Hi everyone.

Has anyone stayed in the Sandman hotel, Downtown Calgary in recent weeks?

We are staying there for a week in October while I go there for CPS testing.

Any advice/info about the hotel and surrounding area would be useful.

Cheers,

Gaz,

I have never stayed at the hotel, but quite a few of the business people that my husband has meetings with stay there. Sandman is a moderate hotel chain, not a high end one. From what I've heard from people who've stayed there, the downtown Sandman is fine. But, with that said, I think the rates are high for a moderate hotel. Still, that's the way things are in Calgary these days. Rates are higher on week days, when hotels are filled with business people. Rates go down a lot on weekends, especially outside of the summer tourist season.

The hotel is in the business district of downtown Calgary. Well the whole of the downtown core is the business district, of course. But the part of the downtown core where shops and restaurants are concentrated is a few blocks further east. There are, however, some restaurants in the vicinity of the Sandman.

The specific intersection that the Sandman is close to (corner of 7th Avenue and 8th Street SW) is a bit scuzzy. It has the nickname of Cocaine Corner. I don't feel unsafe there. I sometimes have occasion to catch the C-Train from the station that's located there. But it's the sort of area where I mind my own business, if you know what I mean.

It's easy to walk three or four blocks further east to reach a larger selection of restaurants, etc. However, if you don't feel like walking, you may be interested to know that use of the C-Train is free in the downtown core (along 7th Avenue South).

If you have not already stumbled on it, you may find the BE Wiki article about Calgary's neighbourhoods helpful.

Gaz, I've had another idea. You may find it more comfortable and convenient to stay in a "suite hotel." That is a hotel that provides you with an apartment (flat) rather than just a room.

In the part of downtown in which the Sandman is located there are a couple of suites hotels.

One is 5 Calgary Downtown Suites. It derives its name from its location at the corner of 5th Avenue and 5th Street SW. Its actual address is 618 - 5th Avenue SW.

You also could consider Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites at 1020 - 8th Ave SW. I've heard good things about that particular Holiday Inn. Apparently the staff are friendly and helpful.

However, of the two hotels, 5 Calgary Downtown Suites is a somewhat better location, IMO. Although the Holiday Inn is reputed to be a decent hotel, it's in that same scuzzy corridor to which "Cocaine Corner" belongs. But, again, I would not consider it to be dangerous as such.

If you want to be closer to the police headquarters, which are towards the east end of downtown, you might consider the International Hotel, which also is a suite hotel. The International Hotel is lcoated at 220 - 4th Avenue SW. It's a couple of blocks from Chinatown, where there are several good and reasonably priced restaurants.

I should mention that I don't know where Calgary Police Service tests are administered. I'm just guessing that they are administered in the main CPS building downtown.

Lots of people stay here for the CPS testing. It's apparently fine, as hotels go, and serves the purpose and is close to the various buildings you will need.
The immediate outside area is, as Judy points out, full of many of the city's less desirables - and you may have plenty of opportunities to watch from your bedroom window as your "hopefully-colleagues-to-be" deal with said peeps !

Depending on how your testing is spaced out, and how long you are staying, and what else you want to do, consider booking a couple of nights out of the city centre - which can be fairly souless in the evenings and weekends anyway. However, if you feel you have a good deal at the Sandman, it's not much effort to get out of the centre and simply use it as your base. If you haven't been here before, make sure hire a car and head out in all directions, especially westwards towards Banff and the Park for a day to two. Most of the recent UK CPS people seem to end up in Okotoks or Cochrane - go and visit to see what all the fuss is about !

Happy to stick the kettle on, by the way, just shout ! Good luck with the testing

Thanks both Judy and Ann.

Unfortunately we have already booked and paid for the hotel, so to change now would be too costly. We do have a possibility of renting a basement from a family for a week when we first arrive so that would be good to get us into the heart of community living. Hopefully this will work out for us.

Cheers.

Gaz.

We stayed there in April last year. No probs. Clean, decent facilities and staff. Nothing to complain about. The little 7/11 or whatever it is across the road seems to attract crowds but I never felt threatened when going into it.

Amusing story regarding the Sandman though. We were driving to it and coming north up 8th. The navigator said there it is on the right, so I turned right. Little did I realise at the time that turning right turned you directly onto the C-Train light rail line. Screams from the back as I drove a block up the C-Train line before being able to turn off onto a normal street again. Still, at least nothing was coming.

Just like to point out I was NOT the navigator ! However I was responsible for the Screams from the back!

Hi Talb999,

We stayed for 2 weeks in February at the Sandman Downtown, we took our 2 children with us too. We were more than happy with it for a base. It was clean and comfortable and really affordable at that time of year too. We ate there every morning for breakfast and only had 1 or 2 slight hiccups with the service (slow - typically on the days Hubby had interviews/tests!) We ate there most evenings too ( it was so cold we didn't want to drag the kids far in the eve for meals) but that said, the food was REALLY good i was trying to work my way through the whole menu and never succeeded - it gets really busy and from what i could gather lots of locals eat there too.
In terms of the C-Train it is a fantastic location and for the CPS process, location was great too, as the different sections take part in different areas as the CPS are in different locations. when you get to the airport, and if you are hiring a car, pick up as many of the maps as you can they are really detailed they had them at the hotel too..
Its a fantastic city and we were amazed that we actually spent 2 weeks there in winter and it wasnt a drag! ( would never dream of doing a city break for that long ordinarally!!!)

We drove all over whilst there and once we had got used to the grid system etc it was easy to get around ( this was our first time driving overseas!)

Don't know if you've been told but you can do a 'mock' pare at the Univercity too my husband found this a real boon and was glad he did it.

If you want any more info feel free to ask.

oh, sorry i tend to wander off a bit and waffle on .... Sandman , we had 2 nights back there in June too for a reccie we did and would gladly always stay there....


Good luck with everything

kind regards,
Tina

I know you have booked and things, but last time we were in calgary we stayed here and highly recommend it. http://www.elbowrivermanor.com/

I also recommend the bars and restaurants on 17th ave sw and 4th st sw, especially the ship and rose on 17th and wildwood grill on 4th.

Tina.

Thanks for all your great info.
We are booked to stay from 18th Oct to 2nd Nov at the moment,although we might cancel the first week and stay in someones basement in Okotoks... we're still deciding,but have asked our tour operators and wont loose much money if we alter our arrangements.
Just a quick one.. Do you know what i would have to do about arranging a mock PARE? I have been told about a bloke who works at the CPS called Don Maldoon (may be incorrect spelling) who arranges not so much a mock, but a familiarization of the circuit and equipment.. Is this bloke one in the same??

Cheers, and hope to hear from you soon.

Gaz.

Hi Gaz,

It was arranged at the University and arranged prior to travel, through a lady in the Kinesiology Dept at the Uni called Carolyn Bedford email; [email protected] the personal trainer was a chap called Rob Lang. I cant fully remember cost ( did it by card over the phone with her) about $50-$60 i think. He walked John through the course explaining all the equipment and the pitfalls etc. then you do the full course. John said he was a really great guy and at the end estimated Johns finish time etc and he was spot on !

One tip he was given by someone who had actually already done the PARE at CPS was to take one of those energy drinks and to chew gum! apparently the room it actually takes place in on the day for real is extremely dry - John said this was a really excellent tip and certainly helped him on the day too.

hope that address above is still valid any problems let me know or have a search on the Uni website it is all listed on there too. sorry i'm no wizz on computers to attach everything here for you

Anything else do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Tina