We just completed a quick weekend stay which was a bit of both good and bad.
The good
Fantastic upgrade from a 1 bedroom suite to one of the 2 bedroom lakeview suites that have been reno'd (659). We received a similar amenity to what was received above - ie bottle of red wine and dessert plate. Ironically we had someone reach out to us prior to our stay enquiring if we wanted to upgrade to a jr suite on the gold floor from our 1 bdrm suite for an incremental $150/night non lakeview and $200/night lakeview which was a non-starter given we get the complimentary Diamond breakfast benefits on the weekends anyways. Needless to say, the free upgrade was a much better option and then some!
Outdoor activities - The skating rink was great for the kids. I also rented cross country skis both days and took in some of the trails as the weather was ideal.
The bad
Unfortunately, there were a few dining hiccups. We had someone dining with us in the lounge who is celiac and was assured that what she had ordered would be gluten free which was evidently not the case as she began to break out in hives shortly after eating it. They were apologetic and removed her meal from the bill which in my opinion was the least they could do. She had to rush back to the room to take her medication while we waited for 25+ minutes for the kids desserts to arrive. Dinner at Walliser was better on the Saturday, but there were some billing issues as both bills ended up on my room after confirming with our server to put one bill on the other room. Our two young kids had gastro issues after having eaten the mac and cheese on separate nights. I can't know for sure if this was in fact the cause, however, it is quite rare for them to have such issues. I let our server know at Walliser and he said someone would follow up with us, yet no one did. Breakfast service on the Sunday was beyond slow. From sitting down to receiving our drinks which came at the same time with our meals was 30 minutes with another couple of minutes later waiting on utensils. The fresh fruit never did make an appearance. Lastly, I was told when checking in to enquire about late checkout the day of departure so I called down to Royal Service. I was told that 2pm was the best they could do and when I pressed the issue a bit, I was told that I could albeit for an additional charge which is clearly contrary to the published benefits. I ended up getting late checkout till 3pm, but it shouldn't have been a process, especially given that I presume that their 48hr COVID room turnover policy chainwide is still in effect.
Overall, the awesome upgrade far outweighed any service related issues, however, over the last couple of stays here I have found that the service can be at time lacking vs our usual haunt at Banff Springs which we will be returning to again the weekend after next.
On a side note, I always get a kick out of the fact that we will always receive 4 drink vouchers including 2 for the kids for what is stated as alcoholic drinks on the vouchers. This was our first stay ever whereby they would not accept the kids vouchers for drinks which begs the question as to why they even bother handing them out when our kids (3 & 5) eat for free regardless.