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The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

Old Jul 19, 2018, 10:31 pm
  #256  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 39
Originally Posted by CanadaDH
OK. A few thoughts below...



For a short hike after checking into CLL late in the day, consider Fairview Lookout. Just a short hike in the trees to a view point over the lake looking back at the Chateau. Very easy.

You could also participate in the yoga/stretching classes they give on the canoe dock in the evening. It's free for hotel guests. A nice way to limber up for the hiking the next day. And, what better setting for a stretch class than outside at Lake Louise!

Consolation Lakes might not be a great option, since getting to Moraine Lake, other than crazy early or late in the day, is difficult. It's also a trail with grizzly bear activity, and is under the tight group of 4 hiker restrictions most of the summer. Hiking it into the evening when critters are more active means you need to be extra bear aware.



As I said, it's a long boring fire road, but Lake O'Hara is fabulous. You probably won't have time for the full alpine circuit, given the time to walk the road. To get a good mix of everything, head out the West Opabin Trail, see Opabin Prospect, then to Hungabee Lake and pick up the Yukness Ledges alpine route as far as Lake Oesa, and then back to O'Hara. Or, the opposite direction.



Lots of good options at Moraine Lake. Everything from the dead easy Lakeshore Trail and the Rockpile Trail up to more strenuous hikes like Sentinel Pass and Wenkchemna Pass, to scrambles like the Tower of Babel (which is a good introductory scramble, but still to be taken seriously). Love the canoe ride at Moraine. Canoeing will be cheaper at Lake Louise, simply because you're a hotel guest. Both lakes are great.

I've been to Bow Lake, but never done any of the big hikes in the area, so can't offer much comment.



I'll send you a link via PM to some hiking maps and photos for those hikes.



You won't be fishing at Peyto Lake. There's a short trail to a nice Peyto Lake viewpoint, but you'll be hundreds of feet above the lake. You can get to the lake, but it's not a maintained trail, and may involving fording a couple of creeks. I wouldn't bother.
I wouldn't spend the money on the Glacier Skywalk. Firstly, you're not on a glacier, and secondly, with all of the hikes you're planning on doing, you'll have tons of way better views. You'll find it disappointing and feel like you were ripped off. The Glacier Skywalk is there for windshield tourists and old tour bus passengers who don't bother going anywhere off the pavement.

I think Maligne Canyon is really pushing it. Jasper is a very long day trip from Lake Louise. Maligne is another hour further than Jasper. Very nice, but, that's a full day, especially if you're planning on spending a couple of hours at the Columbia Icefields. Many of your stops won't take too long, but it will be a full day. If you try it, definitely pack picnic lunches. You don't want to waste time lining up for overpriced and mediocre food at the Crossing or some other underwhelming stop along the way.



I'll send you another link for this. It's an easy hike, but it can be busy.



I haven't done these, although, I have a Lake Minnewanka fishing charter booked for next month to try it out.
can you give me info on who you chose to do fishing charter with?

do I hit you up for advice on Chateau le Frontenac for later in the year
2018 : Orchid, grand Del Mar, Banff, Lake Louise, Quebec and Boston to use up all my certificates
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Old Jul 20, 2018, 6:17 am
  #257  
 
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Originally Posted by socaltam
can you give me info on who you chose to do fishing charter with?

do I hit you up for advice on Chateau le Frontenac for later in the year
2018 : Orchid, grand Del Mar, Banff, Lake Louise, Quebec and Boston to use up all my certificates
Banff Fishing Unlimited. They came highly recommended to me by some friends. They're 'old school' in that they don't have online booking on their website. You have to phone them, and they'll check their schedule book and give you a verbal confirmation. Or, the concierge at Banff Springs can book it for you.

I'm not as knowledgeable about Le Chateau Frontenac, as I've only stayed there maybe 4 times, and only once since their big renovation. It is good value using certificates there, as it can get expensive in the summer months.
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Old Aug 22, 2018, 6:15 pm
  #258  
 
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Checked in to the Chateau Lake Louise yesterday. Four of us travelling, so booked a Two-Bedroom Lake View Suite for the first time. I'll update my earlier post with photos of the various suite types at this property. 2 large bedrooms. 3 full and spacious bathrooms. The awesome views you would expect.

Alex didn't disappoint with room or the amenity this time. Big cheese and meat platters, and 2 nice bottles of wine.




They also gave us 8 drink tickets on check-in. There were 4 in the package, and the agent at the desk threw in 4 more.

No complaints so far. I've lost count of the number of stays I've had here, and each time is always great.

Suite was ready early. Valet was efficient at unloading and parking the car, and I think our luggage beat us up to the room.
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Old Aug 28, 2018, 9:00 pm
  #259  
 
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I have updated the earlier post (linked below) in this thread, which describes and shows pictures of various suite types at the Chateau Lake Louise. It has been updated to include the Two-Bedroom Lakeview Suite room category.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29001323-post237.html
Jasper2009 likes this.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 4:23 pm
  #260  
 
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Anyone have any recent experience receiving the "suite life" benefits while using suite upgrade certs? I was looking to burn my last certs and was able to double up my suite certs to go from a base Fairmont room to a Lakeview 1 bdrm suite for Family Day weekend. Per the website and the email that was subsequently sent from the suite concierge team details all of the amenities including free breakfast and valet parking amongst other more inconsequential items. I reached out the suite concierge to make some reservations and asked about the breakfast and parking and was told that parking was not included in my rate, but breakfast was. I sent back a link to the suite benefits from the Fairmont website and she came back with "I apologize about the confusion as I have conveyed the wrong information to you. Investigating deeper into your reservation I see that you are using a suite upgrade certificate. Unfortunately many amenities are not offered under those terms such as valet parking, however I have made the exception and added the amenity to your stay." Not sure if that means breakfast is included or excluded? I may just roll the dice and argue at checkout that breakfast was stated as included.

This is our first time at CLL in probably 8 or 9 years as we prefer BSH, but were just there with the kids last weekend and decided to branch out with one last hurrah of the suite upgrades.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 8:57 pm
  #261  
 
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Originally Posted by habshabs444
Anyone have any recent experience receiving the "suite life" benefits while using suite upgrade certs? I was looking to burn my last certs and was able to double up my suite certs to go from a base Fairmont room to a Lakeview 1 bdrm suite for Family Day weekend. Per the website and the email that was subsequently sent from the suite concierge team details all of the amenities including free breakfast and valet parking amongst other more inconsequential items. I reached out the suite concierge to make some reservations and asked about the breakfast and parking and was told that parking was not included in my rate, but breakfast was. I sent back a link to the suite benefits from the Fairmont website and she came back with "I apologize about the confusion as I have conveyed the wrong information to you. Investigating deeper into your reservation I see that you are using a suite upgrade certificate. Unfortunately many amenities are not offered under those terms such as valet parking, however I have made the exception and added the amenity to your stay." Not sure if that means breakfast is included or excluded? I may just roll the dice and argue at checkout that breakfast was stated as included.

This is our first time at CLL in probably 8 or 9 years as we prefer BSH, but were just there with the kids last weekend and decided to branch out with one last hurrah of the suite upgrades.
My experience suggest the later information you received is correct. The suite life benefits only apply when booking a 1 Bedroom Suite Category or higher. If you book Jr. Suite or lower and upgrade into a 1 Bedroom Suite, you might get lucky, but I have been told they technically don't apply. The upgrade certificate gets you the better suite. I have received the benefits when booking a 1 Bed Lakeview Suite and upgrading to a 2-Bed Lakeview Suite, or booking a Gold Lakeview 1 Bed Suite and upgrading to the Marquis de Lorne Suite, but have been denied them more often than not when upgrading from anything lower than a 1 Bed Suite.

I'll be checking into the CLL myself on the Saturday of the Family Day weekend, also in a Lakeview One Bedroom Suite, and will stay a week using up a couple of certs, before moving east to Banff Springs for another burn of a Suite Upgrade over there and my Authentically Local Dining cert at the 1888 Chop. It should be a good last use of them.

We might bump into each other!
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Old Feb 19, 2019, 4:58 pm
  #262  
 
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I am at the Chateau right now, and have again updated my earlier post (linked below) in this thread, which describes and shows pictures of various suite types at the Chateau Lake Louise. It has been updated to include another 1-Bedroom Lakeview Suite room option.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29001323-post237.html
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Old Feb 19, 2019, 5:24 pm
  #263  
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Does booking 1 br via virtuoso allow suite life amenities or those are only for direct booking?
(hope for additional upgrade chance with virtuoso now that all certs are gone...)
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Old Feb 19, 2019, 5:49 pm
  #264  
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Originally Posted by azepine00
Does booking 1 br via virtuoso allow suite life amenities or those are only for direct booking?
(hope for additional upgrade chance with virtuoso now that all certs are gone...)
Suite life amenities do apply when booking via consortia and similar programs such as Virtuoso, Amex FHR, Travel Leaders Select etc.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 4:19 pm
  #265  
 
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Just had a 2 night stay this past weekend in order to burn my last suite upgrade certs ever. By calling in-house reservations directly, I was able to negotiate using my last 2 certs for to upgrade to a 1 bdrm lakeview suite in the Mount Temple wing which was the only suite remaining other than the specialty suites a few weeks out. Historically, BSH has been our go to which we usually frequent with the kids a few times per year with our last time at CLL probably 6 or 7 years ago. I had enquired about the suite life benefits a couple of weeks out and was given some conflicting information that breakfast was included when it was in fact not. As a goodwill gesture, valet parking was proactively offered due to the miscommunication which was appreciated.

Firstly I will start off with the negatives/service issues of which multiple were encountered within the first 24 hours we were there. 48 hours prior to arrival, I received the customary check-in email enquiring when we were arriving which was going to be 2pm. Upon our arrival shortly after 2pm, I was informed by the front desk staff that our room wasn't ready which was fine given it isn't a guaranteed platinum amenity. I asked how long it would be and she was unsure, but promised to text me as soon as she heard. Given our 1.5 year old was ready for a nap, we were anxious to get our room. An hour later after a decent lunch in the lounge, I still had not heard anything so went back to the front desk to be told that our suite was in fact ready and had been for awhile. I questioned why this wasn't communicated and was told that she would look into it. Once we were in our suite (which definitely met our needs), I received a call from the initial front desk agent apologizing for the misunderstanding and enquired if everything was good in the room. I requested for a crib (requested in my original reservation) and also for bedding for the pullout couch for our 3 year old. I was told this would be no problem - more on this later.

Our first dinner was at Alpine Social. Our server was very engaging and we ordered a bunch of plates to share. To our astonishment, everything arrived less than 10 minutes later even before our wine arrived. There was no way that everything could have been cooked in that short time frame at a busy dinner hour, so we couldn't help but think that everything had been pre-made and warmed up. Our suspicions were confirmed when everything tasted cold and quasi stale less than 5 minutes later. We did not make a big issue of this as having to wait for another round of meals with young kids almost ready for bed is a lesson we learned long ago.

Fast forward to our arrival back at the room and the pullout couch is not made up and there is no bedding to be found (the crib was there at this point). I call back down to the front desk and they said they would send someone up right away. Ten minutes later with 2 overtired and cranky kids, I call again and said they would put a rush on it. Finally someone turned up 25 minutes after the initial call. Having to make 3 requests with an additional follow up beginning with the initial reservation was not acceptable. When there's no young kids involved, this wouldn't be a huge issue, but for anyone that has travelled with young kids, when they are ready for bed, they are definitely ready for bed!

The next morning we had breakfast at Poppy Brasserie. We elected just to order a la carte which ended up being a huge mistake. One kid's pancakes came out first but we were told, they were out of syrup so that didn't appear for 15 minutes. Then an order of toast was missed, then the next one came out cold. The butter that eventually came was frozen solid. It was a comedy of errors that went on and on and they didn't appear to be overly busy. Lesson learned - go for the buffet the following morning.

Later on that day, I received the usual text message follow up enquiring how I would rate my stay from 1 - 10. I replied with a 6 stating that the suite, hotel as a whole, and the outdoor activities have been solid but there had been multiple service issues to that point. Her response was "I'm sorry to hear of your poor experience. What could we do to make sure your experience is excellent?" Huh?? Perhaps enquire what the issues and use them to coach the staff in the future?? I texted her to call me if she wanted to hear about them for which she did and was quiet apologetic. She asked what she could do for us and I reiterated I wasn't looking for anything in forms of compensation - all of the issues weren't overly significant, rather the sum of them wasn't something that I would normally expect from a Fairmont. She enquired where we had reservations that night and we were dining at Walliser Stube and she proactively offered to comp the dinner which was far over and above what was necessary.

From here on in for the duration of our stay, everything was great. Dinner at Walliser was great with service to match. Our server encouraged us to order as we see fit given it was covered, but I didn't feel right in ordering anything outrageous in terms of pricey wine etc that we wouldn't normally order when paying ourselves. It was also clear the next morning that the message had been conveyed to the wait staff at breakfast as we were continually fawned over by the staff, almost to the point of it being over the top as the diners around us weren't getting the same level of attention. Although the weekend was chilly, we still enjoyed multiple skating sessions on the lake in the sun and also the sleigh ride around the lake and of course numerous visits to the pool. Late checkout of 3pm was graciously granted (post issues, they suggested even 5pm).

Overall I was more than happy with the service recovery. Of course I can't help but compare to our defacto weekend destination of BSH, but I think we will continue with old faithful. The outdoor pool with the kids is obviously a huge draw at BSH which probably puts it over the top, however things may change as the kids get older and become more involved in outdoor activities.
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Old Feb 20, 2019, 6:13 pm
  #266  
 
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I agree, the pool at BSH is really nice. There have been plans to bring back an outdoor pool and expanded spa at CLL, but I believe they are still working on approvals from Parks Canada. They are not allowed to expand the footprint of the hotel any further, so the present day area is what it will always be, but the space from the old pool, which was just filled in and never reclaimed, is the proposed space for the planned new pool. Who knows how many years it will take to get an approval from the government. I guess being within a national park has its limitations, and for good reason.

We're at the hotel now, and also could not get an early checkin. Not surprising considering we checked in on the holiday long weekend, when they're probably near sold out. However, it's a change from the good old FPC days with guaranteed early checkin.

Our meals have all been fabulous. Ate at Lago, Lakeview Lounge, Alpine Social and Poppy so far. We always eat at Walliser Stube at the end of our stay. They have cut back menus a bit at the Lakeview Lounge, with a temporary kitchen set up to replace the main kitchen and the Fairview restaurant down for renovations. They have been opening other spots for dinner that are not normally open in the winter to make up for it. I saw some renderings of the planned new restaurant and bar, and it looks just fantastic. Opening is, however, delayed until May now. It will be much larger than the previous Fairview, taking over the meeting space that used to sit between the Fairview and the Lakeview Lounge.

The only complaint I have about our stay is we found the shuttle service to the ski hill a bit disorganized and a bit under capacity during busy periods. We never experienced that on earlier trips. I mentioned it in passing, and they sent up some wine and offered a private transfer for future days on the hill. Not necessary, but appreciated nonetheless.

No issues with our suite. Big, with lots of windows looking over the lake, and tons of storage space for our bulky and many clothing items and sports gear.
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Old Feb 21, 2019, 6:26 pm
  #267  
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Originally Posted by habshabs444
... I had enquired about the suite life benefits a couple of weeks out and was given some conflicting information that breakfast was included when it was in fact not. ...
i assume this was due to cert upgrade rather than booking directly?

Also what's your opinion on mt temple suite (true one bedroom with door? fold out bed for kids? size, view, bath etc)? I cant seem to find any reviews...
It seems to be the only practical suites option in the area in the post-cert world that may allow us to return with family...
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Old Feb 22, 2019, 1:42 pm
  #268  
 
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Originally Posted by azepine00
i assume this was due to cert upgrade rather than booking directly?

Also what's your opinion on mt temple suite (true one bedroom with door? fold out bed for kids? size, view, bath etc)? I cant seem to find any reviews...
It seems to be the only practical suites option in the area in the post-cert world that may allow us to return with family...
Yes - this was due to the use of the suite upgrades.

I actually liked the Mount Temple suite, however, it lacked the character that the older part of the hotel would have. The suite we were in was at the very end of the newer wing so a fair walk from the amenities in the main building. We were on the 3rd floor (originally the 5th floor before we got a rush on the room to check-in) and there was still a nice view of the lake, granted the view would be a far cry from some of the ones in the main building. There is only one set of windows offering the view as the room is a long rectangle. The bedroom is separated from the living area offering a pullout couch and coffee table by sliding wooden pocket doors. There was no dining table/area to eat which would have been a plus as sometimes we just like to order room service if the kids are being fussy. The bathroom was quite large with dual sinks and separate bathtub and shower. The suite wasn't spectacular by any means, but definitely met our needs.
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Old Feb 25, 2019, 3:47 pm
  #269  
 
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Planning a trip to Fairmont Lake Louise this spring, but sadly won't make it before the end of February, so my upgrade certificates will die unused. Any idea what the odds are for getting an upgrade from a Fairmont room (at check-in) based on Accor LeClub status? Currently I am only Silver as inherited from the merger, but with some effort I could probably make Gold. I could probably visit midweek if it makes a difference.
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Old Feb 25, 2019, 4:47 pm
  #270  
 
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Originally Posted by eastbysouthwest
Planning a trip to Fairmont Lake Louise this spring, but sadly won't make it before the end of February, so my upgrade certificates will die unused. Any idea what the odds are for getting an upgrade from a Fairmont room (at check-in) based on Accor LeClub status? Currently I am only Silver as inherited from the merger, but with some effort I could probably make Gold. I could probably visit midweek if it makes a difference.
Can you define what you mean by 'spring'?

If there during the shoulder season, you might get lucky. By that, I mean early May. Lake Louise ski resort will have just shut down, Lake Louise will be ice covered, but not safe to walk on, and the hiking trails are all snowbound. But then, if you're there at that time, I don't know what you plan to do.

If there from May 24 weekend and on, your odds are zero of getting any kind of upgrade. If there at the tail end of ski season, say late April, you might get lucky with an upgrade, but I doubt it. If there between now and the end of March or mid-April, it's still a busy time, and I doubt as a Silver or even Gold, you would likely get an upgrade.

Mid week and short stays are likely to improve your odds of something being available.
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