Holiday Inn Nisku

We just returned home to the Bahamas after staying at the Nisku, Edmonton Holiday Inn Express for several days. The hotel is one of the cleanest that I have ever been in. The staff were some of the friendliest I have ever encountered, as were the people of Alberta in general. I cannot fault this hotel in any way, except for the trains passing outside late at night. For me it wasn't a problem because I am a log. My wife however, is a light sleeper, and the trains for her were only somewhat bothersome.

The hotel is a bit of a distance from the actual city of Edmonton, but there is alot of shopping not very far away, north on Highway 2. One of our favourite places was the South Edmonton Common shopping center.

I think we - my wife and I - got our money's worth. We will definately stay there again, should we travel to the area again.

We just returned home to the Bahamas after staying at the Nisku, Edmonton Holiday Inn Express for several days. The hotel is one of the cleanest that I have ever been in. The staff were some of the friendliest I have ever encountered, as were the people of Alberta in general. I cannot fault this hotel in any way, except for the trains passing outside late at night. For me it wasn't a problem because I am a log. My wife however, is a light sleeper, and the trains for her were only somewhat bothersome.

The hotel is a bit of a distance from the actual city of Edmonton, but there is alot of shopping not very far away, north on Highway 2. One of our favourite places was the South Edmonton Common shopping center.

I think we - my wife and I - got our money's worth. We will definately stay there again, should we travel to the area again.

We went to the holiday inn express for one night August 11, 2007. Have to say that the place was great. Room was nice and clean, washroom in excellent shape. Service was excellent. This also had to been the best contential breakfast at a hotel that I have been too. You wouldn't have even known that the hotel was busy because it was so quiet. I would have liked to have stayed a couple more days. I would return. This hotel saved the Holiday Inn chain for me as I had a bad experience a while back and swore never to stay at another one.

Good Job!

I'm staying for 1 week at this hotel as I write this review

The hotel is situated 5 minutes from the airport by car, so if you have business in the area, it's very convenient. Otherwise, there's not much else around this area. (1/2 hr drive to shopping/dining....West Edmonton Mall)

Upon arrival, I noticed the staff look quite reserved and a bit bored.

On the way up to my room I noticed the one single very slow elevator. I suggest you take the stairs when not carrying luggage.

The halls are very cold. It was explained to me that this is because of the air exchanger they use. The carpeting in the halls looked quite dirty, so I was expecting a shaby room.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the room very clean and modern with tasteful furnishings. I was in an Executive Class King room, so there was a microwave, mini-fridge and basic cutlery, plates.

The hotel is clustered with several hotels around a railway level crossing. (odd choice of location to build hotels). Several times during the night, the train rolls through and blasts its horn. The hotel supplies earplugs for "light sleepers"

There is a small gym, pool and hot tub.

Breakfast is included, and is very basic. (think Residence Inn minus)

Conclusion:

The good:

- Well appointed clean room

- Room to room sound-proof very good

- Free high speed internet (wired)

- Comfortable bed (foam pillows though)

- Room AC and heating good

- Basic gym/pool/hot tub

- Free morning newspaper delivery (Priority club)

- Location (adjacent to airport)

The not so good

- Train noise in the night (if you are a light sleeper)

- In room coffee offerings very cheap....not even tea

- Breakfast very basic but OK for this type of hotel

- Hallways can feel very cold

- Take the stairs when possible, only 1 single elevator

- Staff often looks tired and bored

- Location (1/2 hour drive North to any decent shopping or restaurants)

It was okay but I was not overly impressed. I booked a 'Kid's Suite' thinking my daughter would enjoy it but the area was themed as sesame street/big bird and she thought it was babyish and uncool.

We received a room on the first floor that looked out at the parking lot.

Bedding was nice on the double bed, bathroom was big and everything was cleans. The kids area had bunk beds, tv with video game stuff a little play table with some toys.

Breakfast was included (Continental) and this was very nice, just off the lobby with lots of fruit, cereals, muffins, danishes coffee.

We payed 99.00 for the room, which I felt was good value.

Stayed here one night before we flew out of Edmonton. On the surface, the hotel is fine. Everything is clean and the rooms are nice. We stayed in a Kidsuite with our two children. It had a refrigerator, microwave, a bunkbed and a TV for the kids in addition to a King bed for Mom and Dad on the other side of a wall divider.

When we arrived, the halls were freezing cold but the room was fine. We explained that one of us would be getting up very early to fly out in the morning but the rest of the family would need late check out for a later flight. I scheduled a wake up call for 6 a.m.. When we got to the room the T.V. in the kids area didn't work and neither did the phone. We asked them to fix it and they did while we were at dinner. There really isn't much in the way of restaurants in the area. The clerk suggested Rosies which wasn't particularly great. When we got back, I cancelled my wake-up call since I decided I didn't want to risk waking the kids and my husband when I got up early to catch my fllight.

When we got back to our room we noticed the ear plugs in the bathroom about the same time that the first train went through. The tracks were about 75 yards from our window. We were without a doubt in the closest room you could be in to the tracks. At this point, we were unpacked and the kids were getting ready for bed. We hoped that that was the last train for the evening. Unfortunately, we were wrong and the trains came through about every two hours all night blowing their whistles loudly everytime. The room literally shook. The kids were up and exhausted. I was awake and exhausted. Finally, I heard the last train at about 3:30 a.m. and caught a few hours of sleep before getting up at 5:50. At 6:00 a.m., the wake-up call I'd cancelled came and re-woke up everyone in the family AGAIN. When I went out to catch the shuttle, I complained to the front desk clerk about the wake up call I'd cancelled and she looked it up and realized that although they'd crossed it out in their book, they forgot to cancel the computer code. Just a shrug and a sorry. Then I asked what they were thinking putting a family with little kids in right next to the tracks when she admitted there were other kidsuites in the building that were farther away from the tracks. Another shrug. When we checked in, I specifically told the clerk our situation, young kids going home with dad on a later flight so they could sleep in and enjoy the pool, I had to leave early to go to work that afternoon. Still, they failed to fix the wakeup call and put us in a Kidsuite that was sure to keep us up all night. I filled out a survey afterwards that was sent by the manager and never heard anything back. Nice facilities if you are a train buff, but the service is really lacking!