CanadaDH

I've recently returned to another visit to the Chateau Lake Louise. I had booked the stay a year in advance, before COVID changed everything, but I wasn't going to let that stop the trip from going ahead. I was here in the summer during COVID restrictions, and this would be my first winter visit under such conditions. As we often do, we stayed for 10 nights/11 days.

As with many previous trips, we came to do a lot of skiing, and to stay in our favourite suite; the Marquis de Lorne Suite. Below is a link to my prior review of this suite, which includes a short video tour. I didn't take a new video this time, as the suite is the same as before.

FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were greeted promptly by some familiar faces. Our luggage was unloaded, and I then parked our rental van in the hotel garage. While valet parking was included with my booking, much like during our recent summer visit, valet parking has been suspended during COVID. It's a minor inconvenience, since the parkade is attached to the lobby, and there were always spaces right near the lobby entrance.

We received the following welcome letters on arrival, with information on hotel services and COVID procedures. One of the most obvious changes was reduced hours in the Fairmont Gold Lounge. Instead of closing at 10 PM, it now closes at 7 PM during the current period of lower occupancy.

Housekeeping continues to be offered every third day, and during a period when your are out of your room for several hours. This was not a problem, as we spent most of our days on the ski hill.





Our Suite

It's a lovely room. At the far end of the 7th floor, it is a rather long walk to get there, but it is well worth it.

We arrived to find this Welcome Amenity, which included some sweets, a snack in a nice wooden scroll container, and a bottle of wine.



A few days later, we arrived to find this nice bowl of fruit placed on our dining table:



As a further surprise, one afternoon we were relaxing in the suite, when we heard a knock at the door, and we were surprised with another gift including another bottle of wine.



Off the entrance to the room is a nice cabinet, coat hooks and a powder room. I didn't get any photos of the powder room, but here is the entrance.



Entering the suite, you are greeted to the nicely designed salon with beautiful views over Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains.







Behind the large sofa is a nice dining table.



We never got tired of the view over the lake.



The bedroom was large, with plenty of closet and dresser space.





The bathroom was also very nice, with separate closet for the toilet.




Dining Options

Occupancy is down during COVID. As a result, they have reduced dining options accordingly. The hotel has 3 main kitchens, with one serving Lago in the Mount Temple Wing, another kitchen on the lower level serving the Poppy Brasserie and the Alpine Social, and the main floor kitchen serves the Lakeview Lounge, Fairview and Walliser Stube restaurants. The hotel has kept only the main floor kitchen open, keeping the three main floor restaurants open and closing the others. At the same time, they have also increased the hours, with Walliser Stube and Fairview both open 7 days per week. During normal times, they would typically have a couple of days per week where they are closed.

We enjoyed a nice meal or two in each of the restaurants. Below is the Fairview Dining Room.





Here is the Lakeview Lounge.




The hotel used to have a take-out restaurant called the Chateau Deli, which was replaced during the fall with a new outlet called the Guide's Pantry. They have lots of hot and cold items to go. The seating that used to be available at the Chateau Deli has been removed and replaced with a larger foodservice area.



We also made use of in-room dining on a couple of occasions. We ordered breakfast one morning. The hotel was also offering a Valentine's Day dinner, with different menus in the Walliser Stube, Fairview an In Room Dining. Below is our menu and meal.







As we were touring around the hotel, we walked by the Alpine Social restaurant, which is closed. However, until the end of winter, they have repurposed the space, into "Alpine Social Rentals". They removed the tables and added rubber mats on the floor, and turned it into a ski rental area. They plan to reopen the restaurant in May, but in the meantime, it is a nice use of the space while the restaurant is closed. We bring our own ski equipment with us, but I imagine this would create a much safer rental space, which would allow for more physical distancing from other guests and staff than the smaller equipment rental place by the parkade off the main lobby.




Here are some other spaces around the hotel.




The hotel continues to offer a ski shuttle bus to the Lake Louise Ski Area. However, unlike in past years when the buses ran at least every 30 minutes in both directions (and more at busy times), it currently only runs outbound at 9, 10, 11 and 1 with returns at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30 and 4:30. But service is still really high. One morning we arrived at the bell desk around 8:30 to get our skis. Even though we were early, they started up the bus and drove us over to the mountain right away!

Fairmont Gold Lounge

Service in the lounge is different during COVID. Gone are the days of the buffet breakfasts and evening canapes. Instead, they are offering table service. I don't know if that will be permanent, but I wouldn't mind at all if it did remain that way.

Below is an example breakfast menu from the lounge. The lounge staff would bring you whatever you needed, and they had a chef in the lounge making eggs to your request.


The evening appetizers were also served by the lounge staff, and the menus rotated daily. Below are a couple of menus and a photo of a plate from one evening.




Other than a lack of other guests, the lounge looked much as it did before.







The view from the lounge is nothing special. It looks over the parkade, main entrance, Mount Temple Wing and the ski area.



Hotel Grounds

The grounds of the hotel are a bit different. The many chairs and fire pits have been removed, per provincial health orders prohibiting public gatherings. The outdoor ice bar was also not built this year, and the ice carving competition and the annual hockey tournament did not occur.

They did still have a large and well-maintained skating area and ice castle.




They still have benches for changing in and out of skates, but they are all socially distanced.



There were lots of people cross-country skiing, tobogganing, snowshoeing, ice climbing and even biking.



Sleigh rides were still operating, with Plexiglas panels separating the passengers.



Here's a photo of the hotel during the day.



In the past, I've posted a lot of daytime photos. This time, I thought I'd post some night photos of the grounds. Here is the hotel from the back of the ice skating rink. Our suite are the windows in the upper left of the building.



With no ice bar, they added this light tunnel along the walk from the hotel to the skating area.



I can't figure out what this sign is for! I'm guessing somebody played a joke and moved it, and they don't really want you to ride your horse through this entrance.



And here are some other photos from around the grounds at night.









As with all prior visits, the time went by all too fast, and it was time to head to head back to Calgary to catch our flight back to Toronto. Spending the final night at the airport before a morning flight, allowed us to maximize our last day in Lake Louise. But, we're returning mid-June for another visit to the area, bringing along more family again, with stops at the Banff Springs, the Jasper Park Lodge, and of course, the Chateau Lake Louise again.

habshabs444

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.

Jasper2009

Wow - that's an awesome upgrade!

Hm, that sounds very odd. I believe the T&C of the drink voucher technically allow for a "non-alcoholic beverage and select alcoholic beverages" (and some brands/hotels further distinguish the type of drink you can get based on the type of drink, the value of the drink and/or your status level). Drink vouchers should also be freely transferrable among guests staying in the same room.

CanadaDH

I'm not a drinker, so my wife always redeems my vouchers. It's never been a problem. We just hand them a voucher with dinner. Nobody has ever, at any hotel, tried to match up specific names with the people redeeming them.

We used one at Lakeview Lounge and one at Walliser Stube. Interestingly, we were told there is no limit, and we could use them for any drink available. We didn't test that by trying to order something outrageous.

And that is a nice upgrade. I've stayed in #659 twice. It's a nice suite. The 2nd bedroom is lacking in dresser space, but you have to be really picky to find much fault with it.

habshabs444

Agreed - I have always just handed out whatever vouchers I happened to have on me. The server had a look at them and said they were exempt. I mentioned that I have never had one issue historically using the kids' ones regardless of where we were staying so he went and checked with the manager who stated the same policy. I didn't press the issue and I'm fairly sure the server didn't even give them back to me. I find most fairmonts do not put a cap on their value. Banff Springs just usually applies them to the most expensive drinks on the bill. My go to pre-dinner is usually an Old Fashioned and depending on what bourbon I choose, sometimes it can be north of $30 and has never been a problem in the past. At Mayakoba when on the all inclusive plan, they allow you to use them for drinks not included - ie champagne or pricier cocktails.

Jasper2009

Wow - that sounds distinctly obnoxious. I may've been tempted to discuss the matter with management, if only to ensure that such antics don't spread.

At most Fairmont hotels I have found the vouchers to be valid for any wine by the glass and listed cocktails on the menu, with champagne and "personalized cocktails / long drinks" being more hit-and-miss (which is perfectly reasomable).

The worst experience I've had was a Novotel that insisted I could only have the $7 (nasty) house wine, but not the $9 "wine by the glass", and even my offer to pay the $2 difference was declined after a long debate. But that's a story for another time....most Fairmont hotels have been pretty rasonable, at times even generous IME.

CanadaDH

We recently completed a couple of weeks in the Canadian Rockies, staying in Banff, Jasper and then Lake Louise. For the first 10 days, we travelled as a couple through Banff and Jasper, and for the first night at Lake Louise. Another couple joined us in Lake Louise for the final 7 nights at the Chateau.

Arriving in Lake Louise, we were greeted by a staff member at the gatehouse, who is ensuring that only hotel guests are admitted to the property. We continued to the main entrance where a bellman unloaded our luggage, and then we parked in the parkade. Valet parking was suspended for COVID, but is restarting on July 1, as part of Alberta's economic reopening plan.

After parking, we proceeded to the 7th floor, where Fairmont Gold is located. Greeted by familiar faces, we checked in and headed to our suite across the hall.

We were given the letter below, which explains the current hours of the lounge and services offered on Fairmont Gold. The lounge is still operating by table service, and there is no indication of when a self-serve buffet will return. The menus for lounge offerings were expanded a bit since our last visit.



While it's not listed on the letter, staying on Fairmont Gold also provides free canoe usage as well as free use of the shuttle bus to Moraine Lake.

Another change since our last visit, is that daily housekeeping has resumed, along with nightly turndown service.

We were given four drink vouchers with our welcome package. Upon entering the suite, there was a welcome amenity consisting of sparkling water, chocolate, mixed nuts and a bottle of red wine. Additionally, I thought it was a nice gesture that on Day 2 of our visit, and additional welcome amenity was delivered to the second bedroom in our suite, as a welcome for our guests who arrived the following evening.

The Suite

Our stay on this visit was in the Fairmont Gold Two Bedroom Lakeview Suite. It's suite #759, and is the only such suite in the hotel. Clearly, we did not receive an upgrade on arrival, since the suite we booked was the best we could have stayed in, especially if you need two bedrooms as we did.

I've reviewed this suite before, but this time I managed to record a quick video tour of the suite. See YouTube link below.


Here is a quick photo tour of the suite. The main entrance features a hallway with side table, hat racks and plenty of storage for shoes and boots. It also includes a small powder room, which was very convenient.




The main salon has a dining table and plenty of seating. There are four windows with views over Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains. The sectional sofa includes a King size pullout bed, should you wish to add more people to the suite. There is also a fireplace, television, large closet, Nespresso coffee maker and a refrigerator.







The master bedroom includes a King bed, two nightstands, long dresser with five oversized drawers for storing clothing. That's perfect for us, since we often stay here for up to two weeks at a time, and typically have a lot of clothing and sportswear with us. There is also a bench seat by the window.



The master bath features soaker tub and seperate shower. The toiled was in a seperate water closet, and the stone vanity was large and functional.




The second bedroom features a pair of Queen beds, night stand, table and chairs, closet and a second refrigerator. The attached ensuite also includes a seperate soaker tub and shower, large stone vanity and seperate water closet for the toilet.




Restaurants

Occupancy has been low over the past year, as COVID travel restrictions were in effect, however, things are picking up. At the time of our stay, the Fairview Bar and Restaurant, the Lakeview Lounge (with both inside and patio seating), the Walliser Stube and the Guides Pantry were open. We ate at all of them, and many of them multiple times. The Poppy patio was also open on weekends for a special barbecue menu. The Poppy Brasserie and Alpine Social are opening for July. If visitor traffic continues to increase, I would expect it won't be long before Lago also opens.

Below is the Fairview Bar.




Below is the Lakeview Lounge.



Below is the Poppy patio and the mixed BBQ platter.




Things to Do

Weather permitting, the hotel offers live entertainment most evenings outside by the firepits.



If you love hiking, then you will never be bored here. There are many wonderful trails beginning right from the door of the hotel. An easy option is the short and flat Lakeshore Trail, which runs for 2km along one side of Lake Louise.





Below is the Chateau Lake Louise, pictured from the back of the lake.



Another popular trail is to the Plain of Six Glaciers. The trail is about 12 km round trip, and gains about 1,200 feet in elevation.









At the destination is a old teahouse offering a nice meal as a reward for your hike.



And while there is no indoor plumbing out here, if you have to use an outhouse, you won't find one with a better view anywhere!



Another hiking option, again starting right at the hotel door, is to Lake Agnes and the Little Beehive. At Lake Agnes, you will find another teahouse, which at one time was owned and operated by the Chateau Lake Louise. Hiking up the Beehive is about 9 km round trip, and gains a little bit more than 1,700 feet of elevation.

Below is the Chateau Lake Louise, as seen from the Little Beehive trail.



Here are some other photos from the Beehive.





Nearby to Lake Louise, is Moraine Lake. One of the big advantages of staying at the Chateau Lake Louise, is for access to Moraine Lake. The parking lot at Moraine Lake is small, and once it's full (which can happen as early as 6:30 AM in the summer months), the road closes to traffic until some people leave. However, the Chateau is the only hotel offering a shuttle bus to Moraine Lake, meaning if you reserve a seat, you have guaranteed access, and don't need to mess with trying to get there before the road closes, or trying to line up out on the highway for the Parks Canada shuttles.

Below is the Chateau Lake Louise shuttle bus, parked at the Moraine Lake pickup spot.



Once at Moraine Lake, there are a number of short walks and great hikes. Below are some photos from the popular Rockpile at the end of Moraine Lake.




Below are some photos from the hike to nearby Consolation Likes.





And when out hiking in this area, be sure to stay alert for the many animals you're sharing the trail with. There are lots of colourful birds.




Here's a mother and baby mountain goat we came across.



And here is what reminded me on this trip, why we always carry bear spray!





Fortunately, the bears were more interested in eating the plentiful dandelions than eating us!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable stay, as usual. We're booked to return again in the winter for some more skiing, and will be back in the Marquis de Lorne Suite again, as we'll just be travelling as a couple for that trip.

Goldorak

Wonderful report and pictures CanadaDH. Thank you

gcashin

Thanks for posting such a detailed report, CanadaDH! That suite is a few notches above what I normally book at LL, but that's an amazing suite and appreciate the detailed tour!

CanadaDH

We only book that suite when travelling with other people. I think that was our third time in that particular suite. Originally, we were planning on brining my Dad out to treat him to a Rockies trip. He got scared of COVID numbers and cancelled a week before we were to fly out, so we found some friends to join us at the last minute, who were only too happy to take us up on an offer of a free room! His loss, I suppose, as COVID numbers plummeted for the trip, the weather was perfect on every day but one, and there were no crowds anywhere!

Synthesis

Awesome report. So cool that you even saw some bears there. Because of you CanadaDH, this place is on my to-visit list during a next trip to Canada in the area!

mjrobson

Thanks for all of the great information in this thread. Looking at doing 3 nights at CLL and 3 nights at JPL later this year - family of 4 - kids 5 and 7.

Debating between theFairmont Gold Jr Lakeview Suite and the 1 Br Lakeview Suite at CLL and the Lakefront or Lakeview at JPL.

Is the CLL 1 Br Lakeview Suite on every floor rooms 219 to 619 only (1 per floor)? Versus the Gold Jr Lakeview is in the exact same spot on, split in 2, on the 7th floor - either 719 or 723?

How is the Lakeview from the 1 Br suite if you end up on the lower floors?

CanadaDH - From what I can tell, gold floor does not give parking benefits. How is the gold lounge breakfast versus brasserie with a suite?? Is the gold lounge still doing full service? How would you compare the other benefits? What is checkin/checkout like with a suite versus the gold lounge 7th floor checkin? Are there any other hidden or cool suite perks the concierge helps setup?

CanadaDH

Yes, the 1 Bedroom Lakeview Suites are all #s X19. On the 8th floor, there are actually 2 of them side-by-side (819/823), but other floors have just the 1. At least, I think that's the case. While I've stayed there dozens of times, I've only ever stayed on floors 5 through 8, so it's possible the floor plan of the lower floors may be a bit different.

On Fairmont Gold, there are no 1-Bedroom Lakeview Suites anymore, except for the collections of Signature Suites (Marquis de Lorne, Belvedere and Glacier). Yes, the Gold Junior Lakeview Suites are also in the "719" area, where the 1-Bedroom Lakeview Suites are on the other floors. There used to be, up until about 3 years ago, and additional 1 Bed Lakeview Suite on all floors, including Gold. The 2 Bedroom Lakeview Suites (Gold and non-Gold) in X59, used to be bookable as a 1 or 2 bedroom configuration, by locking off certain doors, and the hotel could independently sell a 1 Bed Suite and a Deluxe Room independently. They've since renovated all of them, and the X59 suites are all arranged as a 2-bed configuration. It removed booking option flexibility, but created a much nicer 2-bedroom setup.

The breakfast on Fairmont Gold at the CLL is very good. They have a nice offering, and have an omelette chef in the lounge to make eggs to order. That said, the breakfast in the main restaurant is still going to be bigger and have more options. I can't say if the Gold Lounge is still table service. I was last there at the tail end of June, but Alberta removed most COVID restrictions on July 1, so it's possible they've since returned to a buffet.

The 1 Bedroom Lakeview Suites, as far as I know, have not yet been renovated. If you scroll back through some earlier posts, I have a number of photos from the 519 and 619 and 819 suites. The Gold Junior Suite will likely be finished nicer, but the 1 Bed Suites will be larger, with a separate room. You might find having a king bed in one room and a pull out couch in another room for the kids to be better for you? That would be personal preference. The bathroom in the X19 suites is large, so no issue there for a family of 4.

The other consideration is air conditioning. The 1 Bedroom Lakeview Suites below the 7th floor are not air conditioned. It's not normally needed in Lake Louise, but this has been an unusually hot summer out west, so who knows? But you're up at a significant elevation, so I suspect that even in a heat wave, opening a window in Lake Louise should be enough to cool things off.

It's really a tough call. I think both options will work well. It's more space, but unrenovated, and no AC, vs. an updated room with slightly less space and no separate bedroom, and with AC. You'll get a good breakfast on either option. Walking down the hall to the lounge will be a more convenient and faster breakfast, than riding the elevator down to the ground and lining up for a table in the restaurant, but now we're really talking about first-world problem differences!

Jasper2009

To add to CanadaDH's excellent summary:

1) When booking a one-bedroom suite, complimentary breakfast is included, and you have a choice between breakfast at the Brasserie and ordering via in-room dining (which may be the ideal option when travelling with kids)

2) Free parking is included when booking a one-bedroom suite or higher, but not with a (Gold) Jr. Suite

https://www.fairmont.com/lake-louise...accommodation/

mjrobson

Thanks for the info / clarifications!

Having the 1Br is always a plus to tuck the kids away at night, but as you noted, being on the gold floor is also very convenient. We're not huge AC people... we keep our house at 26C.

The 1br is ~250 per night more for our dates so i lean towards the Gold Jr Suite.