The St. Regis Hotel

Wow!! From the moment we made the reservation, they exceeded our expectations. We were able to check in early (almost unheard of), the room was perfect! Even a hand written note to welcome us. Exceptional clean and tasteful rooms! Breakfast was fresh and hot every morning!! Front desk attendees were kind, helpful and super accommodating. A bit noisy from the street at night, but it is a downtown hotel so it should be expected. We will definitely stay with them again! Top notch everything!!!

The last time I was aware of the Regis was in the 1990s, when it was a place to avoid. The hotel's current potted history skims past the 1980s and 90s, when like so many of western Canada's historic hotels, it was a den of iniquity. 30 years on I was delighted to take my wife there, after its major renovation and herculean clean-out. The place is appointed to a high standard and the staff were almost all exceptional. Our bed was very comfy, our shower warm and consistent, and the furniture in our 'junior suite' was stylish. All that said it was a bit cramped, and the people-walking-about floorboard noise from the floor above was almost continuous. We abandoned the included breakfast on the second day because the short-handed staff was overwhelmed, and struggled first to seat us (which after a spell we did ourselves), and then to serve us (we gave up after 20 minutes). But on the days we did have breakfast, the omelettes were thick and tasty, and the coffee hot and not bitter. Finally, you can renovate the neighbourhood out of the hotel, but you cannot renovate the hotel out of the neighborhood. The Regis remains on the edge of one of the world's worst urban drug-users-and-vagrants zones. When you go out the front door, be sure to turn left. Danger lurks as close as the 7-11 kitty corner to the right.

This is not THE St Regis, but “a” hotel named the St Regis not affiliated with the luxury hotel brand. Before I begin, let me just say that the hotel staff was very kind. Now, the downside: 1. I had to step over a homeless drug addict picking their scabs to enter the hotel. Are you kidding? Literally, the dude was laying in the main entrance doorway. You’d think they could have someone in the evening kindly redirecting this sort of behavior. When I brought this to the attention of an employee the next morning, his response “what occurs outside of those doors is beyond my control.” BS! It was technically on your property and a safety risk to guests. Sidewalk? Sure, that answer sucks but makes sense. Your actual doorway? No dude. You can’t have that. 2. The property is loud. Very, very loud. Our room faced the street and when we requested to move, the hotel accommodated. Then we were moved to a room with exceptionally low shower pressure. Good times. 3. The smell! We walked into our first room and it smelled like a 1hr motel next door to an army base camp. The second room smelled as if someone had used the bathroom but not flushed the toilet for a very long time. 4. Parking costs as much as the Rosewood down the street and it’s not even valet. Complete joke. If we didn’t have family staying with us and there wasn’t an international convention going on at the same time, we would have switched hotels in a minute. However, capacity was exceptionally limited around the city. This hotel is magnificently horrendous for those expecting an actual St. Regis. If you just need a place to sleep—it’s better than sleeping outside.