We have always stayed in Banff after christmas as a little get-away from home. This year we stayed in the Rimrock as friends of ours recommended it. Now we have stayed at Banff Springs almost every year, and the ole saying don't fix it if it's not broken is so true. Upon arrival, we were greeted by doormen and they took our luggage in, we checked in and the waited and waited and waited for our luggage. We phoned down to find out that the our luggage was brought to the wrong room. I mean this stuff happens, but when were we going to find this out? Luggage arrived, finally relaxed and looked around the room. Average size..ok furniture. Bathrooms were clean, but simple and less than average for my taste. I know I sound picky, but when you pay 300-400+ a night you expect to be blown away!
Everyone was very friendly, so that was a plus. One night it got very loud next door, as some people were reliving some xmas cheer. I actually noticed alot of room noise, but nothing too terrible.
Food was great, have to say that for sure. Never heard a single complaint from my sometimes picky eater husband (yes sorry hun, but you are)
So I would say go ahead and stay here, the grounds are very nice, and the rooms are good.
Alot of people were walking into town, but we drove..because brrr...it was cold outside and it was about an 40-50 min walk to get downtown Banff. Its a nice walk in summer though, very scenic!

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!