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Nikki's
2 reviews
Edmonton, AB
One review for Explorer Hotel
All Reviews
There aren't many options in Yellowknife when it comes to hotels, and the Explorer Hotel is most certainly the largest. On par with any decent 3.5-star hotel in urban centres.
The rooms won't win any design awards, but they get the job done. Very comfortable pillows. A desk and fast wireless Internet access. And in-room control of the heat -- you can take it from air conditioned (though, in Yellowknife, why?!) to very warm.
A couple of things didn't make the stay perfect. Beware the shower! The temperature can fluctuate instantly and drastically. One second you're enjoying a refreshing lukewarm shower, then, without warning, you're nearly scalded by very hot water. I had to jump out of the water's way several times.
Asked on check-in for a late checkout (2pm instead of 1pm) and was told that would be fine. But when I confirmed it the next day, was told the policy was for 1pm strictly and they had someone booked into the room (who was arriving right at 1?!). I ended up staying until about 1:45 p.m. in the room and there didn't seem to be any problem. (Or any guest looking for their room, for that matter.)
Though the hotel has conference rooms, I found the A/V support quite lacking. Asked ahead of time to provide a wireless lapel microphone, we arrived to find only a handheld mic available. They ended up havin to go to the local A/V production firm to get one; it arrived too late for the first session.
We also had to ask for a VGA extension (another thing they'd been advised to have there, from what I understand). From the same provider, they proudly brought a long cable -- but not an extension cable and without the right "ends" to plug into the projector. {sigh} Both of these affected the presentations.
The room service menu is varied, though nearly no dinner options for vegetarians (hope you like salad! again...). A few false starts with the staff -- brought soup but no spoon, brought fries but no ketchup, etc. -- but the food itself was fine. (Although who puts smoked salmon in a club sandwich?!)
All in all, a comfortable stay, and about what I had expected from a city of Yellowknife's size. I'd hoped to be pleasantly surprised, but I wasn't. Just adequate.
