Banff is resting on its laurels, in my view, and is highly dependent upon the tour bus and conference crowd (as is Lake Louise, to some extent).

I've been told that some of the Lake Louise rooms (in particular, those for the masses) are tiny, with no air conditioning, and not particularly memorable except for their deficiencies (I've never stayed in those rooms, so I can't confirm the statement). The gold floor at Lake Louise is quite nice though, with a better breakfast selection than I've experienced on other gold floor properties.

In Banff, I have yet to stay in a higgly-piggly room that did not appear to be at least 15 years out-of-date, with a lumpy and too-soft mattress, and of shoe-box proportions. I have, however, always been given a room with a very nice view of the falls and valley. That being said, I only stay at Banff on the Escape to Willow Stream Spa package, and only in the off-season. Otherwise, it is just too expensive for what you get: not good value for the money at all.