stephem

Yeah, it has a king + pull out sofa which works fine for my 6&7 year olds. If we decide to bring our 3 year old, he'll sleep on a couple sofa cushions (it sucks to be the 3rd child!) I was impressed at the ski school for smaller ones at LL so probably will bring our little guy along. That's a ton more space as the Westin Whistler where we normally go, their 1 bedrooms are a tight squeeze for 4 or 5, even with kids this young. US$350 per night for a 700 sq ft suite (and that includes breakfast!) is a killer deal for us.

I also found 5 award seats on Alaska that I can snag for 15k Avios each, looking forward to a precheck/NeXUS enabled flight and the relatively short drive from YYC up to LL as opposed to the grinding traffic of SEA-Whistler on a holiday weekend.

flyCsG

Great deal! Was going to get the card regardless but was not aware of this. Thanks for posting!

Think it'll fly if I ask them to get the card for me and have it ready during check-in?

CanuckFlyHigh

You actually raise a very good point. Most people, if you don't live/work downtown Calgary, pick their RCR Card up at the ski hill. You can also link your credit card there, and set up direct-to-lift so you never have to wait in line. If you are checking into CLL the night before your first ski day, you would not have the card. They have always asked to see my card at check-in, so it might be worth asking them. I imagine if you show your receipt, that will be sufficient.

Also, keep in mind you have to purchase (but not pick up) these by December 26th

CanadaDH

I'd be surprised if they didn't either accept your purchase receipt, or at least allow you to come back with it the next day after you've gone to the hill (with the proviso that they will charge your card for the rack rate if you don't show it to them before check-out).

I've used this discount in the past, but as I recall, I was staying at the BSH for a few days first, so I had already had a chance to get to the hill to pick up the card before I checked in at CLL.

Jasper2009

Fully agree. IMO you'll be fine as long as you present the card during your stay and it is clear that you purchased it before arrival.

flyCsG

Cool. I'll definitely be checking with them on that beforehand but do not expect any resistance.

Managed to snag a lakeview junior suite (cert upgrade) for December. Will spend most of our time at the slopes, but if anyone has suggestions for either day or night activities, please do share! Thanks!

CanadaDH

In addition to skiing, there's plenty to do in winter... Ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, Johnston Canyon hike, dog sledding, sleigh rides, fondue at Walliser Stube. And that's just near Lake Louise. Venture down into the Banff area and there's plenty more to do there. I have another 10 nights booked at CLL for this winter, and have no concerns about being bored there.

By the way, stop in for lunch at Whitehorn Bistro when skiing. They did a major renovation last year, and it's great. Not your typical ski resort food. Sit down dining with great food, on the mountain, and they take reservations.

flyCsG

Yes - ice skating, Johnston Canyon ice walk and the fondue are top on my list. Any specific hiking trail recommendations? Was thinking of doing the Plain of Six Glaciers hike, but a good chunk of it seems to cross avalanche zones, and we have no avalanche training/equipment.

Cheers!

CanadaDH

Plain of Six Glaciers is an excellent hike; done it many times... in the summer and fall. Avalanche risk is normally high once you get beyond the end of Lake Louise. Lake Agnes is often accessible in winter, but the risk can get high going much beyond, with avalanches coming off of Mt. St. Piran (another fabulous summer hike) on one side and the Beehive on the other. But it all depends on the conditions. Many of the upper trails in the winter become accessible only to those with proper training. I would stop in at the visitor centre in Lake Louise for a current update on conditions.

Grotto Canyon, down by Canmore, is a nice walk in winter (assuming you're not there too early in December). Unlike Johnston where you're on catwalks above the river, with Grotto, you walk right up the frozen river.

If you do go to Johnston Canyon, and are feeling up to it, you could continue on to the Ink Pots. It's a beautiful area in the winter.

Be sure to buy a pair of traction devices like Yaktrax if you don't already have a pair. They're cheap and make a world of difference. Your ski poles are also helpful.

flyCsG

Yeah, somewhat disappointing for the Plain of Six Glaciers hike, as I was hoping to get to this viewpoint:

http://banffandbeyond.com/plain-of-s...t-lake-louise/

Thanks for the other tips! Will definitely be looking into it. We only have 3 days there before heading off to Revelstoke - seems like a good amount of things to keep us occupied. Cheers, and enjoy your upcoming trip there!

manish

Looked at many days in July and Aug 2018 and can't find a single day with the AAA rate. Are these loaded in later or are they pretty much never existent?

Would love to stay here but it seems they have raised their prices over the past few years.

Any suggestions to discounted rates / packages if AAA is indeed not available?

Miz

CanadaDH

I would try calling the hotel. I've run into situations before, where the CAA rate wasn't available when booking a long way in advance. Upon calling the hotel, they were able to provide CAA/AAA prices to make the booking, and the code then started working on the website. I suspect the system is built with a valid start and end date on all discount codes, and perhaps they periodically need to advance the end dates manually.

Jasper2009

I agree with CanadaDH: contact the hotel directly and see whether they're willing to offer the CAA/AAA rate.

If no discounted rate is available, your best option would probably be to book a rate which includes daily comp. breakfast, an upgrade and other amenities, i.e. a rate booked through AMEX FHR / Virtuoso / Travel Leaders Select (FWIW, I'm affiliated with the latter and have found CLL to be very cooperative.)

pickles1107

CanuckFlyHigh - Thank you for posting this. Did not know about this at all as it does not show up on the hotel "offers" page. We booked a long weekend in March. In addition, Royal Service extended our certs and we used a suite upgrade and room upgrade to get into a Lakeview Junior Suite.

The PSKI code saves about $450 CAD over the cancelable BAR for a 2 night stay.

CanuckFlyHigh

No problem! As I said above, just make sure you have the card, or proof of purchase. Unlike a corporate rate, which many people abuse, I have used this code a few dozen times, and they have asked to see the card every single time