Room which was too noisy

While the Hotel Macdonald still has a lot of old world style hotel elegance, it includes one of the worst rooms I've ever stayed in for its noise. The room was quite small and the bed was located fairly close to the door. There seemed to be an excessively large gap between the bottom of the door and the floor which allowed in all the noise from the hallway including the noise of the nearby elevator. A drunken group in the hallway was so loud, I woke up thinking they were trying to get into my room. Unfortunately, I could not be bothered to do anything about the room or the noisy revellers since my sleep had already been disturbed.

I would recommend checking your room to ensure you don't get a similar room with a huge gap under the door with the bed too close to the door. You will want to ask for a different room before you get awakened in the middle of the night.

Hotel Mac - Wedding Night til Now!

My wife and I are currently both Fairmont President's Club Platinum members, so when it comes to Fairmont hotels our expectations are quite high.

Our very first stay at the 'Mac' was on our wedding night. We booked an executive suite for just over $400 with everything included on June 29th, 2002 (July long weekend). We didn't know at the time breakfast was included with suite bookings at no charge.. but we slept in so late that we would have missed breakfast anyway.

A personal family story... One of my wife's first cousin and his bride went to the 'Mac' on their wedding night as well. They received the key and proceeded up to their room. Having entered the room, they discovered a hockey player and bride, on (their wedding night too!) residing in the same room (key shouldn't have worked). After contacting hotel staff, they proceeded to remove this Edmonton Oiler couple out of their room. The same fruit basket in the room was presented to my wife's first cousin and his wife. They didn't even bother to change the used up fruit basket? If I was one of the staff, I would have kept the Edmonton Oiler couple in the suite (after all its' their wedding night), and get another room for my wife's first cousin and wife. Bottom line, it seems like wedding couples on wedding nights have their hits and misses. I'd just about fell off my chair when their family told me the story, because we attended their wedding and found out the next day at their gift opening.

Well.. why the 5 stars for this hotel? The last couple of times, the hotel managed to book us the exact same river view executive suite we enjoyed on our wedding night for a vastly reduced price with the President's Club Program. We stayed the last time on their Easter special for $129/night for a fairmont room, and were upgraded to the river view executive suite that carries so many of our life memories. We were able to enjoy complimentary breakfasts each and every morning of our stays as well (about a $45 value with tax and tip). Hey, as long as it makes my wife happy, I'm in..

Service is nothing short of exceptional - complimentary cheese/biscuit/fruit basket amenity is included, as well as internet connection, over night shoe and boot shines, turn down service, etc (most services included if you are president's club member, and its' free to sign up). We've stayed a total of 4 times so far at Hotel MacDonald and will likely stay at the 'Mac' in the near future.

Always Exceptional

I stay at this hotel about 4 times per year. The service in this hotel is second to none. The decor is fabulous, beds are like a cloud, dining is amazing... truly a five star hotel. I had an issue only once, and it was quickly remidied to my satisfaction, with more than adequite compensation for my inconvenience. My number one choice in Edmonton.

Wedding Night Fiasco

We booked our wedding night stay approx. 6 months in advance, paid cash, and received a confirmation #. When we arrived on our wedding night, we had to wait approximately 20 mins outside for a valet, and were treated like nothing special, even though we arrived as bride and groom in our attire. We went up to our room (finally), and realized this was not the river view suite we had reserved and paid for - this was a tiny room overlooking Jasper Avenue. No robes as promised, no strawberries, etc. We called down to the front desk to sort this out, only to be told that they were too busy at the moment and could they call us back. We sat there in my dress and his tux on our wedding night waiting. They eventually called us back only to be told that nothing could be done that night, but if we wished we could come down to the lobby in the morning and speak to the day manager. We were very upset abd by this time it was almost 2:00am. We went down in the morning to discuss this, and they claimed there had never been a reservation. We provided them with the confirmation number, and, to their credit, invited us back as guests in a luxury suite for a Sunday night on the top floor. So, they really put a dimmer on our wedding night which is a hard memory to replace, but sort of made up for it the next night. Hit and miss I guess!

Fairmont exceeded all expectations!

Was totally impressed with the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald during a recent business trip. Was greeted by name at the front door (the doorman must have read my luggage tags - I was impressed!) Staff went above and beyond at every opportunity. Very friendlly and professional. The hotel itself is amazing - like staying in a castle - beautiful decor - very tastefully decorated and spotless. Fairmont has the best high-speed internet service I have ever used at a hotel - and it's free if you are an elite member of their frequent guest program (only 5 stays required to earn elite status) or 9.95 CAD per day. One of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on - Simmons pillowtop mattress with comfy down pillows & duvet. Room service was incredibly fast.. and delicious. Way to go Fairmont! I'll be back!

Fastest Room Service Ever

We have stayed at the Hotel Macdonald twice and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I am sorry about all of the complaints from the newlyweds, but when they host several weddings a day (there were SIX last Saturday during our stay), it must be hard to keep up with all of them. Like all of the Canadian Fairmont Hotels, The Hotel Macdonald's staff has always been very accommodating and friendly, and the room service was the fastest of any hotel I have ever stayed in: 4 minutes for morning coffee and juice! The location is superb and the river views lovely. This time I was delighted to arrive to homemade cookies in our room. I really do not know what all of the complaints are about, but I would recommend this hotel to anyone any day.

Beautiful hotel. Lame city.

Beautiful hotel. Next to the river. Rooms are nice with a view of the river, but furnitures were exceptional. Nice restaurants are bars and a terrace overlooking the river. Service did not make an impression. The city is lame though. We stayed there for 3 nights for a conference in Aug 02. Prices was about $170/night. Perhaps cheaper than average because of the conference special. I will stay here again if I ever visit Edmonton again.

Might as well stayed at a cheapy

Stayed here for my wedding night, was wearing my bridal gown when I checked in with my husband who was in a tux. Staff didn't bother to acknowledge that HELLO, we are newlyweds, that we just got married, that we forked over $300 for a small room with nothing extra special.

Below average service.

I didn't let one bad experience ruin this fantastic hotel for me.

The first time I stayed at "the Mac," in October 1998, I had a terrible experience. The woman who checked us in was incredibly rude to us on all counts, automatically assuming that my friends and I were going to be trouble because we were in our early twenties, threatening to send security up at any provocation. Thankfully, we were busy shopping and visiting friends, so we didn't have to spend much time there. Well, the next visit made up for it. The front desk agent was fantastic and I was able to check into my room at 10am - quite a few hours before check in time. They weren't full so I was given an upgraded room overlooking the Saskatchewan River and the room attendants and servers were nothing less than fabulous. Fairmont tends to be a hit or miss and overpriced but this one's a gem.

Beautiful Room, Average Service

My new husband and I spent our honeymoon night at what I had heard was once of Edmonton's luxury hotels - and it was - the room was beautiful, the view over the river in March was a delight. BUT, I would not rank that one special night of our lives as a night to remember. Although we arrived in our finery, there was no acknowledgement of our special day and night - ok so we didnt book the honeymoon suite but we still paid over $300 for a suite - no breakfast, no bed turndown, no chocolates on the pillow AND when we attempted to depart in the morning the valet had flooded our car, so we spent a few hours wandering the city until we were able to restart it ourselves. Definitely an experience but one we would not repeat for the price we paid.