We stayed at the Akai prior to running the Melissa's Road Race in Banff in September 2008. This is hands down the most awful place I have ever stayed in and I really hope I never stay at a place as bad as this again. The "motel rooms" were essentially a bunch of ATCO trailers hammered together to resemble a building with a super long hallway.

The room we got came with a kitchenette and the appliances/counters/cupboards looked like the kind you would see in a run down crackhouse, everything was so old and disgusting in there that I didn't dare make any food for fear of getting sick. The dishes provided in the kitchenette cupboards were all scratched up, unmatched and looked like they were purchased from a Salvation Army used bargain bin.

The cleanliness of the room was well below standard. The carpets were so stained and gross looking that I wouldn't take off my outdoor shoes in the motel room since I was afraid of what could be living in that carpet. It appeared that the cleaning staff never made any effort to vacuum under the beds either since there was lots of dust bunnies, dirt, crumbs, and unknown debris under the bed that absolutely revolted me.

The motel beds were extremely uncomfortable. After just one night sleeping there, I had a very sore back that lasted almost 48 hours. My sore back ended up affecting my running race the next morning and I'm sure I would have performed better if I could have slept in a comfortable bed the night before.

We had our extended family staying in two other motel rooms at the Akai the same night we stayed there and their feedback about the rooms was almost the same as ours, absolutely terrible and the worst place they have ever stayed.

The only thing good about the Akai is that they allow pets so we were allowed to bring along our dog with us overnight (which is the reason we chose this motel to start with).

Even though this might be the only motel in Canmore that allows pets, the management seems to make no effort to keep the rooms clean or even comfortable for their guests. It still makes me shudder to think of my awful experience at this hell motel!