Calgary ?????'s
 

We will be finishing up a trip in Calgary and will only have part of a day and an overnight there.(fly out the next day) Should we stay near the airport or is the downtown a better choice? We will be giving up the car the day before we leave.
Any help appreciated. Thanks

Downtown. Enjoy the afternoon and evening in civilization, and then grab a cab to the airport in the morning.

BAK

The Calgary airport is extremely easy to get to. Just drive due north on the Barlow Trail and you go right to it.
Once you cross McKnight Boulevard, the road becomes a freeway.

There is a group of hotels and motels east and west of the Barlow Trail in the vicinity of 32nd St Ne.

My pick is the Greenwood Inn, which is about 5 miles from the airport.
The king rooms there are very spacious and nice.
The hotel has a restaurant and a pool as well as a friendly and helpful staff on the front desk.

We were there just recently and found it very convenient to stores and to the Barlow Trail. Two blocks west, turn north, and we were at the airport in about 10 minutes or less.

Car return at the Calgary airport for me has been quick and easy. We used Hertz this last time but on previous occasions we used Avis.

When we pulled into rental car return about 6 AM three weeks ago, the attendant was there with a handheld computer when got out of the car. She plugged in my contract number and handed me a receipt before I unloaded our suitcases.
Then she said goodbye went to the next car, and we were on our way inside.
Fastest return I ever had.

I am not sure if you know this or not, but if you are flying to the USA, you go through US customs and US immigration control in the airport before you board your flight.

I know it seems strange going through immigration and customs for the US while you are still in Canada, but until the Bush gang took over, the US always had good relationships with Canada and the border crossing procedures were agreed to some time ago.

I just hope the Canadians don't pitch the US officials out. Perhaps the Canadians should because the US officials are a surly bunch, particularly the customs guys. People going through the checkpoint need to realize that they are not being examined by Canadians but by American personnel. There is evidently no review of their performance and they can be as antagonistic, surly, condescending and hostile as they wish.

I was taking the pull cord off of my suitcase before hoisting it onto the xray machine conveyer belt. I did this to the cord would not get tangled in the mechanism. Some customs #$#$@#$$ told me to get that suitcase up on the belt. "We make the decisions around here."

We may be Americans returning home, but we are not convicts and I resent being addressed like a lower class person and treated rudely. People in the US government seem to think they are entitled to act anyway they want.
They must really be ugly to foreigners.

PS Why would you give up your car the day before? You need it to get to the airport. Cab fare will just about equal a day's car rental.

I'm with BAK - stay downtown - there is lots to see and do. In addition, there are many great restaurants within walking distance. If you stay near the airport, the area does not lend itself to walking (i.e. major roads, more industrial - mix of businesses and stores - nothing great).
Do your research on the hotels downtown, I would expect that many of them offer shuttles to the airport for either no cost or a small fee which I would imagine to be less than getting a taxi.

If you opt to stay downtown, be sure that a hotel shuttle will get you to the airport early enough. Most flights to the US leave in the morning, and you need to allow at least 90 minutes for checkin.
You must check your luggage, then go through US customs and immigration.

The customs check is done with x-ray equipment. And any thing suscious is pulled out of your luggage.
There is in addition the normal security check.

So for an 8 am flight out of Calgary, you would need to leave a downtown hotel at 6:00 to allow ample time.

Definitely stay downtown--there are several very nice hotels there--I have stayed at the Westin and the Marriott several times and both are very nice. The Delta Bow Valley is quite run down however.
There are lots of neat restaurants downtown. Calgary is a really good city to walk around in. I haven't used the airport shuttle from any of these, but would definitely prefer downtown to any other location.

Thanks for all your help. I think we will stay in the city. J+N