and a magnificent area of scenery! We stayed at the Banff Rocky Mountain Resort in June and had a great experience. Our unit was a one-bedroom and there were 3 of us. Our adult daughter slept on the sofa-bed. The unit had recently been completely updated and was tastefully decorated and very clean. The living room is quite small as well as the bedroom but it was adequate for the 3 of us. We were on the ground floor and had no noise problems. The train in the early a.m. did not bother us and even added to the ambience of the place. The front desk people were most helpful. We did not take part in any of the hikes because we did all this on our own. The cafe Peppers was good, esp. for breakfast. Did not eat at the more expensive restaurant. MUSTS: Lake Minnetanka- close by. Can hike, picnic and take boat ride there. Along the way, take road to Johnson Lake and take a delightful hike around the lake. Then drive past Two Jack Lake---beautiful view! Neat place to picnic and saw many mountain goats and bighorn sheep along the road. Went there several times just to see the animals and even saw 2 wedding parties taking pictures! Lake Louise is beautiful and can hike and canoe there. Found a grocery store in a strip mall in Lake Louise Village where we purchased a styrofoam cooler to take on picnics (we flew to Calgary, then rented a car). Ate a wonderful buffet lunch at the Chateau in the Victoria Room. Expensive but so worth it...wonderful view! The Banff-Jasper Hwy. is absolutely beautiful with many many interesting stops along the way. Be sure to stop at the Columbian Icefields and take a snowcoach ride to the glacier, Peyto Lake, Athabasca Falls, Mistaya Canyon, Sunwapta Falls. It is not possible to make the drive from Banff to Jasper in one day and see all there is to see. We spent one night in Jasper. Be sure to drive to Maligne Lake and take the boat ride- absolutely beautiful! Saw a large black bear and 2 cubs along the road there. Field (closer to Lake Louise) is an interesting OLD town- go into the General Store. Beyond Field is beautiful Emerald Lake- the color of the water is like the name!. Saw 4 bears on highway.
Good restaurants: Banff- Evelyn's Coffee House, Earl's, Maple Leaf, Bumpers. Jasper: Bear's Paw Bakery, Black Sheep Cafe (great brkfst), Evil Dave's Grill. Had a bad experience (long long wait) at Spaghetti Factory in Banff but we wrote a review and they sent us 2 gift cards which was nice.
Saw many animals in the wild throughout the week we were in the Canadian Rockies- 9 bears, many bighorn sheep, many mountain goats, white tailed deer, coyote, bald eagle, many elk.
Food is more expensive there than in the US. Main street in Banff was completely tore up for replacement but sidewalks were usable for shopping. Shopping is pretty up-scale in Banff. Highly recommend this wonderful area to vacation. The scenery is tops!

Travelled to banff end of jan begining of feb 2007 to ski. We stayed in a 2 bed condor. The hotel facilities were excellent. There was a swimming pool, sauna, inside jacuzzi and out door jacuzzi. The hotel provided daily activities free of charge, i.e short walks to near by tourist attractions. We ate in the bar on a few occasions which was great. The restaurant was nice. The hotel also offered a regular bus service to banff centre and back on the hour (the hotel is just on the outskirts of banff, to long to walk in the cold weather). The only downside is the room we stayed in could do with an update, i am led to believe they are in the process of updating all the rooms. Would stay here again.

We stayed at the hotel February 25 - March 3, 2007. Read the previous reviews and went forward with some trepadiation since our friend got the place thru his time-share condo association. We were lucky enough to stay on the side where the hot tub and pool were. I can see a problem if we had been placed on the other side of the road, it would have been a bit of a walk. The 2 bedroom condo we stayed in was OK. The decoration was passable, although unimaginative. I can see where others complained. It was not well stocked (pots, pans, dishes) and small. It was ok for two couples who were close friends.

The hot tub and pool area was more than lagre enough and clean. We never felt crowded in the hot tub outside and it was kept very warm.

The people at the front desk were nice and the convienence of having the ski bus to Lake Louise pick you up right out front is great. You are the first pick-up. The bus to Sunshine also picks up right out front, although we drove there.

The ski areas are spectacular. We have skied out west and in Europe and this was wonderful. There were no lift lines and the snow was excellent.

We had no problems with the temperature of the unit, although I can identify with previous comments on shower water temperature flucuating. We did use the fireplace 4 or 5 nights and can advise you to purchase a starter log at the grocery store or you will never get the wood you buy at the hotel to burn.

For the price our friend paid I would stay here again. I would make sure we were placed on the same side of the road as the check-in desk as we are big hot tubbers after skiing. Actually, we liked the skiing so well we plan on returning next year. If I had to pay much more than $125.00 a night I would stay in town. This hotel does set a bit out of town, but they do offer a free shuttle.

The Rocky Mountain resort has had some critism - and I feel that it is not fully deserved. Yes it is outside Banff however the Hotel has a free shuttle that drops guest off every hour from 11am to 11pm outside GAP in the middle of Banff town and collects again at 15 minutes past the hour.

A local taxi cost's between $8 to $10. The location is perfect for people who want to be close to town yet also have the quiet location.

We had a condo with two double beds which was newly refurbished with a supplied coffe machine & a fridge. The bathroom was big and clean and the shower was great. The TV had more channels than you could want to watch plus pay movies / juke box on demand. The hotel had a pool inside hot tub inside and a hot tub outside - full gym facilities are available includibg two squash courts. Peppers was a bar / dinning area where you could have breakfast / lunch / dinner or just a relaxing drink.

The main reason why you should book this hotel / condo is because you are first on the ski bus in the morning and first off in the evening and this is the same for all 3 ski areas Norquay / Sunshine Village / Lake Louise.

We would definately go back to this resort.