Not a vindictive reviewer by any stretch but I really want to save anyone from wasting their money on this establishment. Right out of the gate, this hotel missed the mark. The airport shuttle was requested as soon as we landed and was promised to arrive in 15-20 minutes. 35 minutes later a call to the front desk to inquire where the shuttle might be yielded a less than interested response from "Holly" at the front desk. She could only share that it was coming. 50 Minutes after landing the shuttle finally arrived. We got checked into the rooms which were in disrepair, though it does seem that renos are underway. (Despite the state of the rooms, they were clean and housekeeping did a good job.Common areas however were less than clean.)

The heating system in the rooms of everyone on our trip were a nightmare to control, with wild temperature swings throughout the evening. Everyone complained of being up throughout the night to open and close balcony doors to try and regulate the heat. Pillows on the bed were small rectangular throw style pillows and ridiculously uncomfortable. Making matters worse was the garbage collection at 4AM. The banging and crashing of dumpsters lasted for well over 15 minutes as the truck made it's way down the ally. You really have to wonder who scheduled that pick-up at that hour.

Meals were atrocious. Dinner portions were heavy and awful tasting. The young server was trying hard and was constantly apologizing for the kitchen. Seems there was a large Christmas party and that they were overwhelmed. The breakfast buffet had lousy coffee with stale cereal and bagels that could have doubled as hockey pucks. It was almost comical .

For years, I had always viewed Best Western as a safe fall back when no other options existed. No longer. Do yourself a favor and look to spend your money elsewhere.

Winnipeg has changed little in the 25 years since I was last there. Downtown is still seedy and sketchy.
Do NOT park vehicles in lots overnight where there is not security. I avoided underground parking everywhere downtown.

We stayed at the Charterhouse/BestWestern.
The Good: rooms were very clean and the housekeeping was outstanding. No banging on your door at 8 am (YAY) and the room was always done when upon return. All the common areas were very clean, all the time.

The Bad: The rooms do not all have balconies, even tho I requested and was guaranteed a balcony room. The famed Rib Room was not open much and not at all when I would have had time to eat there. The lounge was open but service was dreadful, food mediocre and expensive. The staff seemed more interested in keeping their backs turned from the dining area, chatting with each other. On three separate visits to this area, most of the tables were left uncleared and dirty, only two clean tables out of maybe 20 tables, it took 10 to 15 minutes to get a menu and twice I had to leave part way through the meal because it took too long to get the food. Normally, I would have walked out, but it isn't great to wander downtown Winnipeg at night so.....

As a caution, check your bills over very carefully. Two of the staff from the lounge/dining area were complaining about a room service delivery and here is the quote, waiter: "man, those **racial slur** were sure rude to me" bartender, "well you gave yourself a good tip I hope". Waiter, "yeah, I added 5 bucks to their bill", bartender, "haha I figured you did". WHAT??? Oh yes indeed, he padded their room service bill. When they finally noticed I was sitting there, neither of them had the good grace to be the least bit abashed at being overheard nor did they care how long they had avoided serving me.

Most of the staff is surly and not over interested in looking after guests. This seems to be condoned by the general manager/owner? who is just as surly and adept at ignoring guests as his staff. So even though the rates were reasonable by comparison (109 per night) I would not stay there again. Try the Fort Garry instead.

Some of the reviews here are a bit older, and I agree, this hotel used to be quite a bit worse than it is now. But I recently stayed here because of maintenance going on in my building, and I didn't think it was that bad. Yes, the rooms are older, and the elevators are very slow, but I found the room to be fairly clean. I always check the mattress for bugs, and the bathroom for mold, and everything was OK. The older window-mounted air conditioning is loud and shows the hotel's true age, but if you travel a lot I'm sure you are used to that. The location is great if you are taking in something at the MTS Center, or if you are in downtown Winnipeg for business. The price was a bit high for the age of the hotel, but overall, my stay was fine.

I was with the IOOF Sovereign Grand Lodge Youth events at Winnipeg. The time I had was fun, until it came time to go to the hotel, or eat anywhere. Nothing fun around for the youth to do.