I've decided to review local Edmonton businesses and institutions as they are for Fringe venues…read morebecause I'm a Fringe and Yelper nerd like that. So keeping that in mind this review is for the Varscona Parkade as a venue for The Edmonton International Fringe Festival. This is not a review for the Varscona Parkade as a parking site. This is also not a review of any shows I've seen here. Let's go. Yes. This isn't a mistake. The Varscona Parkade was a Fringe venue at the 2015 Fringe Festival. Sounds weird, but it was used as a BYOV for a show I saw by Toy Guns Dance Theatre (Who Am I? Unauthorized Stories from the Varscona Parkade). Out of the BYOVs I've been to for the Fringe this was definitely my favorite. Why? - The setup was great. The show was on the top level of the parkade. Being up here and watching this show made me think how I need to visit more rooftop patios and such in the summer. Roofs rule. - Best seats of the Fringe (depending where you sit). They used wooden pallets to create a few rows of stadium seats. There were pillows on the first few rows, but they had couches at the very back. My friend and I saw on a couch. Got a comfy seat and completely clear view of the show. It was definitely the most comfortable seats in the show. - An outdoor venue. Yes, the weather can be temperamental, but if you're seeing at a Fringe show you should be prepared for anything. We lucked out and got a sunny show (though it got a little cooler when the sun went behind the clouds). I only wished I'd brought sunglasses, but the stage was setup so the sun wasn't right in your eyes. - It's unique. How often are you going to find yourself sitting on couch on the top of a parkade watching a wonderfully unique dance and performance art piece? Watching this show was very surreal experience, and the venue was one of the reasons for that. - The location is great. Right by the Varscona Hotel so it was easy to find. I think the only downside to this hotel is that being so close to Whyte you could hear traffic noise constantly, but seeing as this show was mostly dance and performance art it wasn't a big deal. They had music playing from speakers (which took out most of the noise) and when any performer did talk it was easy enough to hear them. Getting to the venue did require walking up several flights of stairs, but I believe there are elevators in the parkade for those with mobility issues. This definitely wouldn't work for all Fringe shows, but for this show the uniqueness of this venue worked well. I'm kind of hoping I'll get to see a Fringe show on the top level of the Varscona Parkade next year.

Been a long time user of this service and it was great before. This last time, we came home and…read morejust as we were leaving, we noticed a new crack in our windshield. Manager said it was from a chip that no one can find on the windshield. More likely it was caused by them bringing in the car from the cold outside and cranking the heat to the max in the car since the crack goes along the vents. Quick to respond to negative reviews but not to emails regarding issues. Additionally, they saw it has to be one cause without showing any proof and discounting the effect of bringing full heat on a cold windshield causing a minimum of 50C temperature difference and the effects it would have.

Always great shuttle service. Exactly what it needs to be and affordable. I use them every timeread more

#200th Review! I…read morethought I had to do something special for my 200th review so why not review best spots in the City! I have lived close to Whyte Ave all of the time I have lived in Edmonton. Whyte Ave is one of the hottest destination spots in the City. It is host to some cool and unusual shops: Great restaurants and nightclubs/bars. Quirky shops. The Farmers Market, A great library in a historical building, Host to many great festivals and events, and so much more. Whyte Ave is also always evolving which makes it vibrant and fun. If you want to know what is happening on Whyte Ave and in the area check out the Old Strathcona Business Association website and event calendar. You can also see what sales are going on and maybe even find a job! http://www.oldstrathcona.ca/

Whyte Avenue is a great summer festival season destination, but it's also a nice place to visit for…read morefood, shopping and other things year-round. There are lots of great stores (some of which are pretty unique too!) and restaurants. It's a colourful place with an interesting crowd depending on what else is going on in the area. I've been here for parties, festivals, special events, theatre and more! It is quite popular with the university student crowd. That said, it's imperfect: some of what makes it awesome is also what causes issues: it's a pretty popular place with the late night crowd and can get very busy/crazy on occasion. Additionally, these events/festivals can cause trash and whatnot. It's busy enough that parking can be limited and transit from downtown is sometimes awkward. But it's a great destination to reach on foot. And there is reasonably good transit to this area. I definitely recommend a visit, particularly during the summer months.

It's dying. Most stores were closed or empty. The unhoused community has a large presence in this…read morearea. It's not somewhere I would go out of my way to visit. There is a good drugstore there. That's about it.

Decent size mall and not as overwhelming as the West Edmonton…read more I had an easier time finding the places that I needed to go. There's a movie theater inside and you can even pick up free WiFi at some of the coffee shops.

I was actually the first to review this outhouse on the weekend it opened, but my review was taken…read moredown. However, Paul's review is very thorough and I would only add one thing. The doors on the ladies stalls don't come down far enough to properly cover you when you are seated on the throne. I realize due to security, the patrons need to be visible at all times. I can pretty much see your undies when I'm walking or driving by. If you are going to use the toilet, wear pretty underwear at least.

I wonder if this is the first Yelp review of a public toilet building? Perhaps I am making Yelp…read morehistory here! The Whyte Avenue Public Washrooms were built in 2012 at a public cost of $536,000 to address concerns of inebriated bar patrons using public and private property to relieve themselves after leaving the bars. They initially were open 24 hrs/day but the hours have been scaled back a bit so they are now closed a few hours after the bars let out. They have been designed intentionally to have glass walls so that you can see into them which provides users with a sense of safety and also discourages any negative activity from going on inside. They also are only heated to +5C in winter and have no summer air conditioning to discourage people from loitering inside. Besides serving the after bar crowd the majority of users are the daytime shoppers and passer-bys. The public perception of the washrooms varies. Some people love them and some hate them. I'm sure the residents that live in and around the area like them especially if they are seeing less public urination around their homes and properties. Here is one article on the washrooms: http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=19372ecf-ec64-4e1b-b047-8591a41d261d Also, a local documentary film maker did a short film called iCup (get it..."I See You Pee) regarding the washrooms for an Air Canada En Route magazine film contest. Not sure how he did in the contest or if it is available online to view any longer. Personally I think having these public washrooms available is a good thing. I'm not a late-night bar patron on Whyte Ave much these days so my chance of using these in the nighttime is probably slim to none. I have stopped in during the day to use them once and felt fine using it. Facilities like these are more popular in Europe but I think we may see more of these cropping up in Canada. I think that Edmonton has probably been used as a testing ground on how to design one of these to operate in -30 to -40C temperatures. It will be interesting to see these become more popular in Canadian urban centres.