We have stayed twice here. If you have kids you may wish to tolerate the following to have access to a waterslide and play center. There are a number of problems with the hotel. First, the beds are terrible. The beds here are hard and uncomfortable. Other problems: its far from the town of Banff, winter roads make it hard to get to, the waterside is old and will be out of service for upgrading sometime in 2008, the pool is small over chlorinated with no guard, on busy weekend the pool locker room is dirty, the complex is planned in strange way so walking from pool to waterside is a complex process. The play center is good for kids, but it is not staffed and can only be accessed only by the underground parking lot!

On a recent trip, a septic pump trunk blasted noise and blocked entrance to units. No apologizes or help.

If in low season, then maybe better. Loft rooms are better. Free wireless internet.

Just returned from a weekend stay with my husband and 2 kids (2 and 4). The kids enjoyed the waterslides, play structure, real fireplaces in the room, and watching the deer eating outside our sliding glass doors in the morning. The room was clean, self sufficient, and fit our needs. We had no problems with the staff.
Don't expect the luxury or modern decor of a high end hotel. But the resort is perfect for families with amenities to keep them busy in between skiing and sightseeing.

We recently stayed at the Douglas Fir Resort for a ski holiday. This is our third year staying with Douglas Fir., visiting twice per year during the winter. We were very disappointed with the front desk staff and management. The first night we were there my daughters pulled their blankets back and the sheets were stained and covered in hair. On one cold morning my truck wouldn't start and Douglas Fir staff would not loan me an extension cord to plug in my vehicle for a short period of time. When I asked to speak with the manager he walked out of his office and said, "What?". It went downhill from there. Needless to say that is the last time I will spend money with Douglas Fir. We have stayed there for the water slides, playzone, and kitchenettes, but the downfall to that is the kids have to go outside to access the pool area from the condos. Every year one or two of the families with us, come home with sick kids. Having a waterslide is not worth being sick following the holiday, dirty sheets and rudeness is not worth staying with Douglas Fir...so we will be looking for new accommodations in Banff.

We had a great visit here with three families, each with one toddler and one baby. We found out about it through a friend and learned a lot more from it on this website. We had such a good time that it has prompted me to register for this site so I can leave a review!

The condos are in duplexes each family rented one condo (two x one bedroom with loft, one x one bedroom). Two of us put one child in the bedroom and slept in the same room with the other, one of us slept all together in the loft. Our baby monitors worked between units as we were all in the same building so we were able to put all the kids to bed and then hang out in one person's living room every night! It was great.

We did bring a playpen for our toddler & ended up getting an extra one from the front desk to put the baby in. We left that one set up in the living room & it was useful to have both for naps as well.

The playzone is fantastic and is currently open 8am to 8pm which is perfect. There is a small area for little toddlers and then a great climby section which is just amazing for anyone who is walking. There is a small (warm enough) pool & small whirlpool which hotel guests can access 24hrs, great for kids to hang out in. Then the main pool area has this great little shallow pool for toddlers with two slides, a giant hot tub and a larger pool with two waterslides! In winter they are open 4pm to 10pm M-F and 10am to 10pm Sat&Sun. The slides are great and we were able to take our 20 month old on them with us holding her, sitting up (we did put a life jacket on her and held her up high when we got to the bottom of the slide!).

I booked this by phone and had great service, asking a lot of questions about where the rooms are located etc. They were so nice. When I finally booked all three condos, I asked if we could all be in one building and if we could be close to the main building to be close to the indoor stuff. They did exactly this and it was just perfect!

We cooked most nights and went out to eat a few times as well--perfect to have a kitchen right there with kids of course.

We were so happy with this place and we are seriously considering making this an annual trip. Banff is amazing and we just had the best time. This place offers a great set of indoor things for kids so that if it's cold, or you just don't feel like trekking outside again, there is lots to do for them. And one parent can manage more than one kid so the other one can go off and do something--especially if you are with friends.

Hope that convinces you!