My sister and I stayed at the Kootenay Park Lodge the night before starting a backcountry trip. Based on the photos on their website, we were very excited-- it looked great. When we arrived it was a very different story. The reception area felt abandoned. What was once likely an information hub/visitor centre for hikers embarking on the nearby Rockwall Trail, it now contained a disarray of boxes, garbage, empty shelves and display cases where brochures and maps would be. When we walked in there were no lights on and no staff, making us think we were at the wrong place. Eventually someone (who spoke little English) checked us in. We asked for a map of the area and were given a map of an entirely different park. When we expressed that we were seeking of a map of the park we were in, we were told they didn't have any. We were also told, when we asked where the restaurant was, that it was closed that day. We had intentionally not eaten dinner in Canmore because the Lodge's dining room looked great. Because I'm a celiac, we checked the menu on the website earlier that day to ensure there would be options for me. It listed the hours of operation (7 days a week) and did not indicate that it was closed. Based on the fact that the restaurant windows were boarded up and the front door was swinging open, exposed the interior to the elements, it was clear that it hadn't been in use in a while. When we asked the staff member about this, he claimed he didn't understand what we were asking. The lodge is remote and we didn't bring things for dinner which meant that the day before we embarked on a multi-day hike, my dinner consisted of potato chips and an apple. When we asked to speak to a manager, we were told that they weren't available. The room was dirty and in terrible repair which was sad because the structure itself was beautiful. Clearly there was no respect for the history of the site. All of the screens on the windows and door were torn, the curtains were filthy, the curtain rods were hilarious (some were hung upside down; others were simply nailed right into the wall, and mismatched), and there was no hot water. The renovations made to the bathroom were sloppy and embarrassing. In the middle of the night a mouse got into our room which meant we got little sleep. There was no use trying to shoo it out since the multiple gaps in the walls meant it would have come right back. When we checked out in the morning we again asked for the manager and were again told he wasn't available so we asked for a phone number so we could follow up later. When we got home, we called the number multiple times and left several messages. We also sent many emails and included photos of the state of our room and the property. There was no response. We then contacted Visa, BC Tourism, and the Better Business Bureau to file complaints. After the BBB was in touch with the manager, he finally got back to us and told us that he'd refund us 50% of our stay. Not surprisingly, we never saw the refund despite multiple attempts to contact him. I wish I would have read reviews of this place before booking. Based on the reviews, it looks like it used to be nice but went downhill after it was sold to new owners. The sad thing is that it has the potential to be beautiful under the right care. It might be the worst place I've ever stayed at.

Kootenay Park Lodge looks nothing like the website promises; instead, it is derelict to the point of looking abandoned and is a dump. My sister and I booked this lodge for the night before a backcountry hiking trip on the Rockwall Trail. Even though it was pricier than we would normally spend, we decided to splurge for the night before our trip on the trail. We specifically did not eat in Canmore and planned to have dinner there because the place looked so charming. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we arrived. The lodge lights were mostly out, and the shelves in the reception / gift shop area mostly empty. Despite the fact the website shows photos of well-kept cabins, our cabin was falling apart and dirty, and had ripped screens on all the windows, and some of the windows did not close. We had a mouse in our room and had a horrible sleep. And despite the fact the website advertises that the restaurant is open seven days a week, it was closed and clearly had not been open this summer at all. The patio was full of cardboard boxes. We had no food for the night before our backcountry trip and if it wasn’t for the kindness of strangers from Syria who insisted that we take food they had with them in their car, we would have gone hungry. We told the people at the front desk that we refused to pay for the cabin and wanted to talk to a manager; we were told a manager would be on-site in the morning. There was no manager in the morning so we said we wanted to talk to the manager when we returned. The manager did not return our phone calls. They did reply to one email message and said they would charge us half the price, but when my Visa bill came they had charged the full amount. We’ve tried to let BC Tourism know, as this place should be fined and shut down. It is a scam.

This place is absolutely NOTHING like advertised on different sites. The pictures they use are unreal and do not represent the accommodations at all with the cabins being really run down, no restaurant and the grounds being unsafe. The cabins are run down and unsafe with an excessive amount of vermin feces, wires from addition of water and such hanging free in the cabins, along with not having the same amenities in each cabin. The first cabin we stayed in leaked during a storm, so they moved us to another one. The first cabin had a little refrigerator, microwave and a radiator heater. The second one had NO refrigerator, a microwave and NO heater. We went and snagged the radiator heater from the first cabin so we would have heat. Also, an excellent decision to take our car refrigerator saved us! After we used a few towels to clean up the leaky mess in the first cabin, they informed us that we would need to take our towels to the new cabin, because they didn't have any more clean towels. The kid working here was very kind, but the rest of the staff did not speak English well at all, and you could tell he felt stuck in the middle. We eventually got one more towel so that we could shower. They advertise having a restaurant on site, which is NOT true. They have built a nice deck off he side of the defunct restaurant. We counted on them having food, so with no food on site, we had to go get food to bring back to the cabin, which cost us extra time and money. Radium Hot Springs saved us! They have some excellent restaurant and store choices, along with some live music thrown in. Around the lodge grounds they have building materials, power tools, broken picnic benches, run down buildings, and they only mowed around the cabin they first booked us into. If you have children, they can not be left unattended due to the many things kids could get hurt on. The grounds are just a mess. They do have a trail that leads down to the creek, which was beautiful. The scenery was definitely the only saving grace to this place.

Wow! Under new ownership. The place has gone to $&@“! Watch out for the vicious German shepherd at check in! Plus dog barks constantly. No restaurant. Everything in room is not working. Mice in room! Go to Storm Mountain or Radium! It’s a 79$ place. Good luck calling or communicating.

3 korean kids at the counter who zero customer service skills no working locks on cabin doors, no coffee, no services. Went into main office 6am , doors were wide open, no locks on doors. POS system had batched and ran the tape over the counter lol Shower stall has a leak that would be wasting gallons every single day. This property has zero value for a stay. To the owners, $300/night you are not worth.