Cathedral Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Area A (Kicking Horse/Kinbasket Lake)

We were very excited about our one night stay in a 1 bedroom lodge with loft at the lodge in late June 2024. It was a very expensive night, over $1k. ||First - the positive - beautiful location (although a star knocked off for the close proximity to the trans canada and railway line and associated highway/rail noise), nice staff, great cozy cabins with fireplaces. Breakfast was very good, although if you are travelling with children expect that it may be a bit fancy for their tastes. ||Now the extremely disappointing...||When we arrived and checked in, there was no verbal or written recommendation to avoid tap water consumption, so as would be the norm at any 5 star hotel in Canada, it did not cross our mind to stick to bottled water or avoid the tap water. My 12 year old son drank at least 1 or possibly more full glasses of tap water during our stay. Then, on the day of our departure, at check out, I noticed a big sign regarding a boil water advisory and “water not safe to drink”. It did cross my mind to be a bit worried, but I put it out of my mind until the early hours of the following morning, when my son came down with severe stomach cramps and a fever. After a sleepless night for our entire family , and a terribly uncomfortable night for my son, I called the lodge to follow up on the sign we had seen regarding the water. I spoke to the front desk staff, who apparently spoke to a manager who confirmed that the suspected pathogen in the water was E. coli. Based on his symptoms, I am quite sure (as an MD) that he was in fact contaminated with e coli. No manager came to speak to me on the phone, and after I hung up I realized that my contact number was never taken to followup on this potential significant public health issue. I reflected many times in the following days on this chain of events, and was quite disturbed on several levels. First, our extremely expensive night at the lodge ruined several days of our family trip with literally not even the courtesy or a sincere apology from the manager. E. coli contamination, especially in a child, is no laughing matter and I would have expected a little more concern and all around responsiveness . Second of all - how does this happen at a 5 star lodge charging $1k plus per night? If there is the potential of this significant pathogen in the water, why are guests not warned ahead of time or even better, why is there not an appropriate water filtration system?||I sent the above concerns to the lodge directly before writing this review, hoping they would address, and its now been 5 days and counting and no response. So please think twice about booking here if you cherish your own health and value good communication at your 5...

We were very excited about our one night stay in a 1 bedroom lodge with loft at the lodge in late June 2024. It was a very expensive night, over $1k.

First - the positive - beautiful location (although a star knocked off for the close proximity to the trans canada and railway line and associated highway/rail noise), nice staff, great cozy cabins with fireplaces. Breakfast was very good, although if you are travelling with children expect that it may be a bit fancy for their tastes.

Now the extremely disappointing...

When we arrived and checked in, there was no verbal or written recommendation to avoid tap water consumption, so as would be the norm at any 5 star hotel in Canada, it did not cross our mind to stick to bottled water or avoid the tap water. My 12 year old son drank at least 1 or possibly more full glasses of tap water during our stay. Then, on the day of our departure, at check out, I noticed a big sign regarding a boil water advisory and “water not safe to drink”. It did cross my mind to be a bit worried, but I put it out of my mind until the early hours of the following morning, when my son came down with severe stomach cramps and a fever. After a sleepless night for our entire family , and a terribly uncomfortable night for my son, I called the lodge to follow up on the sign we had seen regarding the water. I spoke to the front desk staff, who apparently spoke to a manager who confirmed that the suspected pathogen in the water was E. coli. Based on his symptoms, I am quite sure (as an MD) that he was in fact contaminated with e coli. No manager came to speak to me on the phone, and after I hung up I realized that my contact number was never taken to followup on this potential significant public health issue. I reflected many times in the following days on this chain of events, and was quite disturbed on several levels. First, our extremely expensive night at the lodge ruined several days of our family trip with literally not even the courtesy or a sincere apology from the manager. E. coli contamination, especially in a child, is no laughing matter and I would have expected a little more concern and all around responsiveness . Second of all - how does this happen at a 5 star lodge charging $1k plus per night? If there is the potential of this significant pathogen in the water, why are guests not warned ahead of time or even better, why is there not an appropriate water filtration system?

I sent the above concerns to the lodge directly before writing this review, hoping they would address, and its now been 5 days and counting and no response. So please think twice about booking here if you cherish your own health and value good communication at your 5...

This would have easily been a 5-star review however there was a situation that occurred that I was completely taken aback by and which was never rectified in anyway.

We booked to stay for 4 nights and decided to have dinner at the restaurant one evening after a very long day at Lake O'hara. We were really looking forward to this meal as it would have been the perfect end to a perfect day. However it ended up being the worst experience I have ever had dining in my entire life and I have traveled a ton. I have never experienced such racism and condescension in my life. The server her name was Shauna (I believe) was the most belittling horrible lady who made me & my partner feel very uncomfortable. She started not by greeting us but instead by spewing out the entire specials list before I could even get a word in (she had already interrupted me) I was trying to inform her that we were vegetarian which we had already made clear when reserving so everything she recited to us in a very confusing manner was useless. I had already taken a look at the menu and wanted to just ask her a simple question but she would not listen and instead was trying to explain to me what gnocchi was which was not even my question. I am well aware of what basic dinner menu items are her explanation was incorrect either way. She mixed up all our dishes and drinks which and she did not bring us cutlery which we had to ask her for. She was very unprofessional and the way she would talk to us was so different to the manner in which she would speak to the Caucasian guests. It may sound trivial but being treated this way by a staff member where you have paid money to stay is unacceptable. We notified the lodge about the situation and were supposed to get a call from the manager which never happened. In any case they could have reached us through email but no action was taken on their end. I will be fair and say the food was good and made with fresh local ingredients. The cocktails were okay nothing special so could skip on that and jump straight to the wine.

Apart from the staff being rude and if I could erase the dinner out of my memory I liked the property itself. Others mention the rooms being small but it was just the 2 of us so it didn't feel too tight for us. The kicking horse pass, the fire pit, Muskoka chairs and picnic basket in the room with blankets made leisure time very cozy. Our room was clean, the coffee machine worked but the only thing was it was a bit dark. The breakfast that is included is also very good and they can pack it for you if you...