Reviewed By: Booksnoop
"My husband and I stayed at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise during the last week of February 2005, while my husband attended a conference in the hotel. We paid a special conference rate of $370.00 per night (CAD) for a deluxe room (275 sq. ft.) with two double beds. Our rate included breakfast, lunch and dinner each day of our stay for both of us. Since the dining here is quite expensive, I feel we got an excellent deal.
"The hotel is about a 2 hour drive from the Calgary Airport, but if you are going to stay at the resort and not travel anywhere else, I would recommend that you not rent a car. Instead, you can take a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The hotel also provides a free shuttle to the Lake Louise Ski Resort and Lake Louise Village (or you can walk), so you don't really need a car. Parking, both self and valet, cost $20.00 a day during our stay.
"Our room was in the new Mount Temple Wing (Room #4942), which was completed in June 2004. This wing of the hotel houses the new Conference Center, which is fabulous. Our room had what the hotel said was a mountain view. Actually the view was of a stand of spruce trees, an access road for hotel deliveries, and if you looked to the right, you could see mountains. No complaints though, the view was fine. I have read reviews here complaining about small run down rooms at this hotel. If you want to avoid these and stay in a newer and larger room, ask for a room in this wing of the hotel.
"Our room was quite large and clean, with a separate sitting area with a chair, footstool and lamp, and a desk with a lamp and high speed internet access (using the internet cost about $14.00 CAD daily). The room also had a mini bar stocked with drinks and goodies (we had an erroneous $9.00 charge on our bill for drinks at check-out). The bathroom was marbled, with a big tub/shower and two terry cloth robes. The beds were comfortable with nice down duvets and lots of pillows. Our room was the last one at the end of a side hall, and was very quiet until near the end of our stay when a family with children checked in next door. We could clearly hear telephone conversations and kids yelling through the door between our rooms.
"When we called the hotel to confirm our reservation, we mentioned that we would be celebrating our wedding anniversary during our stay, and we found two small bottles of champagne on ice with a card from the manager in our room when we checked in.
"We ate all of our meals at special buffets for conference attendees, so I cannot rate any of the restaurants except the Chateau Deli, open 24 hours a day. They had very good, reasonably priced sandwiches and specialty coffees.
"I don't ski, but my husband and I had a great time participating in the Mountain Winter Adventures Program. All activities (all cost additional fees) can be booked in advance by telephoning the Concierge Desk, or you can sign up at the hotel. We went on two snowshoeing hikes, one during the day for 3 hours and one at night, both led by Bruce Bembridge, one of the hotel's Mountain Heritage Guides. Bruce is a great guide, teacher and storyteller; I highly recommend him! We had a cross country skiing class/tour (also taught by Bruce), where we skied on a trail which led to the far end of the lake, then came back to the hotel by skiing across the length of the frozen lake. It was absolutely beautiful. We also went on a 20k dog sledding trip up to the Continental Divide and across the border into British Columbia. On the way back, my husband got to mush the dogs.
"There is a rental shop in the hotel run by Monod Sports, where you can rent everything you need for alpine and cross country skiing, hockey, ice skating and snowshoeing. It cost us $16.00 each to rent cross country skis, boots and poles for a half day.
"The staff and service at the Chateau Lake Louise are all outstanding. We did not encounter one hotel employee who was not friendly and helpful. I have never stayed in a hotel with such superb service.
"I'm looking forward to visiting this magnificent hotel again!"
