Best Western Plus Banff International Lodge — Hotel in Banff

My husband and I went to Banff this weekend for our honeymoon as we recently got married and wanted a weekend away. I called the hotel about a month ago to reserve a room the lady I spoke with said yeah no problem. I told her what room we wanted, verified price and date as well as the AMA discount. She said ok you’re all booked. I said don’t you need a credit card or email for the booking? She said nope we will get all that info at check in. (Which I thought was odd because then there’s no proof of reservation but took her word for it) on Saturday morning before we left something was telling me to call and confirm the reservation. I phoned and they said they had no reservation under my name or phone number. I explained the situation and she said I’m sorry I don’t have you in here. She said they had one room available for the same price but different room so I took it as I didn’t want to get all the way to Banff and have to sleep in our car because we had nothing. We arrived at hotel to check in and I asked to speak with the manager, I was told manager wouldn’t be in until Monday. I spoke with the supervisor instead. Explained the situation and how unimpressed I was as this was for our honeymoon and the sole reason why I booked a month in advance. She said I’m sorry but all my staff are very well trained. There’s only 3 of us that take reservations and we all know what we are doing. I explained I understood but at the same time I had proof that I called in December to book hotel. I showed her my call log on my phone and said I wasn’t happy. She said to me well I side with my employees and back them up. I explained I appreciated that but what were you going to do for me because of the mixup? She offered to upgrade our room (which was weird when I was told 4 hours before they only had one room left) I said that would be awesome. We got up to our room only to find the room they upgraded us from was across the hall. We got a mountain view with the new room. Well when your in the middle of Banff your pretty much guaranteed you will have some kind of mountain view room. We had a view of the shell gas station right in front of the hotel. The initial room I booked had a king size bed and jacuzzi. The room we got had 2 queen beds and was small. On top of this we went to check out this morning and was told our room was paid for already (my mom had called the night before and prepaid for our room) which was nice. Only to find out after speaking with my mom she was on the phone arguing with the girl for 45 minutes because the girl kept saying there was no reservation under my name. To which my mom explained, they are sitting in one of your rooms right now as we speak so yes I know they are there. The lady (who was the supervisor) argued with her saying we weren’t there. After 45 minutes she finally got the room paid and waited for the receipt to be emailed and then got attitude after being placed on hold for 10 minutes saying I already sent you the receipt. My mom said well I still haven’t received it and with the issues my daughter has had so far I’d like to keep you on the line until I receive it to verify payment was made on the right credit card. Would not stay here again, felt like a motel with the words best western on it. I’ve stayed in many best western hotels and this was the worst by far. If I would have known I would have paid the extra $200/night to stay in the Banff aspen lodge or the elk and avenue. They also don’t have enough parking stalls for all the rooms they have so if you get back to your room after 7 or 8pm, you won’t find parking...

I recently stayed at here and, unfortunately, faced several issues that marred my experience. The hotel enjoys a good location, and the room featured a pleasant balcony, but the positives largely ended there.

From the outset, the service was disappointing. The receptionist was notably rude during check-in, tossing my credit either ID onto the counter rather than handing them to me courteously. There was no welcome greeting, which immediately set a negative tone. Despite booking the hotel for its pet-friendly policy, the receptionist initially failed to acknowledge that I had pets. Later, she accused me of not informing her about them, which was confusing and frustrating.

The hotel's pet policy itself is misleading and restrictive. It was not disclosed at booking or check-in that pets could not be left unattended in the rooms. This significant oversight restricted our ability to move freely and explore dining options, effectively confining us to our room if we didn’t want to leave our pets alone.

Additionally, the room amenities were subpar. The water pressure was low, the shower water was only lukewarm, and the shower head was inconveniently low, making it difficult for taller guests to shower comfortably. The toilet was barely functional, hanging on for dear life and requiring multiple flushes to clear.

The room's comfort level was further diminished by the thin walls, allowing noise to travel easily from neighboring rooms. Moreover, the towels, pillowcases, and sheets were extremely hard, contributing to an overall uncomfortable stay. There was also no designated area for pet relief on the property, which compounded the impracticality of the pet policy.

During our stay, there was an incident where my dog barked in the room due to being left alone, as I was unaware of the policy. The receptionist's response to this situation was unprofessional; she not only demanded that I return immediately but also resorted to insults over the phone.

Given these experiences, I find it hard to recommend Best Western as a pet-friendly hotel. Prospective guests, particularly those traveling with pets, should be aware that the pet policy can significantly limit their flexibility and that details of this policy are not clearly...

I have been sick for six years and was not able to go on holidays, so my husband, my sister and her husband and I decided to take a holiday together and go through the mountains and we stayed at your hotel on July 27, 2017 and it cost us $400.00 for the night. For $400.00 a night it better be in excellent shape with excellent food and excellent service, sooo let's see how well you did....

👿 We were very disappointed with the shower as there was NO water pressure and my sister and I have very thick hair, so we could NOT wash our hair and the faucet is so close to the tub that we couldn't even turn our heads upside down and wash our hair under the faucet 👿

👿 We couldn't get our deadbolt to our room to lock properly. Nor could we get the screen door to the deck to lock, so that we could leave the door open for fresh air while we were sleeping 👿

💜 The beds, pillows and comforters were very comfortable, but you have the beds so close to the wall and to the window that we had to turn sideways to be able to get in and out of the beds. Also, every time you tossed and turned the bed would squeak like as if you've got wood underneath the mattresses 👿

👿 As for breakfast...your dining room is NOT big enough for all of your guest. My husband and I went down and had breakfast first then phoned my sister and told her and her husband to come down to have breakfast and we would hold the table for them because if we got up they wouldn't get a table when they come back down to have their breakfast. It was so busy in such a small space 👿

👿 Also the food was NOT hot and fresh 👿

👿 As for your FREE underground parking it sure doesn't hold very many of your guests. We had to park out on the street, blocks away from...