Review: M Club Lounge at Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel

On my recent golf trip to Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, we first made a stop in Calgary for a stay at the Calgary Marriott Downtown, a solid Marriott property which I’ve had the pleasure of staying at several times now.  

This time around, however, I was actually able to experience the property’s new M Club Lounge, as access was offered to my party of three in lieu of complimentary breakfast vouchers.

Read on to see what the M Club Lounge at Calgary Marriott Downtown has to offer.   

About the M Club Lounge

The Marriott M Club Lounges are an exclusive space offered by select Marriott hotels, which provides 24/7 access to high-class seating, office space with premium Wi-Fi, snacks and beverages, and meals at some properties (complementary or off-menu). 

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge signage

While there are only about 110 M Clubs worldwide, there are over 80 M Clubs in North America, but not many in Canada. Calgary is lucky to have two: one at the Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel and one at the Calgary Airport In-terminal Hotel. 

How to Access the M Club Lounge

Officially, lounge access is available to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite members of the Marriott Bonvoy program. Members can also bring one guest to the lounge.

Related: Get on the Fast Track to Marriott Platinum Elite Status

However, rooms at specific properties will also come with M Club access automatically tied to your room key. 

In our experience, we had a party of three and requested 3 room keys. All 3 keys did in fact have swipe access to gain entry to the M Club. 

You can also purchase access to the M Club for your stay at the time of booking or at check-in. The retail price for this was apparently $40 per person which if you ask me is beyond overpriced. 

Food and Beverage Offerings – M Club Lounge Marriott Calgary Downtown

Although open 24/7, M Club Lounges are only staffed during certain times of the day. 

For Calgary Marriott Downtown, the lounge is only staffed during breakfast hours, 6:00 am to 10:00 am on Monday to Friday and 7:00 am to 11:00 am on Saturday and Sunday. Consequently, this is the time when hot food options are expected to be available as well. 

We visited the M Club Lounge on a Sunday during the breakfast period. Overall I was pleasantly impressed with the food and beverage offerings available.

Upon entry, the coffee and tea station is immediately to your right. There is a large self-serve coffee/espresso machine that serves Starbucks, as well as a variety of herbal teas, hot chocolate, etc.

Directly underneath the espresso machine was a set of fridges with a variety of juices and sparkling water drinks, as well as yogurts, smoothies, and milk cartons.

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge cold beverages

Next up was the food station, located in the corner of the room.

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge buffet area

For dry foods, there was a nice assortment of cereals, croissants, muffins, and fruits. 

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge dry foods

The hot food also presented some solid options, including roast beef, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and more.

And, not to be forgotten, there are a variety of candy jars to satiate your sweet tooth cravings on your way out of the lounge.

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge candy

Having tried a little of everything I can say the quality was pretty good. And if we were staying here longer I definitely would have appreciated being able to go for some snacks and more coffee throughout the day. So in some ways, I’d prefer the M Club to the complimentary breakfast vouchers that many properties offer.

Also, it should be noted that in the evening there is an À la carte food and beverage menu service available, as well as complimentary hors d’oeuvres from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Seating Area – M Club Lounge Marriott Calgary Downtown

The seating areas available in the M Club Lounge in Calgary Downtown Marriott were very clean and elegant.

There was a nice variety of formal table seating, bar-style seating, lounge chairs, and booths. 

There were quite a few televisions as well. 

And, definitely not to be forgotten, there was office seating with some office chairs and outlets.

calgary marriott downtown hotel m club lounge desk seating
The office seating in the M Club leaves a little to be desired…

Apparently, the M Club here has business services including computers, phones, scanners, and copiers; however, I didn’t notice any of these on my visit. Perhaps I missed them. 

Conclusion

The M Club Lounge at the Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel was refreshingly nice and provided some solid value for us as Marriott Bonvoy Elite status holders, both in terms of food options and quality seating arrangements.  

The staff were timely and attentive to making sure all food options were consistently stocked during breakfast. Having 24/7 complimentary access to snacks and decent Starbucks coffee is also rather nice for anyone spending a longer stay in Calgary. 

I am definitely curious to try the evening Hors d’oeuvre hour next time I stay here. The prospect of complimentary breakfast, lunch, and dinner is something that gets a Frugal Flyer like me very excited. 

If you’ve got Marriott Platinum or higher status, I would definitely consider staying at the Marriott Downtown Hotel on your next visit to Calgary!  

Reed Sutton

Reed Sutton

Founder at Frugal Flyer
Reed is addicted to the art of earning and redeeming travel points, and frequently pairs his trips with his other hobby: photography. Through Frugal Flyer, Reed aims to distill some of the complex and esoteric points strategies into digestible information. Furthermore, he hopes to use his technical expertise to develop invaluable applications and tools for the travel community.

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