotel I've been to. The rooms are a bit on the small size, but cozy and clean. The most stand-out feature is the location, it's close to the subway, street car, the bus, restaurants and shopping. The view from the room wasn't spectacular, but it didn't need to be. The price made it affordable in the center of downtown. Housekeeping was friendly and efficient. The front desk staff was a bit apathetic, but not rude. However, parking our rental was a problem. Had to use the municipal lot which was pricey. Some sort of enter/exit privilege or discount would have been a plus.