I have travelled extensively for work and pleasure for the last 30 years and have never been more disappointed in a reservation than I was this past weekend at the Buffalo Mt Lodge. I made my reservation over the phone directly with the front desk and drove 12 hrs to Banff for a weekend in the mountains between Christmas and New Years. I chose this property after receiving several recommendations from friends and reviewing the website information and photos. Our room did not in any way even remotely resemble the photos on the website. Yes, we did have a fieldstone fireplace but that is where any resemblance ended. No claw foot tub, no heated tile floor, no balcony, no pine walls or ceilings, no comfy chairs in front of the fireplace, and it goes on and on. Our "one bedroom suite" was run down, dirty, and anything but cozy and comfortable. The carpet was worn out and heavily stained. The furniture was the same. My wife insisted that I cover the chair and couch with blankets before she would sit on either. The room (101) was an obvious purgatory for not quite ready for retirement furniture from other rooms throughout the resort. When I returned to the front desk to seek alternative accommodations I was told the property was sold out and there were no options for me. I was also told that should I leave, I had missed the cancellation deadline and I would be charged for the first night. Shortly afterwards I also discovered that there were no other accommodations available for the following night anywhere in Banff. I could walk and pay for a single night at the Buffalo Mt Lodge (the penalty for missing the cancellation deadline) and find new accommodations elsewhere for the first night and then drive 12 hrs home the next day, or simply stay which we chose to do. To make the situation even more difficult, the cleaning staff did not arrive the second day to clean the room until just before 5:00 pm. We were getting ready for a dinner reservation in town and declined the cleaning but did request several items for the room. We did receive matches and paper to start a fire but did not receive the clean towels or the replacement candle that we requested. We listened to every footstep and every conversation that the people in the room above had for two days and two nights and listened to their two dogs bark nonstop every minute that their owners left the room. Almost no sound barrier between the rooms.
Had I been told upfront on the telephone when I made my reservation that this room in no way resembled the accommodations described or depicted on the website, I could have made a choice as to whether I was willing to pay $309 per night plus tax for this property. I was not given that opportunity and was terribly disappointed upon our arrival and had almost no alternate options at that point. This property website in no way depicts the full resort. The friends that recommended this property were not aware of the older, run down section of the resort and we were completely unaware. We paid just shy of $700 for two nights, were terribly disappointed, and feel this property completely misrepresents itself. The rooms on the website may be worth the high prices charged but ours was not and in all of my travels, I have never felt so overcharged. Be sure that you ask and confirm which rooms you are assigned before you commit to this property. Beware!
