When travelling to a new city or planning a staycation near your home, choosing your accommodations can be tough. Boutique hotels offer an elegant, unique environment and personalized service. Many of the smaller, more charming hotels in Edmonton also happen to be close to the city’s most popular neighbourhoods
This boutique luxury hotel is located on Whyte Avenue, within minutes of the University of Alberta and the city’s stunning river valley. There’s also a plethora of shops and restaurants within walking distance, not to mention some great places to stop for a pint. The rooms are pure luxury, with dark wood furnishing and rich textiles, crisp white bedding and wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows. Try to book one of the Fire and Water rooms, which have a fireplace and a big bathtub with jets.
This bed and breakfast, which was originally a luxury apartment building, is a provincially designated historic site. While the building was completed in 1912, La Boheme took over the space in 1982. It’s still considered one of the city’s most unique places to stay, with plenty of historical touches, such as the original Edwardian pressed tin ceiling. There are six suites, each named after a historical figure, and all suites include a claw-foot bathtub in the private bathroom. There’s also a fantastic restaurant onsite.
It doesn’t get more luxurious than the Hotel Mac, as locals refer to it. This historic hotel, which opened in 1915, overlooks the river valley from its prime downtown location. It’s close to shopping and, in the summer, an outdoor farmers’ market (named the best in the world by a National Geographic travel blogger in 2013). During your stay, try their fitness centre, then take advantage of their gourmet cuisine in the Harvest Room or sip a cocktail in the Confederation Lounge. Don’t forget to say hello to Smudge, the hotel’s canine ambassador.
A casual, sophisticated boutique hotel located in the thick of Old Strathcona, the Varscona Hotel combines comfort with modern amenities. While there isn’t a restaurant onsite, the hotel is surrounded by plenty of amazing dining options, as well as bars, pubs, spas and shops. This hotspot is also the perfect place to stay if you’re in town for one of the city’s many summer festivals, as many of them take place in the neighbourhood.
This downtown hotel offers an upscale place to rest your head at night after a long day of meetings or wining and dining clients. The rooms are modern, sleek and minimalist but completely classy, with a red, white and black colour scheme, lots of light and sliding doors separating the bedroom from the bathroom. There’s an elegant, award-winning restaurant, Wildflower Grill, on the main floor, as well as a Starbucks coffee shop. You might even spot a celebrity or two – it’s where Miley Cyrus stayed when she visited her then-fiancé, Liam Hemsworth, in the city.
Located at the city’s living history museum, Fort Edmonton Park, the Selkirk Hotel is the ideal spot to stay if you’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to have been alive in the 1920s – with a few added perks. This historic hotel is outfitted with some modern amenities for guests’ comfort, including air conditioning, WiFi and coffee makers, and each room or suite comes with a private washroom. The price of a guest room includes breakfast and admission to the park for two people.