Inns Of Banff Hotel

Having stayed in The Inns Of Banff in January 2007, we couldn't wait to return this year.
We were a little disappointed when we returned this year, the service wasn't as good, the staff didn't seem as friendly, the novelty had definitely worn off & we also experienced the early morning fire alarm where it appeared only the Brits got out of bed to avoid potential death! There did only seem to be one member of staff working and he was in a total flap, I think he had rung a manager to come and help him switch the alarms off once they realised it was just the water pipe.
Overall there were no major incidents to complain about and we would consider staying there again but we do feel like it may be time to explore other, more luxurious hotels. The definite advantage of staying here though is being the first pick up and drop off point for the ski bus- on many occasions during our stay, many people got left behind at other hotels as the bus was already full by the time we got to the 3rd hotel! Also, the hire shop being directly within the hotel is really convenient.
If you upgrade your room here, it's probably still cheaper than the basic rooms in the nicer hotels and with so many bars and restaurants to spend your money in, it just depends whether you'd rather keep your money aside to spend on that or spend it up front on the hotel.
On our first stay we booked into the swiss village on a cheap deal but only stayed one night- that really was awful, the room smelled like damp, faced onto a car park and was very basic. I know it's meant to be the cheaper option for this hotel but whenever i've checked, it's only been about £20 difference so would definitely say pay the extra and get a room in the main hotel instead!

The resort of Banff and the ski areas of Lake Louise and Sunshine are an excellent place for European skier looking for an alternative.
If you get the option take a trip out to Kicking Horse for something a little different.
In respect of the Inns of Banff, I have to agree with other posting that the hotel does need some investment. I accept that this is a lower cost hotel. But during our stay the first room we where allocated suffered a leak from the roof. This is due to the design of the hotel and the fact that balconies on the upper floor allow for snow melt to move through the building.
The leak within the room was reported to the night service receptionist who stated that a report would be made and that maintenance would look at the problem.
On returning to the hotel from a days skiing, we discovered that housekeeping had ignored the bin full of water on the floor which we had placed to capture the leak and that the leak had in actual fact got worse.
This was then reported again to reception and they stated that the room had been checked and no problem was found. They then sent up housekeeping and building maintenance and both agreed that a new room had to be found immediately.
We where allocated a new room and at 3.00am on that evening the fire alarm was triggered. This was apparently caused by a burst water pipe within the building.
On trying to evacuate the building we progressed to the nearest fire escape to be confronted with smoke and an acrid burning smell. We proceeded to exit by an alternative route and attended reception.
All I can say is that a trained chimp would have been better than the poor excuse for the night staff within reception both myself and another guest reported the fact that we had encountered smoke and an acrid smell but he could not be bothered.
The bigger concern that I have is that for a hotel with a couple of hundred guests only about 20 could be bothered to leave the building.
Thank god that in this case the smoke and fumes where caused by the water main coming in contact with an electrical heating system and not an actual fire.
But this does not excuse the lack of preparation the hotel seems to have in place for a potential major incident.
A good point about the hotel are the bar and restaurants and the fact that you tend to be first pick up and first drop off for the coach transfers to the mountain.
My advise would be if you can stretch your budget then look at staying elsewhere but if you a looking to bring in a good Canadian snow adventure then the hotel is alright but don't be suprised if a problem occurs.

Stayed here for 1 night as we were attending a friend’s wedding.
This accommodation seemed expensive for the location and room, when we telephoned to book we were unable to finalise the booking until we posted a non refundable deposit of £20 to the hotel, they would not accept a credit card or debit card over the telephone, this itself was inconvenient.
The room itself was clean but was very basic, with limited facilities: kettle, coffee, tea & cups and a hairdryer. The free toiletries were quite cheap and we didn’t use them! The size of the room was very small and the view was over the top of the hotels function room and back area so wasn’t nice at all!
The decoration was very 80`s with lots of floral patterns!
The bed was comfy however and the surroundings are quite quiet.
The breakfast the following day was good, the selection was acceptable and some of the ingredients were local.
When checking out we discovered that we had even been charged for a newspaper.
Wouldn’t return and wouldn’t recommend simply as it was too expensive for the type of accommodation.

Banff was a lovely resort with superb mountain and lake views. Plenty of restaurants to choose from had a great dinner at Tony Romas made more than welcome even as a family with children great service great food too and at a reasonable price.
The high street at the moment is having a major facelift so may cause some minor disruption but to us it was ok no traffic problems or any real inconvenience caused.
The Banff in was a friendly and nice hotel just a short 5miniute walk at most from the town centre the hotel has a complimentary buffet breakfast which is a nice way to start of the day shame the under 18s weren’t allowed in the bar area to enjoy a family end of day drink but that didn’t stop me.
Would be happy to recommend this hotel and resort for those that enjoy the outdoors mountains and scenery vacations a very pretty and clean resort and only a shade over a hour away from Calgary airport.

I’ve stayed at the Inns of Banff for the past two years and I’m more than happy to stay again.
However I would say that this hotel is best suited for adults and not small children, mainly due to it being built into a hill.
The accommodation more resembles concrete blocks connected by lots of stairs and passage ways, even with taking the lift it can be a hike.
However this is not a problem and can even be beneficial if you hire a car as you can drive up the hill and park outside your room.
All the rooms are of a good size kept very clean and well looked after. The rooms are similar if not better than most I’ve stayed in at Banff. On one occasion we did have a leak like several other people on here but we were given another room straight away.
The facilities are excellent, great hot tub, good food and a friendly bar. The hotel is only a $5 taxi into town and also served by the ski bus to the lifts.
Overall for the price this hotel can't be beaten for Banff, for those with a higher budget stay in the Caribou lodge, Mount Royal Hotel or Buffalo mountain lodge. Best food- try a steak at the keg or ribs at Tony Romanas.
Night life - rose and crown, Pete’s tavern cheapest in town! Or there's a small bar next to rude boys ski shop in the basement of the mall.

Banff was fantastic and a great place to ski.
The hotel however is in need of renovation. I agree with the previous review - having paid for a superior room we were put in block C which is a bit of a hike with luggage and children in tow.
This included a view of the accommodation behind but not a mountain view. The bath was chipped and the balcony door broken - I was offered an upgrade at $10 per night!
Complained to rep and was moved to another 1970s style room that had a fantastic view but showed signs of water damage - again balcony door was broken.
Towards the end of the holiday as the snowfall increased, water started to leak through the ceiling onto the bed.
The star rating needs to be reviewed for this hotel.

1 reader found this review helpful

My family and I have just arrived back from Canada and have not yet been to sleep trying to adjust to the time difference.
I am writing this mail so soon whilst events from our recent trip are still fresh in my mind.
Whilst I have no complaint with our tour operator directly, I need to tell you about the accommodation we had in Banff as I believe this is one of the most popular hotels.
On our arrival with our friends, our rooms were together as requested. They were clean and well presented but were the furthest two rooms away from reception making luggage transfer and visits for the children to the pool, epic journeys.
Having arrived on the Saturday all was well until the Wednesday, when my wife and Daughter had a 'Spa' Day and on return found our room without heating. Maintenance were requested and attended but were unable to raise the temperature significantly.
We agreed with the maintenance man and the front desk to having a portable heater in the room, this did not appear but instead both our room and our friends, developed significant leaks causing paddy field carpets, this combined with lack of heating in our room was not helping my 14 year old daughter who by now had developed a serious chest and sinus infection.
After much uncomfortable debate with the lady on the front desk, she would only agree to move our friends initially as she stated we said we were happy without heating. We were eventually given adjacent rooms in B block.
The cleanliness in these rooms was never up to the standard of the first rooms, with floors remaining un-vacuumed, coffee and whitener not replaced and one occasion a note left apologising for lack of towels promising them to be delivered shortly.
We bathed using two very small hand towels, after telephoning reception we were woken at 2145 hrs that night with our delivery of towels and coffee creamer.
At the start of our last ski day our friends woke to find yet another major leak in their room and a small leak in the bathroom of our room. The leak was reported and staff promised to have it sorted on our return from skiing.
On our return the floor was once again a paddy field nothing having been done. Eventually someone came to mop up some of the water. But we decided not to move rooms again as it was our last night and we were leaving in the morning.

I did inform our rep of all of our room problems and those also experienced in the Wildfire grill on New Years eve, where 5 out of 7 meals were returned as meat was overcooked, hard and cold also cold vegetables were served.
During all of our genuine complaints to the hotel, we were made to feel we were gold digging after compensation, we never asked for anything.
As a family we really enjoyed the Banff experience but the hotel was a let down. I have passed feedback to both hotel and rep and all our issues can be substantiated.
I will not use the Inns again or recommend any friends or family, how could I?

I have stayed at this hotel 3 times now, I love the friendly staff and the size of the rooms are bigger than most for a standard room.
The bar is good with lots of plasma screens to watch, and in the morning it is used to host the complimentary continental breakfast.
A hot tub, steam room and sauna are great for relaxing after a day on the slopes.
Rooms are clean and most if not all have a balcony or terrace.
This is a non smoking hotel.

Fantastic!
We went to Canada for a special holiday to celebrate my partners 30th birthday and our anniversary and it was by far the best holiday ever!
The flight over was a bit of a nightmare, don't fly with Monarch. There is no leg room, the on-board entertainment wasn't much to write about and the cabin crew were stuck up rude people who honestly didn't care about your comfort at all.
The transfer from the airport to the hotel was fine, the driver was friendly and even stopped so we could get some pictures of the wildlife.
The Inns of Banff hotel was very clean, staff were friendly and had lots of information on what to do in Canada. We were lazy and ordered room service a few times which was fast and gorgeous. I would highly recommend the waffles for breakfast if you like to eat a lot.
The ski areas were great, brilliant views and excellent staff. We did the Club ski which was well worth it. Our instructor was very nice and taught us a lot. It was nice that we got a lot of experience within a short space of time.
Banff town was lovely, it's just so beautiful when it’s snowing. We ate in town most nights, The Old Spaghetti Factory is highly recommended, it was great food and reasonably priced. Shopping was great as well, if you can go to Calgary on the shopping trip, you can buy so much, old navy is a great shop.
As you can see I haven't got a bad word to say, we did the twin centre break and spent our second week in Jasper, still lovely but Banff was much much better for everything. We love Banff and Canada so much we've decided we'd like to move out there in the near future.
I hope you have a lovely holiday!

A beautiful town with much more to see and do than just ski or board. There are three ski resorts surrounding the town that cater for everything from the beginner to those wishing to go off piste. There is also a very good board park for perfecting those tricks!
It is very much a child friendly resort - with a ski kindergarten available for the very young.
Transport to and from the mountains was very reliable and the snow conditions are far superior to any we have skied on in Europe.
Eating out was a little expensive, but if you go for the self-catering option prices are very similar to over here.
The wildlife tours and walks along the frozen waterfalls are highly recommended, and we would love to go back in the summer to see the bears that were hibernating at the time.
The Inns of Banff itself has two restaurants and an English pub - all are highly recommended, particularly the sushi in the Japanese restaurant. The town itself has many good eateries from a variety of nations.
Our only complaint about the whole holiday would have been the flight. The cabins were very cramped and the stewards inefficient, but other than that we would recommend to all.