The Delta Lodge at Kananaskis – A Family Friendly Place to Visit

Often I feel like I live in the land that customer service forgot. In Calgary, the customer service is often abysmal (and that is on the days that I am feeling too nice to call it by worse, non-blog friendly, words). Unfortunately, I think dealing with this day after day lowers the bar for what great service is.

Well, now our bar has been raised back to it’s proper height! Our little family (without the big kids) spent Easter weekend at the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis. From start to finish, the people that work there were the stand out part of the weekend. Here are a few examples:

• At checkin: taking extra time to talk to Evan to ask if he was excited about visiting with the Easter bunny this weekend.
• In the restaurant: Marc, our waiter, noticing that Evan pulled his tooth during dinner. He then found an envelope & wrote “Tooth Fairy” on it so Evan wouldn’t lose his tooth. He also brought him a bowl of sherbet to help it feel better.
• Housekeeping: Lining up Evan’s eleventy billion stuffies on his bed every day. He ran upstairs to see every time we came in after the room had been cleaned.
• Event Staff: Consistently happy, helpful & unflappable staff at all the Easter events even though there were GOBS of kids there to deal with. I’ve done events like this and I know how hard it is not to sit down and cry when more kids than you thought were coming show up!
• Kananaskis Outfitters: Staff from the outfitter ran two of our favorite events of the weekend; the GPS easter egg hunt and the hike to Troll Falls. The leaders of both events were extremely knowledgable and very friendly.

Now, more about the hotel!

Rooms – With over 400 rooms, the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis is huge so it is great for get aways with extended family and friends. The Delta is currently renovating their rooms so depending on where your room is it could be either an older room or a newer one (you can always ask when you book). Their newly renovated rooms are beautiful. With modern, spa like interiors (think blonde wood & white towels in the bathrooms). The older rooms are still nice but a bit dated. On both of my visits, we stayed in loft rooms. These are a great option for families as they have more beds and two full bathrooms.

Restaurants – Since you are pretty far from the next city with restaurants, it is important to know what options are available at the Lodge. With a good variety of options, there is something for everyone. However, in the future I will come more prepared to eat breakfast in the room. Each room has a small refrigerator so you can bring milk, yogurt, etc. You also get a kettle so it would be quick and easy to make oatmeal. The key thing I forgot….bowls and spoons. Next time! Prices in the restaurants are pretty standard by Calgary terms. Kids under 6 eat free off of the kids menu or off the kids buffet.

Amenities – The events team does a fantastic job with activities for kids (especially the under 10 set). Evan loved all the arts & crafts, the GPS egg hunt, the Easter egg hunt and meeting the Easter bunny. Even when it isn’t a holiday, there are kid friendly activities on the go. There is also a kids play room. We didn’t spend much time there this trip as Evan has pretty much outgrown it at six. It wasn’t as awesome as I remember but I think that has to do with the vast number of kids there during a holiday weekend. There is also a pool and big hot tub. Evan loved both but I found the pool too cool for my tastes. However, for you hot blooded Canadians, it is probably fine because it was FULL of people. Also, if you fit it in, there is a full service spa (WHY didn’t I fit this in? Why?).

Overall, the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis is an easy place to recommend as a great place to visit. With amenities, restaurants and activities, there is something for everyone. However, I still think the stand out part of the lodge is the great service that you will receive from the outstanding staff. That is worth a visit all by itself.

Disclosure: We were hosted by the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis. As always, all opinions expressed in this blog are my own.