Tunnel Mountain Resort, Alberta

The first time we went to tunnel mountain in 2006 it was wonderful the room was bright and airy friendly staff and great service, I dont know what happened in 2 years but the room we stayed in was dark and dirty. The doors where filthy and didnt even close properly. The microwave in room lite everything on fire and when we told hotel staff about it they simply laughed and hung up. Trying to get something as simple as salt and peper, which they said they provided proved to be a 6hour ordel which earned another laugh from staff. to add insult to injury they put an exuberate hold on our credit card which left us stranded in another town on the day of check out. Rather than admit to their mistake they denied it. I would rather sleep in my car than ever stay there again.

Upon arrival, I should have guessed how the stay was going to turn out. After spelling my name 3 times during my telephone reservation (common English name) they completely butchered it on the reservation log resulting in them telling me that I had no reservation. We had to use a confirmation number to search it out. Then we could see that our chalet number had been scratched off the key envelope and replaced with another. After being assured of a great view, we were treated to a view of trees and fallen pine cones (wow were we impressed). The room reeked of previously cooked food and the stove in the kitchenette was covered in grease. The floor had not been swept and had dirt, hair, and crumbs all over causing myself, my wife, and her mother, to decide to not remove our shoes at any time. Three light bulbs were either out, or on their last legs. Attempting to air out the food smell brought to my attention that the screen door to the balcony was broken and ran off its tracks at every convenience (in fact it was held together with clear box tape). This mean that we either aired the room out using the balcony door and let in the mosquitos or kept the doors closed. We opted for the latter. The balcony had two plastic charis and a table with an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. Now, I understand that these were placed there by the previous residents and not the staff, but I ask you - Am I supposed to clean this as well? (I did clean the stove top of the grease mentioned above). We arrived at 5:00 pm and one member decided to have a shower. Even though the tub was filthy, she decided to give it a shot. The hot water ran out after 5 minutes. The next person to attempt a shower was myself at 10:30 pm (5 hours after the first person). Again no hot water after 5 minutes. The third person opted out of trying to shower altogether. Althugh complatins were made to the front desk, only the burnt out light bulbs were taken care of. After deciding not to push our luck any further, and call it a day, we tried to close the vertical blinds that ran the entire length of the balcony - an audible sigh was heard from all three of us as there were approximately 20% of the slats missing. The dishes were dirty and the ice cube trays appeared to have never been washed. When I asked the front desk if there was an ice machine, I was advised that there was a store across the street which sells ice and that since we had a kitchenette that we could use our ice trays (yes I had mentioned that they were not the cleanest in existence) The two bedroom windows open onto the parking area and in the middle of the night we could hear the trains and other residents talking until past 3:00 am. (I know that the hotel can't change that but it added to our misery) Upon check out we complained again the front desk and were advised that no one had complained of these things before - yeah right!!! The small discount offered to us still did not make up for the fact that if you are paying $300 a night for a room, you shouldn't get a $30.00 hotel room - should you?

We were two couples travelling together and stayed in a loft chalet for 4 nights in late May. We loved that this resort was removed from downtown Banff - $5 taxi or 3 minute drive or 15 min walk. We had a spectacular mountain view, but not all chalets have this view - we requested to switch from our initial chalet and this was no problem. Deer walked right by our patio every day. We had just enough space to be comfortable, but we didn't spend a lot of time indoors. Service was excellent. Rooms cleaned every day, fresh coffee packs supplied, fresh towels. Wood was supplied for the fireplace too! Room was clean and most appliances were new (i.e. kitchen). Not many onsite amenities - small indoor pool and hottub - we didn't use them. No restaurant, but there was one across the street. We ate all our dinners downtown and breakfasts in the room. Tunnel Mountain is recommended and we would definitely go back!