After much reviewing and consideration, my partner and I decided to stay at the Rundlestone lodge for our visit to Banff. The reception we received was very friendly and the guy at the desk appeared pleased to see us and was very helpful.

The room we had was the King room which was very nice, the bed was extremely comfortable, the room was clean and bright with an outstanding view of the Mountains and was quiet.

The room came with a DvD player with DVDs free to borrow from reception and the room also came with a very large flat screen TV. Excellent quality and with a wide range of available channels which is a nice change from other hotels I've stayed in where the TV has nothing but BBC world and some static.

The bathroom was nice and clean and the bath quite large. we had a small problem emptying it as the plug refused to pull out and one one occasion we were unpleasantly surprised by a cold shower, apparently this can happen when they change the water in the whirlpool downstairs.

There was a little bit of noise as they were renovating the restaurant, but it was such a small amount and only right in the middle of the day so it didn't wake you if you were trying to have a lie in.

The housekeeping staff were lovely and polite and went out of their way to be as efficient as possible and respecting our privacy.

The hotel is a good walk from the town center, about 15 minutes but the walk is nice even in -15C weather as the mountain views are amazing.

The only real downside to the hotel was their breakfast. Despite not having a restaurant they still offered a breakfast service. On the first day I ordered a full breakfast and was asked did I want bacon or sausage, to which I replied sausage, but they brought bacon anyway. I asked for poached eggs which were clearly not drained properly as the water from them ran around my plate soaking everything, not nice. On top of that the toast came unbuttered, the skillet potatoes came burnt and the whole dish was freezing cold.

So a wet, cold, burnt breakfast was a very bad start. My partner got pancakes which he said were very nice but somewhat undercooked and spent the rest of the day throwing up. On top of that I asked if it was possible to have the breakfast in our room and was then handed a tray which was not big enough to carry the food so it was something of a juggling act to get everything upstairs. One of the staff members did help but he did so almost as an afterthought when he saw me struggling. To me, having it brought to your room should be standard when requested.

In order to give the breakfast a chance, (it could have been a one off), I chanced it a second time. The menu is somewhat limited and none of it really appealed to me but as we were up at 7am, there wasn't another alternative. I asked the girl on duty if it was possible to just have a sausage and egg sandwich, this appeared to stump her, which isn't too surprising as she looked like she'd not quite woken up yet. She had to check with the kitchen to see if they could offer this, and when they did get round to it, the sandwich came with toast instead of bread and no egg but some very dried up sausages. I'd also stressed to her that I only wanted the sandwich, and when she offered tomato and fruit and skillet potatoes again, I said absolutely not, but regardless she came with a whole plate of them anyway and were subsequently wasted.

On the morning we left the hotel it was again very early so I thought I'd give them one more try before I got on the coach to head to the airport. Thankfully as i used the buffet option and made the toast myself it turned out ok.

I really hope that when the restaurant re-opens it is of a MUCH higher quality than the breakfast.

The hotel in itself is lovely and when we were there very quiet. I had the pool and the hot tub to myself when I chose to use it, there is onsite laundry which is a little pricey but very convenient if you're staying for more than a few days and the reception area is lovely. The huge fire and the comfy armchairs and there is a book corner where you can exchange any books you've read and are done with with others that other guests have left behind.

The standard of service is a bit hit and miss, some of the guys and girls on reception are very friendly and helpful and others seem somewhat distant and on occasion look very confused to be approached with even the simplest of questions.

In addition, the Keg next door does the most amazing steak sandwiches we've ever eaten and is literally 2-3 minutes walk.