Our initial flight arrived after 11 pm Calgary time...1 am Eastern Time...and we had to drive to downtown Calgary for our hotel. There was lots of construction downtown and we had a difficult time getting to the hotel. We had to opt for valet parking because it was complicated to get to the parking in the middle of the night. The desk clerk at Le Germaine was extremely helpful. It was after 1 am Calgary time when we were settled in our room ..3am Eastern time. It was a stressful and exhausting start for our trip. An airport hotel would have been a much better idea.
The hotels in Banff and Lake Louise were very nice and worked out well. The hotel in Jasper was problematic...the description in the materials we received ahead of the trip did not match what we got. We had only one bed, not per our initial request when booking the trip. There was no elevator and we had to drag our two heavy suitcases up a flight of stairs....problematic for a pair of senior citizens.
The structure of the trip was excellent. Two nights at each hotel was a good plan. The Acclaim hotel on our last night was perfect. Their free airport shuttle enabled us to return the rental car the evening before our departure, and got us there in plenty of time for our 6:30 am flight.
We had some trouble prior to the trip getting vouchers for the four excursions we booked. I called Great Value five times before it was resolved, which was stressful. This was resolved the day before our departure, and one of the excursions was no longer available ( the Lake Louise summer gondola). Great Value refunded us for this excursion promptly.
Overall, the freedom to drive ourselves and go at our own pace in this fantastic place was wonderful. Having the flight, car rental, and hotels set up for us was terrific. We enjoyed the trip so much and had a really memorable stay in the Canadian Rockies. Overall, I would recommend this vacation package and would do it again.
