My friends and I stayed at the Grand Canadian on the weekend of February 2 - 4, 2007. We had a two bedroom that is well appointed for a timeshare unit and was comfortable for the 5 of us. It certainly was not the accomodations that were lacking, it was customer service. Basically it was non existant. Checking in was a nightmare as the single employee at the Hotel/Timeshare was so overwhelmed with ongoing problems with the key programming for both rooms and parkade that she simply kept givng us the same keys that did not work and then suggested we rely on her letting us in and out of the room with her master key, until she went home at 11pm. She told us there was no maintenance help til the next day - Saturday! On Saturday, a new group of very young unprofessional staff arrived with the same answers for the still unresolved key issue - simply keep trying the keys that don't work.
The hotel has no restaurant or lounge and is undergoing a makeover as the attached property (previously a Marriott Hotel) joins the Grand Canadian in owner based timeshares. On our weekend there were very few people at the resort and the ones we did meet complained of the complete lack of interest by the young staff who spent most of their time smoking in the parkade. If you are looking for accomodation only, this place is OK. It is a few miles from the nearest store or restaurant and really lacks any personality or character. One group, who had traded with II, told us they were told it had an operating spa and sports based amenities. It does not. The setting is beautiful and quiet - the service was non-existant
and, for the price, one would expect more.

Clean and comfortable 2 bed apt. with lots of space. Perfect for friends traveling together or families for required privacy. Each of the 2 bedrooms has it's own private bath (one has a jacuzzi tub) with a livingroom and full large kitchen inbetween separating the 2 bedrooms. All applicances in the kitchen including dishwasher and washer/dryer. Gas fireplace in livingroom. Windowseats in the livingroom and balcony overlooking the mountains.

Friendly staff.

Good location away from the hustle bustle, traffic, and trains, quiet, easy drive to the Trans Canada Hwy. Banff 20 minutes. Lake Louise and Yoho within an hour or so. And a reasonable drive if you are interesting in hiking in beautiful Kananaskis Country.

Problems: 1) The indoor and outdoor hot tubs downstairs by the pool are hot, but the jets are very weak and disappointing. Not good for someone expecting a good strong hot tub after some hard hiking. 2) Housekeeping isn't always efficient; one day they forgot to clean our room completely. But the problem was rectified somewhat to take out our trash and provide us with clean towels after we called management, and it didn't happen again the rest of our stay (1 week). 3) Hot water is a problem in the building. Sometimes necessary to run ALL the faucets in the apt. on hot for 5-10 minutes before the hot water will begin to circulate. A bit of an inconvenience, but once the hot water ran, it stayed hot for a long time.

I would stay here again, but due to the hot tub problem which is a big priority for me as a hiker, probably will have to look elsewhere.

We stayed at the Grand Canadian Resort July 1st - 4th. The rooms are very spacious and the bed was comfortable. They have an underground parking garage as well. My only complaint was the whirlpool in the pool area could have used a kick-start, but you also had one in your room. The location is great, on top of Canmore away from the highway. What a great town!

Just completed a week at the Grand Candian and it was outstanding...The view of the mountains from the room was breath taking and the personnel at the front desk were very accomodating...It is centrally located to every thing and would highly recommend it........