First, the small problem: The room was very worn looking with a dirty carpet and bathtub. For well over over $200 per night, this is not acceptable. This hotel is rated as a 3-star hotel, but this type of of room maintenance is something usually found in a one-star cheap motel.

The next problem was more serious:
When I forst entered the hotel, there were two clerks on duty behind the desk, busy having a personal conversation with each other. The fermale clerk asked me what I wanted, and I asked her for a quiet room for a good night's sleep with no disturbances, preferably with no room above me. I told her I had been travelling all day and needed sleep more than anything else. She assigned me to a room on the top floor. During the time she was gathering my information, credit card, etc., she was still talking to the male employee. I got to the room, then had a late dinner at the hotel and then went to bed. After only a few hours sleep, I was startled by a telephone call. It was a wake-up call which I had certainly not requested. I phoned the front desk and politely asked them what the call was about, especially since I had specifically requested not to be disturbed. The clerk told me the wake-up call was intended for the person who had previously booked the room, but then cancelled his reservation. I couldn't get back to sleep, and I then politely asked the clerk if I could get a refund on the room since my purpose was to sleep. She sais she couldn't make the decision and no manager was there. I then checked out of the hotel, I spoke with another female clerk. We had a short pleasant conversation. I was tired and unhappy with the lack of sleep, but I made my complaint very calm and polite. I told the clerk I would speak with the manager by e-mail or phone later and certainly did not blame her for the problem. I signed my hotel check with a note to the manager, Lee Novak, asking for a refund, and left my e-mail address. The hotel manager, Lee Novak, did not answer this note, so I sent an e-mail, again outlining the problem. The manager, Lee Novak, replied, saying that she believed I was entitled to a full refund, but would only give me half. The reason for giving me only half, she stated in her e-mail (which was a complete shock to me) was that I had abused and sworn at her employee. I replied to her e-mail, telling her she was mistaken. So I am left with a $258 bill for an overnight stay in which I couldn't sleep, and am now accused of being an abusive customer. This is simply not in my nature, is not how I talk to anyone, so I am offended. All of my subsequent e-mails to Lee Novak, the hotel manager, were ignored. These e-mails were also business-like and polite. To date, I haven't even get the half-refund that Lee Novak had pronised. I am an experienced businessman, over 50 years old. I don't mistreat anyone, never use foul language, yet this hotel manager, Lee Novak, having witnessed nothing, accuses me of abusive behavior and won't deal with the issue.

In summary, this hotel has inexperienced staff, very poor management, and the rooms are not clean.

Overall, a pleasant but uneventful stay. The rooms are a bit small for a one-bedroom suite, but it slept our family of five comfortably. Two in each double bed (are double beds really that small?) and one on the pull out sofa. Not much room to walk around once the sofa is pulled out. Housekeeping was clean and on time.

Lots of hot water, so they may have solved their boiler problems or, we were just in a room that was uneffected. Being able to open the window is a nice touch and it helped cool down the room without the need for air conditioning. It did bring in the road noise however. We were on the road side away from the train tracks so the train noise was not an issue.

The pool is a little small but the kids had fun. One recommendation: If the pool is closed for repairs or cleaning, put the sign on the locker room. Our kids were changed and showered before finding our that the pool was closed one day.

Skip the restaurant, there are too many nice places to dine in Canmore than to eat here. The breakfast buffet was an experience. Go early or don't go at all. Nothing was replenished and we ate the scaps from the edges of the buffet platters. It looked like they had a fresh berry compote for the pancakes and a fruit salad judging by the juices at the bottom of the bowls. The pancakes and French toast were probably better in the first hour after they were cooked. The staff was cheerful but I don't think the waiter had been to bed yet from the night before.

Other than the restaurant, it was a nice stay; not too fancy and nothing to complain about, which is the reason I picked the hotel in the first place. I would probably stay here again unless I could get into one of the hotels tucked up in the mountains.

I'm not a negative person, so let me start with the positives: our room in June 2006 was clean, spacious (separate lounge and second television), fridge, microwave, tea-coffee facilities.

But there were problems. It was impossible, even with the window open (it was cool outside) and the air conditioning on to get the temperature below 24C after retiring. With the window open there was a good deal of road noise.

Early in the evening someone phoned and asked whether anything in the room needed attending to. I told them that a light bulb needed replacing in a standard lamp in the lounge, but no one came. This wasn't the end of the world, but why bother making the phone call?

The real fun began later in the evening when my travel partner tried to take a bath. It was impossible to get hot water, even though the basin and kitchen sink were fine. At 9:15 pm we rang reception and they said they'd fix it. 9:45 pm and nothing had happened so we rang again and were told that someone had been to the plumbing room and that it was fixed. But it wasn't, so we phoned again and asked them to let us know when it was fixed. 10 pm they rang back and said it was fixed but again it wasn't. Rang reception again and said that we wanted someone to come to the room. 10:05 pm someone arrives and agrees it doesn't work (reassurring that we're not a pair of dills) and says we would need to change rooms. Not happy with the prospect of re-packing and unpacking so late I asked whether we could have access to another room and use its bathroom, and they agree. At 10:10 pm he returns with the card for the room opposite, 315 (ours was 314).

Hotels can have problems, and this isn't what angered us. We were disappointed with the way it was dealt with. As we were booked for three nights, the following morning I asked whether we could have our first night's $139 refunded. I was told I needed to return after 8:30 am when a supervisor was present, so we waited for an hour to do this. When we called back on our way out we were told that we wouldn't be charged for the first night, so we were quite happy to put it all behind us.

But it didn't end there. That evening the hot water in 314 hadn't been repaired, so my partner again took a bath in 315. Next morning I went to 315 to take a shower and discovered that the card wouldn't open the door. I called reception, and they brought up a new card. I entered 315 to discover that it had been occupied during the night! When I called reception they seemed unaware of this! Reluctantly I showered amid someone else's wet towels on the floor and their used toiletries. But thank goodness no one had walked in on my partner in the bath the previous evening!

That afternoon we arrived home and discovered that our card would not let us into 314. Back down to reception, who advised us that they had moved us to 214, a floor lower. They offered assistance in moving our belongings. In 214 the air conditioner worked much better and we didn't swelter. And the hot water in the bathroom worked!

But now the crowning glory. On our final morning just before we checked out we thought we had left something in 314 so returned to look. Just in case, we knocked on the door, and were surprised to find the room occupied. After we'd explained why we were there, the new occupant said "So they knew about the hot water, did they?" Obviously they had re-booked the room while aware of the problem!

I guess on an extended holiday the chances are you'll encounter problems at one or two accommodation places. Chateau Canmore wasn't the only place we experienced difficulties. But the one or two other places dealt with them efficiently and made sure they made it up to us. At least Chateau Canmore provided us with plenty to talk about when we got home!

By the way, the hotel's supposedly German restaurant had very ordinary food and was way overpriced. We ate there once only in our three days.

We would describe ourselves as very loyal Chateau Canmore customers. We have stayed here with our two children annually for years, usually for a night or two right before Easter weekend. I don't believe we have ever paid more than $90 per night, and this year we were given a rate of $59.50. They have loft suites available, but we've always been perfectly comfortable in the regular rooms (aka "Deluxe Suites").

First, let's deal with the downsides:

Yes, there is a train track next to the hotel (this is true of many hotels in Canmore), but the noise has never particularly bothered us. If you're worried about the noise, request a suite on the east side (facing away from the tracks).

Yes, the accommodations are nothing fancy. If you demand down-filled duvets and chocolates on the pillows, look elsewhere. That said, the Chateau Canmore is unfailingly clean and comfortable.

Now, for the plusses:

The suites, though rather small, are efficiently laid out. Every suite has a separate living room (with hide-a-bed sofa) in addition to two double beds in the bedroom. There are two televisions and one VCR (movies available in the lobby). There is a gas fireplace in the bedroom.

You get a small kitchenette -- mini fridge, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, bar sink -- making it easy for those on a budget to save a few more bucks.

There's a pool, including an outdoor hot tub, and a decent little fitness room.

We have always received exceptional service. We have occasionally made special requests -- early check-in, slightly delayed check-out, change of rooms -- and the staff has always been eager to accommodate. The people are friendly and obliging.

To summarize, the Chateau Canmore gives us a clean comfortable suite complete with a separate living room/kitchenette, a pool/hot tub/fitness room, and impeccable service -- all for less than we'd pay for most motels. This is one of our all-time favourite homes-away-from-home. Enthusiastically recommended!