We arrived on the 13th, to find that to my amazement, we were supposed to have been to our Spa appointment earlier (1:00) that day!!?? They said they tried to call us but couldn't reach us - they only had our home number - we were on the road for 5 hours getting there!! The appointment was originally booked for Valentine's Day, the 14th, at least that's what I thought, knowing that it would be too rushed to "Spa" on our arrival date (I had a lot of experience with the Rimrock, since this was our 10th annual family getaway, and have been to the spa before). In addition to this surprise, the girl at the desk informed me we had to pay for the services in FULL! I recollected that I was e-mailed confirmation with a BOLDFACED note stating the appointment is not secure without a credit card number. This was appalling as I voiced my dismay and restated I did not secure our time with a card number, yet. All in all, the manager left a message the following day, apologizing for the confusion and did not bill us for spa packages.
This was only the beginning.
Next, the service in the Larkspur Lounge was so slow and tedious...our food was ALWAYS room temperature. Our last meal there, my son's chicken wings were raw and they forgot to take my daughter's order!! We're not too demanding...we don't complain and usually understand this was a busy weekend to be there...but this was outrageous!!
The Highlight - The best place to eat was Eden. Every year, for the past many, I pre-book this for our Valentine's dinner, and never leave disappointed, only awed...it really is a wonderful atmosphere and the food and service are outstanding. They have a new chef, from Quebec,whom is well trained and has a nice fusion of tastes on the menu! We always do the pairing, and the wine selection was spot on.
As for the comforts in the room, they are lacking. We stayed in our usual superior room, with obstructed view of the mountains, since I know that with the kids, we really don't see the mountains and spend our time in the pool!
This is suffering, as the bed pillows were so flat, I needed to double them up. The bed was bouncy and firm, awful! The hairdryer tanked, the only time I used it, right before we left to go home. The room cleaning was sparse, when they did clean. All in all, not like it used to be.
Our next trip to Banff, we will actually stay in Canmore at the Best Western - for the money we put out for this place, we will have pillow menus, a comfy bed, continental breakfast, included daily and waterslides to boot!
Sounds like a no brainer.

We stayed at the Rimrock hotel for a few nights and l was kind of disappointed as the hotel & rooms are quite small. l expected Rimrock to be a grander & more luxurious hotel....
Nonetheless, we did enjoy our stay - the hotel offers great mountain views and comfortable rooms. The hotel is also located a few steps away from the Banff gondola which offers spectacular views of Banff - it a long way up the mountain though definately worth it! The town is only a short ride away, and the hotel does offer a free shuttle bus.
We spent some time in the lobby area overlooking the mountains, and the one problem with this hotel is that they made us feel that we had to constantly purchase food or drink to remain seated in the lobby area! There's only so much you can consume - it's ridiculous that they make you feel you have to pay to stay in the lobby(which was practically empty)! The waitress kept placing a napkin on our table to let other staff know that we had purchased something! Not something you would expect from a five star hotel...
Overall, this hotel is nice though l would not stay here again.

We stayed at the Rimrock from 9-23rd January for our weddingmoon.

What I can say about this hotel from the very start is that their customer service is the best I have ever received at any hotel, ever.

After landing in Calgary we didn't have the best welcome, we were told that 1/3 of all passengers on the plane had had their skiis/snowboards left in England.

We were of that 1/3! We landed on the 9/1/08 and didn't get our luggage until 12/1/08 - thanks Monarch and Servisair!

Anyhow, upon arriving at the hotel we were asked the purpose of our trip, and shortly after telling the receptionist that we were there for our wedding/honeymoon we were upgraded to one of their best rooms (924).

From the room you have an awesome view of the Bow valley and all of the surrounding mountains, as well as the town of Banff.

What you need to know is that this hotel is NOT in Banff town centre, you can either walk which takes about 50 minutes downhill or 80 minutes uphill, or you can catch the free shuttle bus that runs every 40 minutes from early in the morning to late at night. If you can't be bothered to wait for the bus, the most we paid for a taxi was $10.

Everything about this hotel exceeded our expectations, your room was cleaned twice a day and any toiletries or towels you had used were replaced, including the very handy neutrogena lip balm!

The bed in our room was huge, huge to the point where you would wake up in the night and think your partner was not in bed with you!

The bedroom was of a very good size and the bathroom wasn't too bad, maybe average hotel size - but both rooms were spotlessly clean.

Also in your room was an unstocked mini bar (which they will stock if you like) and a telephone where you can make free internal and local calls.

On the evening turn down you get two bottles of free water, a bag of truffles and the weather forecast! They must use the same weather people as we have in England because it wasn't right once, but it was still a nice touch.

The gym is also a good shout, $5 a time or $10 for the duration of your stay, which includes the gym, squash courts, swimming pool, steam room and sauna - oh and there's an indoor hot tub which is sooooooooooooo hot!

We tried food at all 3 restaurants and all 3 were phenomenal, with Eden being the best by far. If you want to go to Eden restaurant though pack a collared shirt, preferably a tie and probably trousers, although I got away with cords. We did see them turning people away because of what they were wearing! The food was the best food I've ever eaten, it was also the most I have ever paid for a meal, but it was worth it. Tipping at 15%, I have had meals that cost less than the tip to give you an idea of how much!

As for those of you who are going there to ski/board, you get the shuttle bus into town, then another bus from behind the mount royal hotel on banff avenue to whichever of the Big 3 resorts you choose.

Banff is an amazing town, but unfortunately, like most ski resorts, can be pricey. Expect to pay on average $7 a pint (beer), $30 per bottle of wine.

As for recommendations on where to eat drink:

Wild bills - food average but good entertainment on the evening.

Tony Romas - If you love ribs! Good prices too.

The Elk & Oarsman - great pub, the biggest plate of nachos you will ever buy! Hockey night on thursdays where they give away free drinks if the team you support scores a goal!

The Bison General Food Store - actually a resturant, excellent organic food.

The grizzly house - fondue where you can have anything from chicken to rattlesnake.

All in all, we wholeheartedly recommend Banff and the Rimrock!

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.