Where do I start regarding this fantastic hotel????? Before we went to the rimrock i read the reviews and kept an open mind.. we travel a fair amount every year and have stayed at some quality hotels and am exceptionally fussy when it comes to where I stay etc. Reading the past reviews I see reviews from people who have complaints and only stayed for a couple of nights, my husband, myself and my 5 year old girl stayed for 2 weeks and I could not fault one single thing.

Hotel room was very spacious, exceptionally clean (none of this "dirty grout" that I had read about in the bathroom) beautifully furnished, fantastic views, 2 fabulous large beds..I could go on. Food was always great.. one tip for you.. re the breakfasts.. , go from the breakfast a la carte menu were you can order seperates and it is cheaper that booking the set Rimrock breakfast menu. I suppose if you are only there a couple of nights its no big deal but we were there for 2 weeks and it actually really does make a real difference. We arrived 4 days before Christmas and 3 days after new year.. every minute was brilliant. As for the Maltese guy who has written a report of how he said New Years Eve was like a wake, maybe he should have taken a quick trip down stairs to the ballroom were there must have been almost 1000 people having a fanstatic time watching dancers, a live band, magician to name but a few things that went on that night. The theme was a 20's night and all staff were dressed up, fab buffet for both adults and children.. 2 bars.. ice statues.. original 20's car.. 20's style hats for all guests, toys and games for the kids etc etc. Christmas Eve was fantastic.. the hotel put on a fabulous buffet while Mrs Claus and the Elves made the rounds all night entertaining the children and filling up everyones glasses with egnog, red or white wine. Christmas morning also had Santa come and visit and bring a toy for every single child (not a cheap toy either) and every child and adult had a great morning, again the hotel had put on a lovely breakfast buffet. Staff were amazing.. Reception, Concierge, Restaurant, Housekeeping.. they worked so hard and never ever complained at being thousands of miles away from their family to make yours the best Christmas ever.. I have genuinely got to say that we had the best Christmas and we didnt want to leave.. we will most definetly be visiting the Rimrock again. I highly recommend it.

Banff itself is awesome.. when you first arrive at the start of Banff avenue it takes your breath away.. great restaurants, lovely little shops, fab bars that also accomodate for children (we liked playing cards and drawing etc with our little girl in front of the fire in the Irish bar.. the staff who, by the way were always really happy and welcoming to us and our little girl.. and its nice to be able to watch the live bands with your kids which alot of people did)..

Gondola ride was great.. a real experience.. recommend it.

We did not hold back at the Rimrock and ate and drank what we wanted, when we wanted.. we were expecting around a 2000 dollar bill for everything at the end of two weeks.. it was less than half of that at check out. That was breakfast every day for two weeks, lunches on at least 8 days, drinks, dinners, that also included Parking and Christmas lunch for 3 at the Primrose (which by the way was beautiful and treated fabulously again)
the pool was great also.. we went every morning and our little girl learnt to swim in ten days, just doing an hour a day..i know alot of the reviews say not a great pool scene but I am not quite sure what it is people expect (and like I say, I am so fussy so what exactly do other people expect!!).. pool was a great size, clean.. lovely really big hot tub.. lovely clean showers and changing rooms and the best view again as you are trying to keep those Xmas pounds off by doing some lengths!

So as you can see I cant say enough about the place and I stayed there for 2 weeks which apparently isnt very common.. highly recommend it.. you will not be disappointed in the least.

Just one last thing!!!! If you like walking and have time on your hands.. take a walk from the Rimrock down into Banff.. it will take you just over an hour but its a nice walk.. as you are walking along there are elks and reindeers just walking and grazing beside you.. on the first day alone we saw 4 deer grazing in someones front garden!!!.. unreal.

My wife and I stayed here with two friends from 24th – 27th December 2007 as part of a self-organised trip around the Rockies, and it was the PERFECT hotel for the Christmas period.

The room we had was very large, with 2 big beds, arm chairs, foot stools and a discreetly placed writing desk. The TV was a new flat screen with plenty of channels and the air conditioning was virtually silent. The floor to ceiling / wall to wall window gave us an immense panoramic view across the Bow Valley to the high snow-covered mountains in the distance. The bathroom was equally well kitted out, with luxury toiletries provided. Slippers and robes were the icing on the cake. Shortly after checking in a porter arrived and presented us with a Christmas stocking full of goodies compliments of the hotel management.

The restaurants and bars cater for all the varying needs of the guests. Breakfast could either be a tasty hot and cold buffet in the Primrose Dining Room or something from the convenience shop selling snacks, coffees and pastries at competitive prices. Lunch, dinner and bar food were available either informally in the cosy Larkspur lounge or timber panelled Divas bar, or as something more fancy in the Primrose Dining Room or Eden, one of Canada’s finest AAA Five Diamond restaurants. On Christmas Day we had turkey and all the trimmings in Primrose and it was fantastic.

There were plenty of activities organised to help celebrate the season, and we thoroughly enjoyed the complimentary manager’s eggnog and wine reception and hot finger buffet on Christmas Eve as carol singers entertained us around the huge fire in the lobby. On Christmas morning at 9:00am Santa arrived with presents for all the children as coffee, tea and hot apple cider were served along with pastries and scones! Of course, the hotel was beautifully decorated and the staff were the most pleasant we encountered in all of the five hotels we stayed in on our Rocky Mountain trip. Their friendliness and good humour was particularly noticeable on Christmas Day, despite them all being far from their own families and working hard to make sure that we were enjoying ourselves.

The hotel has its own outdoor skating rink in the winter months and skates are available to hire. The hotel’s leisure centre has a good pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, as well as a decent gym.

Another plus is that the Rimrock is conveniently located right beside two of Banff’s biggest attractions – the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and the natural hot springs. A complimentary bus into Banff town centre runs from early morning to late at night from the hotel entrance. It only takes five minutes and runs every twenty minutes, so the restaurants, bars and shops on Banff Avenue are very easily accessible. Alternatively, a taxi is only about 7 or 8 dollars. In town I recommend the Maple Leaf Grille for great Canadian food and drinks, but book ahead. Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon is also worth a visit for more casual dining.

Regarding the Fairmont Banff Springs – the Rimrock’s only competition – we visited for an afternoon and whilst we were definitely impressed we left feeling very relieved that we had chosen the Rimrock. Indeed, we went on to stay in Fairmont properties in Lake Louise, Jasper and Vancouver, so we had nothing against the hotel per se. The Springs was huge, and was packed full of tourists in for a drink and a stroll around the admittedly beautiful grounds. On a number of occasions we also spoke to various locals from Banff who said that given the choice they would definitely rather stay in the Rimrock or eat in one of the Rimrock’s restaurants.

In conclusion, I recommend this hotel extremely highly and would not hesitate to stay here again.

Our mountain view room had a spectacular view, but the room had an unpleasant stale odor. We were assured that our stay for an extra night via Visa Points had been cleared, yet on leaving the same Receptionist informed us that we would have to pay the bill as the Points had not been confirmed.

The sole reason for this review is that I have given the management ample opportunity to respond to my displeasure, and I have never received a reply. A hotel of this stature should at least acknowledge legitimate complaints.

I will never recommend this hotel.

Only stayed for one night, unfortunately it was New Years eve and we thoght that it would have a nice atmosphere. We dined out in Banff town and got back to the hotel for 11.30pm expecting it to be quite lively with guest in the bar waiting to see the New Year in. Well what a surprise in was very quiet in the bar and the lounge area next to it was worse still............ thought we had walked into a wake or something...........sat down anyway to have a quick drink............ 15 minutes late still waiting are we invisible...... lots of waiting staff walking around serving other people in their mid sixties ............ prehaps they don't serve people in their 40's............... no problem we had a bottle of wine in our room and celebrated there.
Rimmrock nothing special, and nothing really bad just not really suited to people young at heart in our opinion.
Wish we had stayed at the Fox as we had on other nights whilst in Banff , but we had already pre-booked the Rimrock will not make the same mistake again