Stony Plain Inn and Suites

We had to stop unexpectedly on Christmas Eve during a complete white-out blizzard and quickly booked a night here. The front desk was welcoming, the room was clean and warm against the -25 weather, and there’s a wonderful restaurant next door. The free coffee was nice, though the caffeinated kind could have been better. They even welcomed my little dog with a doggie bag. Our one real complaint was that the key cards stopped working before checkout, locking us outside during a bathroom break for the dog in -25 C. We had to trudge through a foot of snow around the building to get back in. Once that was sorted, though, it was five stars from us.

The staff were genuinely great. I didn’t catch everyone’s names, but a very sweet staff member, I think a cleaner, helped carry all my things down to the car, which was a huge help. The front desk woman who checked me in was nice, and the man at checkout, who is a teacher, was kind and funny. I appreciated everyone we met. There were some real bright spots in the room too: the jacuzzi tub was amazing, the leather chairs were comfy for movies, the temperature was comfortable, and I liked having non-slip tub mats and two bath mats. The pool was an amazing temperature, though there was a spider on the surface that gave me the creeps, and the hot tub was out of order. The hallways smelled like an ashtray because it’s a smoking hotel. That was unpleasant on the way to the pool, and some days it was choking. We got the apartment-style suite with a king bed and jetted tub, and at first I was excited, but over the week the problems added up. The bathroom counter was badly slanted from an unrepaired break, so things rolled or fell, and the shower sprayed in every direction and needs descaling or replacing. The kitchen was one of the bigger issues since we chose the suite to cook instead of eating out. There was just one very chipped, dull knife, no scissors, and one tiny cutting board. We sharpened the knife on a plate in a pinch, but still couldn’t both prep food at once. The two non-stick pans were small and medium, with coating starting to peel, and the lids had very loose handles. The only dish scrubber was steel wool, which shouldn’t be used on non-stick, and it was covered in a strange blue powder, so we bought our own sponge. There were no dishcloths or drying rack, so we used pot holders to dry dishes. The stove wobbled, and the under-sink garbage can was barely big enough for a day or two of cooking waste. The bed was far too soft for my back pain and creaked a lot. The pillows were huge and very firm, the worst I’ve had; I ended up bunching up a blanket and would have liked thinner pillow options. The TV was extremely old, its remote didn’t match and couldn’t access the input, and the buttons on the TV were broken too. Power, input, and menu buttons behaved unpredictably, and enter either did nothing or turned it off. It took my partner over an hour to get the input switched to HDMI so we could watch movies from our laptop. I did appreciate that an HDMI cable was provided, though we’d brought one just in case. I spent just over $1,500 for the week. That’s not bad, but it would cover replacing the busted TV and getting a proper remote. I only took photos of the counter to show a friend, but I’ll include them to show what I mean.

The rooms at Stoney Plain Inn and Suites were spacious, comfortable, clean, and nicely presented. The bathroom was clean and the shower pressure was great. Laundry was well priced, and the on-site restaurant was a welcome bonus, with lovely meals and great wait staff. It was all very reasonably priced. I’d definitely stay again if I’m back this way.

My wife and I had an excellent visit with our two babies. Even though the hotel is so close to the highway, we didn’t notice the noise you might expect.