Cat N.
Yelp
I try to be grateful for pet friendly options and understand this is the budget option in Lake Louise, but it was galling to be lied to and experience an uncomfortable stay as a result. Dogs are allowed in certain rooms and buildings to be courteous to other guests coming through who may have allergies. I booked a Queen room and we were placed in the dog-friendly building on the ground floor. I politely asked for a second level floor and was told that there weren't any that allowed dogs - contrary to what the website indicates when you look at the pet-friendly buildings. We figured fine, we were only sleeping there and resting in between our daily activities, plus my dog is calm and isn't reactive to noise that we expected from the parking lot and street we faced.
Our room was absolutely not a Queen. My partner and I both sleep on Queen beds at home and therefore know the sizing. We also measured with our hiking poles using the mm markers, and they had squeezed two fulls into our room so that a) we had less space to move around and b) less space to comfortably sleep together. I let the front desk know that we measured it and felt that we had been misrepresented and should not be charged the queen pricing, and I didn't even get a shrug. She gave me a totally dispassionate look, the visualization of "okay, so what?" I tried to contact management and NEVER got a response to my email. I had booked through T-Mobile, and opened a ticket with them. They finally got back to me and said that the hotel gave me the correct room. I wish I had taken pictures of our measurements and the room to prove that we absolutely did not get the room we paid for.
The place we needed just for rest ended up being hardly restful at all as a result. To boot, the walls are extremely thin and you can hear everything from the rooms beside you and above you. We were there during shoulder season, and I cannot imagine how much noisier it is during the high season. Parking was also difficult to find as the lot fills up quickly, so I'm not sure if there's overflow during high season. The resort/amenities fees were not worth the charge, as it covers old board games and DVDs, a pitiful "mini golf" course that is just a few strips of astro turf among bark in between buildings, and bicycles that are poorly maintained. My partner is a bicyclist who knows from the basics of reading PSI to when the gears aren't properly working (my brake was also sounding iffy). The manager came out all huffy when he said that the tire was flat and just politely requested a pump.
I absolutely regretted booking for our entire stay while visiting Banff, and sadly recommend you look elsewhere if you need pet-friendly lodging.