Sawridge Inn & Conference Centre Edmonton South

After nearly an hour of moving between rooms and the front desk with our luggage, a new hire finally helped us get a normal room that matched the reservation. By then my child was tired and sleepy, and I was physically and mentally exhausted. I've stayed here often and have never experienced service this chaotic, evasive, and lacking empathy. This happened on March 8th, Sunday, around 7 PM. I had booked through the platform and arrived with my exhausted child after a skiing competition. The male front desk employee gave us a key that didn't work. When I returned, he was on the phone, and I waited nearly five minutes. Another staff member offered to open the door, but he refused to let them help and insisted on handling it himself, without fixing the problem. He reactivated the key, but the door still wouldn't open. He moved us to a second room that hadn't been cleaned and was in very poor condition, then to a third-floor room partitioned by a wall. It felt cramped and wasn't the room type I'd booked. We had to keep going back and forth with our bags. The new employee went to the desk and eventually got us a suitable room. I have to wonder whether the employee was racially discriminatory or deliberately obstructive. He knew there were problems with the invalid key, the unclean room, and the wrong room type, yet continued making arrangements without showing remorse and even stopped colleagues from helping. It wasted a lot of our time and went against basic hotel service. This stay left me very disappointed and angry on International Women's Day, and badly damaged my trust in the hotel.

The guests in the room below partied and smoked on their balcony into the early hours, and somehow the smoke got into our room. We also found no conditioner in the bathroom, and the desk told us they didn't have any. There was just one roll of toilet paper, so we had to pick up another at reception. We checked in around 9:45 pm after our flight. The lounge was listed as open until 10:30, but when we came down at 10:10 it was already closed. Our fridge stopped working, and the front desk said no maintenance person was on duty. They offered to move us, which wasn't convenient, and replaced the fridge the next day. I couldn't stay for the replacement, so I put our things away in the drawers, including a package with 2 locally made dreamcatchers. When we unpacked at home, one was missing. I called to report that it had been taken. They said they'd check lost and found. I explained again that I hadn't lost it, someone had removed it from the package stored in a drawer, and was told the Housekeeping Manager would call. A week later, nobody had. Next time I'll stay at the Holiday Inn across the street.

The staff were friendly, the room was a nice size, and we enjoyed the food and drinks at happy hour. The bed was okay. But while packing the next morning, I dropped a charger block beside the TV stand. Reaching for it, I felt something else and picked it up too. It looked like the stem of a meth pipe. I dropped it straight into the trash and washed my hands. The rooms aren't as clean as you'd think.

The room was clean and comfortable, and I'd definitely stay here again. I was there for two nights and both were great. Check-in and checkout were quick and easy, and the front desk staff were very helpful. On the second night, I stopped by the onsite restaurant for a drink before heading to a show, and the staff member there was friendly and helpful too. I didn't see housekeeping that second day, but I was told in advance they wouldn't be coming. They said to let the front desk know if I needed anything, and they'd send it up.