I recently made a quick visit to Calgary to have lunch with a friend, and decided to stay at The Westley, a newly opened Hilton hotel in Downtown Calgary that had caught my eye.
The Westley belongs to Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, a relatively new brand that launched in 2017 and is meant to bring together a collection of “refreshingly uncommon” hotels around the world with “vibrant personalities”.
Trying out a new hotel brand always gets me curious, so I was keen to find out what the experience would be like here at The Westley.
The Westley Calgary Downtown – Booking
I booked my stay at The Westley relatively last-minute: three days in advance, which is just early enough to book the Member Flexible Rate of $169 plus tax.
As with most mid-range Hilton properties, the value in redeeming Hilton Honors points wasn’t ideal. Instead, I preferred to pay cash and earn a total of 54x Hilton Honors points per USD on my stay:
- 10x points as a Hilton Honors member
- 20x points as part of Hilton’s Fall 2021 promotion on paid stays
- 10x points as a Hilton Diamond member, which I hold thanks to my Amex US Hilton Aspire Card
- 14x points by paying for the stay with my Amex US Hilton Aspire Card
Clearly, instead of redeeming points for middling value, it was a better play here to earn points at an accelerated rate to get closer to my next high-value Hilton stay, so that’s exactly what I did.
If you don’t have Diamond status through the US-issued Hilton cards, don’t forget that you can earn Hilton’s mid-tier Gold status level simply by holding the American Express Platinum Card, which entitles you to quite a few meaningful perks like room upgrades and free breakfast.
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The Westley Calgary Downtown – Location
The Westley is located on the western side of Downtown Calgary on 4th Ave SW, between 5th and 6th St SW. (Whenever I’m in Calgary, it always feels like the street names were made for robots rather than humans.)
The immediate surrounding area is quiet with not much going on, but I found it easy enough to make my way to more interesting parts of Downtown Calgary, whether on foot or on Bird scooters.
From the airport, it was a 25-minute ride in the evening and a 35-minute ride back in the afternoon during rush hour.
Most of the hotel’s exterior is fairly nondescript, offering a slight contrast against the snazzily illuminated entrance. There’s a parking zone for Bird scooters immediately outside the hotel doors, which I found to be a very convenient way to zip around downtown.
The Westley Calgary Downtown – Check-in
I arrived at the hotel at around 9:30pm, making my way past the stylish lobby and the lively restaurant and bar to the front desks.
Even though I had booked the cheapest “Chill” Single King Room, I had already previously reached out to the hotel via email to ask for a suite upgrade as a Hilton Diamond member, noting that it would be my first stay at a Tapestry Collection property and I’d love for it to be as special as possible.
To my delight, the hotel had confirmed that they’d be able to honour my request for an upgrade to their top-tier “Revel” One-Bedroom Suite.
The front desk host was friendly in confirming this upgrade and offering me a paper bag with two bottles of water in it as my Diamond welcome amenity.
She also let me know that the elite breakfast benefit the following morning would take the form of a continental breakfast voucher, with anything else from the à la carte menu being chargeable separately.
I found this to be a little disappointing at the time, but figured I’d bring this up to the hotel in the morning, and so I took my keys and made my way up to the 5th floor.
The Westley Calgary Downtown – Revel One-Bedroom Suite
I took a moment to appreciate the interesting floor patterns as I stepped into the guest room hallway. I suppose you could say it was an impressive tapestry, and I thought it set a pleasant tone for the stay.
I had been assigned Room 526, a Revel One-Bedroom Suite, which is the hotel’s largest suite type. The suite consists of one large square-shaped room for relaxation, work, and play, along with a separate bedroom and bathroom.
The living area consisted of a few different types of seating, facing a wall-mounted television.
While I thought the room was nicely decorated (for example, I can’t remember the last time I encountered an accent rug in a hotel room), I can’t say the furniture was particularly comfortable, as both the couch and the individual chairs were fairly hard surfaces to sit on.
In the opposite corner, the desk chair was slightly better in terms of comfort, and I worked from here in the evening and morning to good effect.
The Revel suite also features a wet bar, which could be useful if you were hosting guests and mixing up some drinks.
Looking at the pantry items, I was impressed by the oversized Smeg kettle and the in-suite microwave, but extremely disappointed that the room did not offer any kind of coffee machine – only packets of instant coffee.
To me, a coffee machine is one of the essential hotel items to set apart a boutique “collection” brand like Tapestry Collection (as well as similar brands like Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio or JdV by Hyatt) from less appealing limited-service brands like Courtyards or Hampton Inns.
Hence, I felt a bit let down that The Westley only offered instant coffee, and I’d encourage the hotel to add coffee machines – even if it’s only simple ones – to the guest rooms as an area for improvement.
The bedroom consisted of a king-sized bed with another TV, and not much else. I thought the space could’ve used an extra chair in the corner or something, but then again, I had no need for that as a solo occupant on this stay.
In terms of the bed itself, it was also a bit on the hard side, just like the living room furniture. I didn’t mind that myself, but it’s something to take note of if you prefer the soft and plush kinds of hotel beds.
As is fitting for a hotel opened in 2021, there are USB 3 and USB-C charging ports on your bedside, which I found very useful for getting all my devices charged at once.
The bathroom is one of the visual highlights here at The Westley’s Revel Suite.
A large soaking tub sits opposite an oversized rain shower with good water pressure, all decked out with simple beige tiles on the walls, a complex pearl green tessellation on the floor, and polished bronze as the accent.
It screamed “fancy high school gymnasium from the ‘80s”, but it somehow worked, and I certainly enjoyed taking a moment to relax in the bath.
Lastly, I didn’t get a photo of the views from the suite, but I basically faced out onto 4th Ave SW with not much more than the street scene to look at.
The Westley Calgary Downtown – Breakfast
The breakfast voucher as a Hilton Gold or Diamond member was already placed in my room prior to my arrival. It stated that it was good for a continental breakfast in the hotel’s Fonda Fora restaurant, could not be redeemed for anything else, and had no cash value.
Truth be told, I was quite disappointed by this, especially since a friend of mine had stayed at The Westley shortly after it had opened, and had been allowed to choose any item from the à la carte menu as his breakfast amenity.
As I made my way downstairs for breakfast, I brought this up with the front desk and asked if it was possible to apply the breakfast voucher as a credit towards another breakfast item instead.
The staff member was more than happy to grant the request, and also mentioned that they welcomed the feedback, since the hotel was still in the process of finalizing the breakfast benefit for elite members.
I of course reiterated that a full breakfast entitlement is what would keep Hilton’s Gold and Diamond members happiest, rather than the “continental” offering that many hotels try to get away with these days.
Anyway, onto breakfast at Fonda Fora, which is the Mexican restaurant in the hotel’s ground-floor lobby. The breakfast menu here at The Westley therefore carries a distinct Mexican twist.
I opted for the huevos ahogados, a delicious mishmash of poached eggs, potatoes, and vegetables in a thick salsa. Since I applied the value of a $12 continental breakfast to the $15 huevos, my total bill came to about $3 plus tax.
I asked for my breakfast to-go to bring back to my room, since I had a work meeting to attend. The huevos were perhaps presented less elegantly as a result, but still made for a very tasty and filling meal.
The Westley Calgary Downtown – Other Facilities
In keeping with the guest rooms, the Fonda Fora restaurant’s physical space is very nicely appointed. I would’ve loved to have my breakfast down here.
It seemed like a fairly lively space when I passed by in the evening as well, and I imagine this trendy Mexican restaurant in the lobby will attract its fair share of locals to eventually find out about The Westley as a hotel.
In addition to the restaurant, The Westley also operates a Market Collective, where you can purchase snacks, drinks, and various knick-knacks.
The other noteworthy feature is the fitness centre, which is accessible via a hallway on the ground floor.
Some elements from the unique decor theme of the guest room bathrooms are carried through here, allowing guests to complete a workout in an aesthetically pleasing space.
Conclusion
The newly-opened Westley Calgary Downtown, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, punches above its weight for its very reasonable price point.
If you can snag a nightly rate of $150–175 and score an upgrade on account of your Hilton Gold or Diamond status, you’ll be treating yourself to a good-value stay in stylish and modern surroundings.
There are a few areas for improvement, like the lack of in-room coffee machines and the stingy breakfast offering I had received at first. I hope the property can address these issues as it finds its feet in the Calgary hotel market.
In my view, setting the breakfast policy to cover the $12 continental breakfast, but allow it to be used as a credit towards any breakfast item, would go a long way towards appeasing most Hilton elite members.
There aren’t too many other Calgary hotels that I find appealing at first glance, so I certainly see myself returning to the Westley in the future if the price is right, hopefully still scoring a Revel Suite upgrade as a Hilton Diamond member.