Overview
Located a 3-minute drive from Canmore's city centre and just west of the Trans-Canada Highway, the Grande Rockies Resort is popular with business and leisure travellers who prefer a boutique-style hotel with extended kitchen amenities, conference facilities, and easy highway access.
This hotel has 153 air-conditioned guest rooms and suites, each offering free Wi-Fi, cable TV, a balcony, a coffeemaker, a hair dryer and an iron and ironing board. Standard rooms offer one king bed, while one-bedroom suites offer a separate bedroom, a separate living area with a sofabed, a full kitchen, and a washer and dryer. Two bedroom suites, in addition to standard items, feature a DVD player, iPod docking station, and bathrobes for each guest.
Hotel amenities include a heated indoor pool, a hot tub, a kids pool with a waterslide, fitness facilities, a spa, a business centre, and 3 conference/meeting rooms. Parking is free, and pets are not permitted. Accessible rooms are available upon request.
Habitat Restaurant provides on-site dining and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Other eating options close by include the Rose & Crown Restaurant and Pub and Elita Restaurant, which can both be found under 10 minutes west of the hotel on foot.
The Grande Rockies Resort is a 3-minute drive from the Canmore Golf and Curling Club, while Banff National Park is about 7 minutes northwest by car. Lake Louise Ski Area and Clock Tower Village Mall are both approximately a 20-minute drive northwest. Calgary International Airport (YYC) is a 1 hour and 15-minute drive eastward. (All distances and travel time estimates: Google Maps)
Verified with a front desk agent on December 13, 2012: Free Wi-Fi, free parking, pets not allowed.
The GoodThe majority of reviews consulted for this analysis were positive with much praise going to the hotel's rooms, staff and location.
Many reviewers praised their accommodations at this hotel. They reported modern decor, great showers, and extremely comfortable beds and pillows. The rooms were also described as well-equipped and spacious, however, some guests felt the opposite and said their rooms were too small.
The hotel's staff were the source of several compliments. They were characterized as friendly, accommodating, and happy to be working. One guest reported the staff suggested good local places to eat, while another remarked they, "took care of our every need".
Many guests were pleased with the hotel's location. It was described as "right off the highway", as well as close to Banff and downtown Canmore. It was mentioned Canmore could be reached in 5 minutes on foot.
The Bad
While many of the reviews consulted for this analysis were positive, there were a few common complaints among them, which included noise transfer, the hotel's layout, and the additional resort fee.
Some guests experienced disruptions from noise during their stay. They described loud cleaning staff who were slamming doors, highway noise, a humming noise in a suite located near the hotel's mechanical room, and noise from the parkade.
The hotel's layout was a source of complaints by some reviewers. Some of the hotel's suites are located in a separate building, and these guests found it to be a slight inconvenience to walk to main building in order to use the fitness and pool facilities. A couple guests also complained that the hallways leading to their rooms were quite long, "probably the length of a city block", and they found this to be an inconvenience.
A few lodgers were disappointed at being charged for an additional "resort fee" at the end of their stay. The fee was $15 per stay, and these reviewers felt the hotel should have been more upfront about it.
TripAdvisor.com guest reviews ranked the hotel #11 out of 33 Canmore hotels from 187 reviews.
Booking.com guest reviews rated the hotel 8.5 out of 10 from 102 reviews.
Expedia.ca guest reviews rated the hotel 4.5 out of 5 with a 100% recommendation rate from 12 reviews.
Verified with a front desk agent on December 13, 2012: Free Wi-Fi, free parking, pets not allowed.
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Analyzed by Erin H.
Erin loves to travel, and considers it her personal mission to help fellow travellers get the inside scoop, both good and bad, on Canadian Hotels.
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