Joe Janikian
Google
If you're looking for a hotel that redefines "budget" and makes you question your choice of travel agent, look no further than the dumpy Charlton Inn. From the moment I opened my room door a sense of foreboding settled in. Scratched and beat-up furniture. Loft suite sounds great until you realize that you have to climb down a flight of spiral stairs in the darkness to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
The carpet, a mosaic of unidentifiable rips and stains, clearly hadn't seen a cleaning since the Reagan administration. Bath towels are tiny, old, worn out and ripping.
I asked about the pool and sauna advertised and was told they are being serviced, but I can go two blocks down the street to their sister hotel. And walk back in a wet bathing suit? Yup! There is no safe in the room. One of the two bedside lamps wouldn't work, and the other had a fluorescent style bulb, as do all the other fixtures. The bathroom fan started to grind for a minute before running as loud as a truck.
The Charming CockroaCharlton Inn is an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. If you're looking for a clean, comfortable, or even remotely pleasant stay, please, for the love of all that is holy, look elsewhere.
Rating: 0.5/5 stars (and that half-star is purely for the fact that I technically had a roof over my head)
When a single company owns 13 hotels in a small town like Banff, they can charge ridiculous prices for dumpy accommodations.