We managed to bag a great late deal, staying at the Cedar Court Hotel for a week, Room Only. As always, we read the reviews before booking and found that they were mixed.

In my opinion the hotel was good value for money. We stayed in a loft suite, which was a split level room with a HUGE bed, large TV and dressing table/mirror upstairs and a wardrobe, another large TV, bathroom and lovely gas fire downstairs. It was great to have the different levels, so that we could colapse on the sofa downstairs and watch the TV after a long days skiing whilst being away from the sleeping area. There was also a handy small fridge freezer and tea and coffee making facilities, an iron, ironing board and hairdryer available in the room.

I would describe the hotel as extremely clean, really friendly, with helpful staff. It is true that the rooms are not bang up to date on the decor' front, but at the same time it's not exactly your nans', grans flat style!! The rooms are very comfortable and the pool, hot tub and sauna area are imaculately clean. The only down side was that there was no jacuzzi.

It's about a 10 minute stroll from the hotel to Banff centre, where you will find loads of restaurants and good shops. There is a public bus that stops nearby if you prefer not to walk. This takes you more or less anywhere in Banff that you need to get to, including the Banff Upper Hot Springs - well recommended, and the Banff Gondola - didn't get time to go on this regretably. There didn't seem to be a fixed fare to travel on the bus, but there is a tip and donations box available. The ski buses that will take you to the three ski areas, stops outside of the Carabou Hotel and the Banff Inn, both are next to the Cedar Court. I would recommend that you get the bus from the Carabou Hotel as this is the first stop and the bus can get pretty full up at peak times. The cost of the ski bus is included in Tri-Area lift passes, otherwise it $15. All of the bus times are avaialble on the reception notice board.

We bought a Tri-Area pass which gives you access to Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise - all areas are great to ski, and have their own individual style. Sunshine Village and Lake Louise are the bigger areas with loads of fab runs. Norquay is smaller, but still a good area, and was virtually empty on the two occassions that we went. All ski areas are un-crowded compared to Europe, and there are minimal queues for the lifts.

We did Club Ski for 3 days, which cost $271.50. There are classes for all abilities available.

The Tri-Area lift pass cost $489.50 and includes coach transfer to the ski areas (Norquay - 15 minutes, Sunshine Village - 40 minutes and Lake Louise - 30 minutes approx. transfer times).

Ski hire cost $136.50 for beginner and $191 for intermediate ski's. We took our own boots so this was not included in these prices but I don't think it was that much extra to hire boots as well.

We looked on-line before travelling for the prices of the lift passes, ski school etc, and having contacted the Travel Agents, were told that it would be cheaper to book our requirements on the coach with their rep'. The Crystal Reps' were friendly and helpful, but if we go back again (which I hope we do) I would probably shop around and book the lift pass, ski school and ski hire before I go on-line. Most ski hire shops offer a taxi to collect and drop off your ski's which is handy, but wasn't included when we booked through Crystal.

Our flight was delayed on the way across by 5 hours, so needless to say, we were pretty tired on arrival at 9pm. Many restaurants offer a take away service, and reception gave us a magazine, with all of the menus so that we could get food delivered from to the hotel.

Overall, I would definately recommend the hotel and absolutely loved Banff and the three ski areas.

This hotel was very, very clean. This includes the plates and cups and cutlery in the kitchen. I appreciate that.

As well, the staff with whom I had contact were very pleasant.

The pool was nice (and clean) and the hot tub was roomy enough and relaxing. I was also impressed that there was a shower in the pool area.

The hotel itself was not what I expected. From the description on the hotel's website and the pretty good reviews on Tripadvisor, I was expecting more. The facility is an older one and while it has been updated, I would say that there is only so much they can do to make it meet today's standards. We stayed in a kitchenette unit and, possibly because it was at one time two units, there were doors to exterior corridors at both ends. I thought that we had a balcony at one end but it was just another corridor looking onto another courtyard over the parking lot. Also, the room decor and layouts were not that great. As my son said, it's not comfortable there.

This hotel has some good qualities but it is not a top choice for my family.

I booked this place because the facilities looked nice and it looked central. Let's just say that it didn't quite meet either.

The room simply felt "old" (common word here). Bed - complete with small hole in the sheet - couple of chairs squeezed in, alarm clock and an old-style pay per view TV in it. Not bad, but not as nice as I was expecting.

"Facilities" for the hotel consisted of the pool and hot-tub area (with steam room). It's actually a nice little facility, it's just that the motor for the hot tub was broken whilst I was there. Reasonable size too. There is no food on site. They have a sister place about 4 hotels down where they encourage you to eat (I didn't go there). The lobby area has ski-lockers and an internet kiosk - no wi-fi here.

Location actually wasn't too bad. A good 6 or 7 minute walk from the absolute centre, not as bad as some folks I spoke to. The best part is that the hotel is 2 doors down had a Chilis!

In a nutshell, this hotel is a bit tired feeling, it's seen better days. The decor is a bit faded and the overall design is rather odd (my room - and several others - overlooked a corridor which meant little light got in). That does mean you should get it cheap, and it is fine for a 2/3 day weekend, but I wouldn't want to be staying there for a week or more. You get what you pay for.

Had a delux room with 2 queen beds for family of 2 adults and 2 children (13 & 9) clean, plenty of room and a fantastic bathroom. (Deep tub and a seperate shower, underfloor heating)
Front desk staff very helpful and polite. If you want to stay somewhere fairly inexpensive over the Christmas holiday season then I don't think you could find a better place.