The Crimson Jasper…read more
In search of travel opportunities that would take me out of my home near Washington, D.C. so that I could avoid the gross semi-quincentennial spectacle being touted by 47, I looked for travel through the United States and Canada. Amtrak Vacations agent Kevin Guadagnoli did an outstanding job arranging my itinerary, starting with booking me a sleeper from Washington, D.C. to Chicago, then to Seattle, and then to Vancouver, Jasper, and Banff.
I arrived at the train station in Jasper, operated by VIA Rail Canada, on July 4, so my timing was perfect. No red, white, and blue blustering - just clean air, beautiful mountains, great food, and lovely people, all who seemed to be at once kind, interesting, and unfailingly courteous. So refreshing to meet nice people.
Kevin's choice of the Crimson Jasper was spot on: the hotel is an 8-minute walk from the train station, on clearly marked streets with ample sidewalks that made the trip easy and safe. Upon my arrival (not yet 11 a.m.) I was able to check my backpack and was free to walk around and get a sense of life in Alberta. There were first-rate bistros, a local liquor store, a full-service grocery store, and blue skies abounding, all within walking distance.
The hotel was perfect. I was able to check into my room in the early afternoon, and found it to be well-appointed, comfortable, and quiet. The hotel has done away with single-use plastics, in favor of shower-wall-mounted dispensers that were environmentally friendly and easy to use. The bathroom was carefully designed, and was user-friendly even for me, traveling solo at age 70 with just a touch of neuropathy that makes it important that the shower offers grab-bars and such. Check, check, and check. I'd return in a heartbeat.
Above and beyond: I had a bit of a meltdown when my transport from Jasper to Banff went south. Brewster Transportation, with whom Kevin had booked my transfer, proved to be really, really hard to work with. My itinerary had me leaving the hotel in Jasper on Monday on an excursion managed by Brewster. The rule in my itinerary was that I had to confirm my intention to travel from Jasper to Banff 48 hours before my booked trip. I started trying to reach Brewster Transportation on Friday, three days before my scheduled departure.
When I called their posted number (800-760-6934) I got the response that my call was important and someone would be with me shortly. Not true. No one, not one person, could I reach. I called more than 10 times over the weekend, waiting at some point more than 30 minutes on hold, trying to reach Brewster so that I could confirm my travel and find out when I would be picked up. Three time over the weekend I heard the recording say, "If you would like to receive a callback when an agent is available to speak with you, please press 1". None of these messages were returned, leaving me not knowing whether my passage was confirmed - and worse, I couldn't tell when I would be picked up at the Crimson.
My concerns were that I needed to confirm this trip: It was my one-way passage from Jasper to Banff, as well as my chance to see the Columbia icefields (which was part of the passage). If no one would tell me when I could expect to be picked up at the Crimson, I was screwed. And that's pretty much what happened: I tried without success to reach Brewster - due, entirely, to Brewster's failure to let me confirm the trip.
I'm not complaining about the driver's refusal to wait - he or she had a job to do, and no one wants to wait for the laggard passenger. But it was wrong for Brewster to make it impossible for me to reach a human at Brewster. It was seriously wrong for Brewster to tell me (through its recording) that there was more than a 10 minute wait and that if I chose to request a callback I would be called back - that was a lie. It was also wrong for Brewster to put all calls on permanent hold over the 4th of July holiday.
What happened next was, however, extraordinary, and spoke well of the Crimson and its management and front office staff. Emily and Danni were at the front desk when I learned the Brewster trip left without me. Working together, Emily and Danni went online and found a transfer that would get me to Banff by late afternoon. I couldn't get the benefit of the ice field excursion Kevin had booked for me, but I could at least get to Banff.
I am profoundly grateful that Emily and Danni collaborated to figure out how to make this trip work. Well done!
