Guy Betsy

Some friends are going there next week , do you think the problem has been resolved?

Ancien Maestro

My guess is that if guests and employees are still sick, they've probably been sent home, or quarantined.

I would recommend phoning the hotel directly and see what the situation exactly is. I phoned into the Hawaii property when I heard the Tsunami hit the Big Island.. thank goodness I did, as two other hotels shut down, but the Fairmont Orchid was largely untouched.

nmenaker

I was there last Saturday, as I posted it seemed to be business as usual, being eating in the lounges, no signs, nothing.

There WERE a lot of purell machines around, but I don't know if that is new or the new normal.

moebod

Ok. I am heading to the Banff area end of July for 3 days. I am coming with 2 children (age 4 and 2). It seams like I can get the Platinum suite upgrade to executive with the Banff location, and I am assuming the same for the Lake Louise property. I have never been to the area, and would like advise as to which area is the nicest place to be in the summer. Also, although the Banff location is more expensive, it seems from Reviews on tripadvisor that the Lake Louise property is actually a little nicer, but would like input from the pros here! I am more the "modern, new, clean, style" type of guy , but not sure if any hotel in the area is that type...Also, should I be considering Jasper? I will be flying into Calgary July 25th morning, and will be leaving the 28th evening. Thanks!

anti_ice

IMHO...

Banff Springs all the way. for about 46 separate reasons...

One of the main ones is that Banff is great with Plat upgrades and LL is stingy. Policy is that you'll only get a junior suite at LL. Not at all an ideal situation with two kids. Banff hotel is much more interesting. Just day trip to LL to see the lake.

Three days is pretty tight to get up to Jasper as well.

Ancien Maestro

Junior suites recently to Plats lately to Plats.. even if one bedrooms available..

One of the concierges said.. you have some connections at the hotel? Call them to get the one bedroom..

How's everyone's experience with the suite upgrades lately.. anybody not having trouble getting the one bedroom guaranteed lately?

rfrost

I used one in February--did not have trouble getting a full one bedroom. I have to say, though, that I did not particularly enjoy the hotel. I do like hotels with a history, but this just felt dingy and not very well kept. Service was spotty, as well. I think I'll try the Lord Elgin next time.

uncertaintraveler

Stayed at the Chateau Lake Louise a few weeks ago. Gold floor. Originally booked a mountain view room, got upgraded to a lake view room. Room was near the end of the building, towards the visitor car park area.

View from the room is stunning. True, the view is really just of a lake and the mountainside and the big beehive and all that, but what a lake it is. The more time that I spent looking at it, the more I liked the view. It was particularly nice being able to see the color change throughout the day (of both the lake and the mountainsides). Until around 9:00 am and after 6:00 pm, those at the lake are generally hotel guests, so the lakefront isn't all that busy, although the hotel clearly is on the tour-bus circuit (which can mostly be avoided by staying on the gold floor, although on our last day, about 75% of the floor was occupied by an Australian or English tour group, all of whom were in their late 70's and appeared to have pensions that were entirely unaffected by economic downturns).

We were lucky to get the upgrade; next time, I'll just book the lake view room, regardless of the cost. I had thought that the gold floor lounge would look out onto the lake; it doesn't. It looks out over the hotel's entrance area and parking garage, mostly.

Room was nicely appointed. Not too large. Probably in the 300 square foot range. Bathroom had a separate shower and tub. Shower was roomy, but not really conducive to 2-person showering. One sink only. Entrance way has wood floors; bedroom area is carpeted.

Our air conditioning was either exceptionally weak or didn't work. I still can't figure out which it was. I'd set the a/c to the low 60's; the thermostat never got below the mid 70's. I reported the issue to the lounge attendants. They said that they would look into it. I rather doubt they ever did. We just kept the windows cracked open at night. By about 10:00 pm the lakefront turned rather quiet, but there was still some chattering noises. Nothing too bad.

Gold floor lounge itself is quite large. Has a old english country club feel to it. Evening canapes and morning breakfast offerings seemed to be a on a three day rotation. The day that offers the pancakes (blueberry, I think) was the best. Regardless, the offerings are the best I've had compared to the Waterfront and YVR gold floor lounges.

It seemed that if the breakfast offerings weren't to your liking, you could make a special request. One couple asked for some sausage and received a huge plate of links. A few times I saw people get omlettes, hand delivered. Not sure how that worked out; no one ever asked me if I would like one, and I was too lazy to speak up and inquire.

The lounge attendants, all of whom appeared to be less than 30 years of age, were all quite nice and charming. I'm sure that it must get old asking everyone how their day was and what they did, only to be told for the 10th time that day that it was lovely and that they did some teahouse hike. Still, you'd never know that they had heard the same thing over and over again, and will likely do so for the next few years of their life. Quite professional.

Jasper the fish never said or did much. Mostly just lie at the bottom of his bowl. He probably gets lonely and hungry from watching everyone eat.

Dinner on site was sorta so-so; one couple said that standards had slipped from previous years. No idea if that is true or not, but we mostly ate off-site at Bill Peyto's. There's just something about eating in a hostel that takes me back to my backpacking years.

All in all, the hotel offers the opportunity to have a very restful stay. It lacks some of the history and quirkiness of Banff, but that isn't entirely a negative. I'd certainly stay there again.

kokinos

Anyone ever stay here on New Years Eve? We did the Banff Springs Ball last year and it was a great night. It seems this hotel has no ball. I did notice the lakeview lounge is open till 12:30 but they won't even take a reservation.

I called the hotel and Royal Service was no help. If it's gonna be a quiet night I'm thinking about changing to the Vagabond lodge in kicking horse but curious if anyone here has any firsthand experiences...

Ancien Maestro

No event over the years at CLL when we looked.. we've always opted for the Springs.. You can see downtown Banff fireworks in the Rundle Lounge.. beautiful.

But a quiet New Year's at CLL could be a nice treat also.

kokinos

Detailed report to come but I just had to say we had an excellent stay here during new years eve. There were a couple hiccups but in the end one excellent staff member made this trip one I won't forget ever.

The platinum amenity was one of the best ever and included this cute new honey jar for you to take home with you later. At check-in I was offered a 4pm check-out which I've never experienced before either. The rest of the juicy details will drop here shortly.

kokinos

Powder Rate of $139 and 19 hours left till it's over.

Basically Louise has decided to offer these "Powder Rates" when it snows over 15cm at Lake Louise. Well last night we had 18cms so this deal is on. I booked this deal before through the hotel direct.

This rate is for Fairmont room but you can pick a better room but it will cost more $$ too. I recall it's only available for stays in the next 5 nights but I'm not 100% sure.

Last time I used this rate on my New Years Eve trip and you can't complain about that!

300rwhp

Went camping in the rockies this weekend and the mosquitoes were insatiable. We quickly changed plans and booked a night at the Chateau. Room amenity was a demi bottle of Moscato D'asti. I really appreciated this.

Other note was while they did not have a bmw for complimentary short trips they did give us round trip taxi vouchers. Outstanding in my mind.

kokinos

Impressive on their part. Especially because the cab driver I encountered in LL charged per person and it ended up being $18 from the liquor store to the hotel for the two of us.

kristin0824

Visiting CLL for 2 nights (Thurs&Fri) in a couple weeks and we were confirmed in a Lakeview King using free nights and room upgrade. Emailed them this morning and asked if we could change our current reservation and use our suite upgrade cert to get a Lakeview Jr. Suite. Got an email a couple of hours later telling me they are putting us in a 1 BR Lakeview Suite! Any reason I shouldn't be thrilled about this 'upgrade'?