I have stayed in this hotel numerous times + was beyond disgusted with my last stay there. Perhaps there has been a recent emphasis to hire new employees that don't understand the basics of customer service, or that this one experience is reflective of their inability to properly mitigate conflict. Either way I am STILL in shock.

What started as a the potential for a lovely girls night out for a 25th birthday quickly turned into the "Banff Inn twilight zone".

-our power went out in our room within a few hours of checking in...we had 3 appliances in total plugged in (straightener, blow dryer, and coffee machine)
-we called down to the front desk to let them know. As this is sometimes occurs in busy hotels, we were not to alarmed.
-I personally went down after an hour in the dark (this was a room with a staircase in it...guest safety not an issue for this hotel apparently). At this point we were all late for our reservation, getting ready in the halls- with a large mirror and chairs. I asked the front desk what the hold up was as we were late for a very important dinner reservation....the girl looked at me confused (name-Mel) and said she would call....I was dumbfounded that she was just then looking into this issue when 3 of their guests had set up shop in the hallway to get ready....
-When the maintenance man did finally come I rode with him up to the room. The elevator ride was him telling me (through laughter) that he would have to "google" how to fix it. We get to our room and he proceeds to ask the 2 girls still doing their hair in the hallway if they "know of anyone they can call to fix it?"
I don't know if this was meant to be a joke...none of us laughed
-We finally head down to leave; our power had been out for over 2 hrs at this point. Before leaving I asked the same lady (name- Mel) at the desk if there was another room that we could take keys for in-case our lights are not on when we return later that night. She offered us the only room left with 2 beds....there are 5 of us.....she didn't understand that 5 people do not fit into 2 beds and became quite irate when we refused the room. She also emphasized the fact that we had originally booked for 3 people not 5, which is true, but we had 2 extra girls drive from Lethbridge last minute and I tried to explain that we should not be faulted because of that. We were all well aware that the extra person charge would have to be paid in the morning for breakfast (as we have done multiple times at the Banff Inn). We are all working professionals...we don't really get kicks out of scheming an extra $40 on a night out...
- When I asked if she could find us other accommodation in Banff that we could all fit in comfortably WITH functional lights she responds with "Banff is fully booked tonight, good luck walking around trying to find a place!".....this is when all our jaws hit the ground.
- As we could see the issue was not being resolved, we held on to the keys to the 3 bed room and left...but not before she snuck in one last jab as we left....wait for this..... "GOOD LUCK SLEEPING IN THE DARK!"
-the next day, I woke up early and went down stairs to speak with a manager (Name-Deb). She pretty much told me that she believed I was lying about what had occurred the night before and that she would take off a measly $35 from our bill.
-all I was looking for was a "We are sorry this happened, and this is how we can fix it." Not a revolving door of "he-said, she-said."

The whole situation was quite disturbing- I ended up having a horrible night in Banff and (thankfully) returned back to our room with working lights. As a person who works in customer relations, I could not believe that any of this behavior was acceptable.

I will never stay here again, and I will tell anyone willing to listen about what disgusting behavior went on that night.