CanadaDH

I'm at the BSH now; checked in today for 5 nights. The full 1 Bedroom Suite is also an allowed category for suite upgrades at this property, and the one I have always used my certs for. I actually have 2 of those suites with suite upgrades for this current stay, since there are 4 of us travelling. I even requested 2 specific suites by room number, as I have some particular favourites, and had no problems.

I have no idea why they would say you can't get a Junior Suite with a suite upgrade cert. It's always been one of the allowable room types at BSH, and if they will allow a number of other categories that are considered superior categories, it would seem rather odd not to offer the lower category.

habshabs444

So I reached out to the VIP concierge team and got a call back from someone in reservations at the hotel who was very helpful. Apparently, the plat line was a little confused. The new policy is that the 1 bdrm suites are excluded from the suite upgrade pool, but all types of junior suites are included. As for the max 3 people in the junior suite category, this is determined on a case by case basis as clearly two kids aged 1 and 3 in my case is just slightly different than a couple of teenagers. The in house reservations girl was extremely apologetic regarding my experience and both of my upcoming reservations were handled with ease. Looking forward to another couple of stays in the upcoming months.

CanadaDH

If they have removed the 1 bed suites, that's unfortunate. It was a great value. Getting a $1300 suite for only $700-ish. Fortunately, I have another reservation where they have already confirmed it. After that, upgrade certs are a thing of the past anyway. I'm glad I book a year in advance.

habshabs444

I thought I would post a quick review of our stay this past weekend as there continues to be ongoing refurbishments and I have not posted anything regarding the hotel from any stays as of late. We usually visit the BSH 2-3 times per year for extended long weekends with the kids. Room rates continue to be sky high for the majority of the year, however, there are great (relatively speaking) rates to be had each January as part of their Snowdays package whereby you get 45% off room rates if staying 3+ nights and 20% off food/beverage along with some other activity discounts. On top of this, the lower occupancy results in a much less busy hotel where one isn't having to fight for a breakfast table in the gold lounge each morning.

We booked 3 nights in a gold junior suite for a very reasonable $385/night. Don with the VIP concierge team was as always very timely and proactive with any requests that were made beforehand. The gold floor had a lot of the familiar faces from past visits and were great with our kids. Upon arrival we realized that we left our 2 year olds soother at home and requested that they see if there was one available at either of the two stores onsite at the resort. Unfortunately, neither store had one, so instead of stopping there, they proactively had someone run into town and grab a package of two soothers and leave them in our room with a lovely note with no charge ending up on the bill for doing so. Now that is service!

Service on the gold floor was spot on as per usual with occupancy appearing to be rather low. The evening offerings seemed a little lacking relative to prior visits - not sure if that was a function of low occupancy or cutbacks. We had dinners at Castello, Grapes, and the Waldhaus and all three were solid experiences with great service.

As for ongoing renovations, Castello has been refurbished and has been made much more modern relative to what it was before. The Rundle Lounge is closed apparently until the end of Spring and is undergoing an extensive renovation whereby they are putting in a 2 story bar and opening up the 2nd level which has historically only been used for afternoon tea service. In the meantime, they have a temporary lounge area below the Ramsay lounge. The Japanese restaurant (Samurai is closed and appeared to be completely gutted when I poked my head in - not sure if this is a permanent closing or not. The spa is also in the midst of refurbishment, but the spa pools and treatment rooms are still open.

Overall, another great stay with the kids asking when we were returning next before we even hit the highway.

CanadaDH

Good to hear. Castello is my favorite restaurant at BSH and have reservations next month.

I assume you're talking about Don Mooney? He is great, isn't he! He and his team are always very responsive.

habshabs444

Yep - that is who I was referring to. The menu hasn't changed much at Castello. The veal parm was awesome!

tcook052

I thought it couldn't hurt to ask whether any members knew if there is free street parking near the BSH? I'm trying to do a Rocky Mountain weekend escape on the cheap in July and CAD$29 per night for on-site parking adds up on an award stay. I'm okay with a short walk but it becomes less worth it for anything over 10-minute walk.

Brendan

Tcook052, YES there is free parking on the side of the road from the BSH to the bridge to downtown, on a stretch 5--15 minutes walk from the hotel. It's marked with signs 4-hour limit from 8 AM--9 PM or something; no time limit overnight. So you can park at 5:01 PM and be legal till noon the next day. Given CanadaDH's warning below, just drive the car somewhere in the late morning, then find a new space on your return.

CanadaDH

I find that unless you do valet parking (which is suspended due to COVID), even parking on-site in the parkade can be close to a 10-minute walk.

If you do take the street parking, be very sure to pay attention to the times. In the past, the Banff parking enforcement teams have been very thorough. Downtown, they have cameras sending feeds to computer boxes around the town sidestreets, which alert the officers to exactly when they can write the ticket. With tourism expected to be down this summer, they might not be as strict, but they're good at their jobs! I went for dinner at the BSH over the winter, and parked on the street. As I was walking back to the hotel, there was an enforcement officer walking by the cars just down from the hotel. She was standing right by my rental as I was getting out of it. Thinking I might be doing something wrong, I asked if everything was OK? She said I was fine, but the guy parked in front of me was going to be getting a ticket in 5 minutes if he doesn't return!

tcook052

Thanks so much for the input as it's greatly appreciated.

Brendan

Check with your rental car company to compare the prices of picking up the rental car in DT Calgary vs. YYC Airport, which has heavy taxes & fees! Saving those fees + one night's parking fee could make it worthwhile to take transit or even a taxi from the airport to DT on arrival!
Of course, there's a chance that the base rates may differ on one-way rentals to Vancouver.

zwkchong

Hi Folks,

Found our Fairmont Banff Springs is still taking bookings for stay close promo until end of day today by phone. Reserved a Turret Junior Suite in early August for 699 with second night free.

They did offer Gold Mountain View Room for 790 on the same rate. Per hotel, Gold is reopening July 1st with following benefits:

Fairmont Gold Benefits:
Ø Private check-in and check-out on the 5thfloor
Ø Concierge service 7am – 9 pm daily
Ø Fairmont Gold Lounge for exclusive use of our Fairmont Gold guests
Ø Complimentary à la carte breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres in the Fairmont Gold Lounge, on the 5th floor
Ø Personalized wake-up call with hot & cold beverages
Ø Printing service available

Would you folks take the “upgrade” to gold view or just stick with the Turret? Gold Jr Suite was unavailable but they did mention I could change if it became available later.

In my mind, seems worth it considering breakfast will likely run $100+ for two days but I’m put off by reports that the regular gold room are underwhelming.

CanadaDH

Unlike their sister property up the road at Lake Louise, the Banff Springs is not as current with renovations of guest rooms. I think you'll find most rooms and suites, Gold and otherwise, are needing some updating. The last time I was in a Gold Junior Suite, it had a very small but updated bathroom, but with very few updates in the room itself. The Gold lounge is very nice. My big complaint about Fairmont Gold at BSH is that the Gold product is too large (4th and 5th floors combined, for more than 100 rooms), and the lounge is often crowded. As a result, I've avoided Gold there recently. But, perhaps this year will be the exception? If the hotel is not busy due to COVID killing tourism, this might actually be a good year to enjoy Gold at BSH. I don't know. Tough call.

My go-to room at BSH is one of the named 1 Bedroom Suites at the front of the 'cross section' of the hotel. Great views in multiple directions. Needs a renovation, but huge rooms with a ton of space.

The thing about the turret suites, is they will have a great view, but expect it to feel cramped. It's only 350 square feet, similar to other junior suites, but that's spread over 2 floors, with the bed being upstairs. That means when either upstairs or downstairs, you'll feel like you're in a room the size of a basic guest room. I believe the turret suite also has a 2nd bathroom (or just a powder room) on the main level, which may or may not be important to you. I would find a Junior Mountain View Suite more functional than a Turret Jr Suite, but with better views in the turret.

I think my preferences would be... Non-Gold 1 Bedroom Suite > Gold Room > Non-Gold Junior Suite > Turret Jr Suite, but that's just me. That applies to the current year, when the lounge likely isn't crowded. In a normal busy year, I would take the Non-Gold Jr Suite over the Gold Room.

zwkchong

Thanks so much for the feedback, think I’ll probably switch to gold. I was hoping for a gold jr suite but for some reason it looks unavailable for the next few months (renovations maybe?). How are the views from the lounge? Any better than the vermillion restaurant? I hear the vermillion is lacking windows but I do see some in photos... In my mind part of the appeal of an executive lounge breakfast is the best morning views on a property but I fear memories of the top floor Hilton Tokyo lounge may be misguided...

CanadaDH

To be completely honest, I don't recall looking out the windows from the lounge at BSH! I was last there in winter, and it would have been dark outside any time I was in the lounge. I'm sure the views are fine, but don't expect expansive windows. The building is like a stone castle, so there's much more stone wall than there is glass window. The views would also depend on where you are in the lounge. The Gold lounge at BSH is huge. The actually have 2 lounges, and the lounge across the hall is supposed to be the 'quiet' lounge, and the main one by the buffet is more lively. But, with the lounge taking up so much space across both sides of the building, the views could vary from the Bow Valley one way, to the Spray Valley another, to Cascade Mountain another direction, and perhaps even the driveway the other way. I'm more familiar with the property in Lake Louise, and to use that as an example, the view from the Gold Lounge is to the ski hill, with the parkade in the foreground. The premier lake views on the upper floors are kept for the guest rooms.

The Vermillion Room is a large restaurant (and was nicely renovated about 2 years ago). Yes, it certainly has windows overlooking the Bow Valley, however, there are many tables that would be a long way from any window. The windows would only be on one of the 4 sides of the restaurant, so window tables would be in demand. But, that restaurant is on a low floor, and the views might not be great. You'd be looking across the lawn, and then across a stone terrace which may have people milling about, and then out into the valley. If my memory is correct, I drew a red rectangle around the approximate location of the restaurant.