This museum is fabulous…read more They have several cars from train sets on the tracks outside. A lot of these have been brought back to its original or as close as possible condition just using grant money, I understand, as it becomes available from the provincial government. One set of cars has now been named a "National Heritage" set and it is hoped a couple of other trains or the Royal Alex building receive that status soon as well. It then might make it easier for the museum to receive federal funding on a regular basis as most other museums do. Every time I go through the tour, I notice something different, something special. The staff do a good job in keeping them dustless for our benefit and the trains benefit and in protecting the cars as the tours go through. Guided tours through the cars are possible and are very interesting for the high school, adult range. The Museum is currently fundraising to finish off the rail shed and a miniature railroad (that was donated from Granville Island) set in the basement that all age kids would enjoy. The local HO club has also been trying to finish their display so as to have several miniature trains run along tracks in settings similar to around the southeast BC. One major item on their wish list I understand, is the funds to be able to construct a temperature-controlled, weather-controlled shed extending over all the cars and engines to fully keep all weather from deteriorating them any further - a very costly item. Once these trains are rusted through and can't be further restored, they are lost to our future as there aren't any other of these cars left. The Royal Alexandra is a beautiful hall with as many of the original parts as possible. She's now available for renting out for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, meetings, etc. I've had several functions in here from AGMs, Christmas parties, dance, violin, and singing recitals, masquerade party, plus other activities. It's special to look at the detailing in the roof and columns. Downstairs at the shed is a quilt about different items about Cranbrook's past. There are also many pictures taken showing the birth, growth, people, activities, all around the Cranbrook-Fort Steel area that are very interesting to read about and view.

From the outside I would never have guessed how beautiful this place is. Fabulous restorations, the…read moreCity has put a lot of money into this facility I am guessing, because it's really detailed and immaculate in quality. If you are into trains, this would be a highlight.

My husband, mother, and I had a family wedding to attend near Cranbrook a couple of weeks ago and…read moreneeded to book a hotel room for one night in Cranbrook. We didn't need anything fancy, and I picked the Days Inn as it was a central location and a good price at $135 + tax. The room was exactly as advertised, and clean. The queen sized beds were comfortable, and I loved the thick, fluffy pillows. However, the room had no air conditioning and it was so hot that we had trouble sleeping. There was what I thought was air conditioning, but it turned out just to be air noisily blowing out of a vent every 15 minutes or so. At 2 am I opened up the balcony door and within minutes the room cooled down to a comfortable temperature. The other negative about Days Inn were the lights from the pool below shining into our room. The hotel pool closes at 9pm, and all night they light up the area with very bright lights. Our room was facing the inner court yard and pool, and despite being on the third floor, the light seeped through the edges of the curtains. Due to the bright lights and lack of air conditioning, I was prepared to give the hotel two stars -- none of us had a restful sleep. However, they offer a free breakfast buffet of eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, toast, cereal, muffins, juice, and coffee. While the breakfast wasn't fantastic, it was more than decent, and FREE -- it was a pretty impressive free breakfast. So at $135 for a room and three breakfasts, Days Inn was excellent value. Also, check out was at 11am, however, we had a few hours until our ride could pick us up and take us to the wedding venue. We asked the front desk staff if they could keep our luggage for us while we went to sightsee, and they agreed. I don't think it's a service they regularly provide guests, so it was much appreciated. Overall a decent hotel and great value, but I would caution against staying in a room facing the pool and courtyard if you are sensitive to light. [Yelp collections: Cranbrook; Hotels]

So disappointed!! Stayed here about 10 years ago and was a fantastic hotel. It has gone downhill…read morebig time. Zero AC in our room. We complained, front desk did come up (it's a basic up/down home thermostat, no actual air conditioner) played with it to pretend they did something. Told us to call front desk again if it didn't come down they would move us. Of course no one answered after that. It was late so we just decided to Open the window fully which unfortunately opened onto Main Street with traffic all night, and smokers down below. Temp stayed at 23celcius. Unfortunately I read the Yelp Reviews too late and learned of this no AC problem happening to many other customers. On top of that, the entire air system is connected to a restaurant on the main floor. If you are allergic or sensitive to smells you're in for a treat of curry pumped thru the air system as well as being hit with it the minute you walk in the front doors. On top of front desk staff who did come up to our room initially, personal hygiene was quite offensive to my odour sensitivities. I would never recommend this hotel!! How to improve?? Change everything I wrote about but know that won't happen so better just stay away people. I read some reviews of customers raving about the Free Breakfast! Trust me, it is Nothing out of the norm and have had plenty of lovelier breakfasts at other hotels. Room was comfortably clean, but detail cleaning in the bathroom could have been better.

My husband, mother, and I had a family wedding to attend near Cranbrook this past weekend, and we…read morehad some time to kill Friday morning before heading up to the wedding venue. Because it was near our hotel (and there wasn't anything else to do), we decided to go to the Cranbrook History Centre. We arrived shortly after 11am and the employee told us there was a railcar tour starting at 11:15am, so we purchased tickets for the tour. Cranbrook is known for the Canadian Pacific Railway building a line through the town in 1898 (something I didn't know before I went to Cranbrook; in fact, I didn't know anything about Cranbrook before our trip). The history centre offered several tours of original (and partially refurbished) railcars, running from 20 minutes to two hours. We went on the 45 minute Comparative Tour, in which we had a tour of several railcars from the 1920s to the 1970s. The tour guide, Georgia, was excellent, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. We learned a lot of interesting facts, such as the whisky, Crown Royal, was created for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II's tour of Canada. It was quite interesting seeing the different trains and learning about the history of rail travel. One of the trains we were on had had several famous people ride it, including the Kennedys, Winston Churchill, and Queen Elizabeth II. After the tour, we looked around the rest of the museum. It was a small museum, but the exhibits were interesting and worth a look, especially the room with the elaborate model railway (it was pretty amazing). Plus, at $6 for admission ($4 for seniors), you can't complain. The price of the tour, which included admission, was a reasonable $19 for adults/$15 for seniors. If you are ever in Cranbrook, I highly recommend taking a railcar tour at the Cranbrook History Centre. It's inexpensive, and what else is there to do in Cranbrook? [Yelp collections: Cranbrook; Museums and Art Galleries; Cheap Thrills]

From the owner: The Cranbrook History Centre, in beautiful downtown Cranbrook, offers a specialized experience for…read moreall ages. Guided tours of the 17 restored railcars are an exciting way to experience the days of luxury rail travel. Tours range in duration and cost and can be customized depending on your mobility. Self-guided tours of the facility allow you to visit other areas of the Centre at your leisure. You will find interpretive information and exhibits on local and regional history, paleontology, natural history and first nation's culture.

We spent a few days here & found ALL THE STAFF very friendly & helpful. Although the building is…read moreolder it was very clean & amenities were kept up. We stayed with our 2 dogs & although there were other dogs near us there was never a problem. I would recommend this establishment.

Was turned away incredibly rudely after having issue with credit card, would not accept cash or…read moredebit although we offered that solution. The huge and intimidating man at the desk told us to "enjoy sleeping in our car" and clearly delighted in our predicament. He even swore at us saying Get your ass out" although I was so civil the entire time. I told him I would leave this negative review and he was physically threatening and said "how dare you!" The good news is Motel 6 down the street took cash and were very helpful with assisting us. Go there instead.

If I could rate this company a zero, I would. We met with Heather a few months back, and decided…read morenot to use her company for a number of reasons. We did not get a good feel from her, she spoke to us like we were 2, the way she talked to (her?) kid was very similar; condescending and annoyed. We really didn't feel like we were anything but a pay check to her. This is fine, its a big business, but marriage is for life and both my fiancé and I had hoped in getting married in a small town as opposed to Calgary we would skirt the capitalistic nature of this. But we didn't. It was in fact worse. The store is a mish mash of what looks to be recycled dollar store items at 1000% mark up, thrown together designs from about 15 different styles... We weren't sure this was because of variety for brides, but the focus was all over the place with not much being too relevant to getting married. We did do a mini consultation, and were met with a lot of hesitation and vague answers about Andies questions about a wedding at the hill. We could not have felt more tiny at the suggestions there were other beautiful places in town to get married. Don't we get what we want? She did not say no, she was just vague and that set off a ton of alarms. We were staying in town for a week at one of the hotels on the hill, (nice but a little dated,) and we were in town for dinner at Kimberley's 'platzl' district the Stonefire Pizza, and we ran into her partner. He was intoxicated beyond all sense, and was like a ticking time bomb. Literally like he was about to lash out and attack us. This is crazy, and I feel ridiculous writing this, but we are in Kimberley again, and drove by this store only to see police out front of the Alpine Wedding and Events store, clearly trying to stop her enraged partner from entering. It was really a bad experience the first time we approached her and after seeing this debacle outside my (now wife) and I could not go on without at least putting out a warning to those who might be caught up in the spell of a wedding too, to think twice or use one of the other sort of local wedding planners in the kootenays.

From the owner: Call us for all your wedding planning needs and visit us for your wedding & party supplies.read more

We found High Country Catering on the internet but couldn't find much information. We were…read moreskeptical based on the simple website and lack of reviews but Mannie Roberts was a pleasant, straight forward person to talk with over the phone. He promised a great roast beef meal so we took a gamble and hired him to cater our wedding with 150 guests. He doesn't worry about fancy plates and frills but he was up front about this, cooked a delicious meal and delivered exactly as promised. He travelled over an hour to the venue, was completely self sufficient, and his entire team was very pleasant. It clearly wasn't their first event and they kept the dinner buffet running smoothly. They went the extra mile to accommodate our guests with dietary restrictions, distribute desert to guests at their seats, and package up leftovers for a late night snack. We've had nothing but positive reviews from guests regarding their dinner. We had a great experience, and I trust that you would too. I joined YELP to share our positive feedback and get the word out - hopefully the next person searching for a cater will feel comfortable giving Mannie a call knowing he's delivered a high quality experience for others.

My wife and I stayed one night prior to a week stay at a local dude ranch. The dude ranch…read morerecommended the resort. Checkout is at 11:00am and we were schedule to get picked up by the dude ranch shuttle van a 2:00pm so we planned to enjoy the resort for a few hours. When making the reservation and when checking in, we were assured that they would they would store our luggage behind the front desk. Upon checking out we were told they could not do that due to liability reasons so here we are stuck for 3 hours babysitting. They suggested we leave our luggage unattended in the corner of the lobby - who in the right mind would consider that?! Will certainly tell the dude ranch not to recommend the resort for other guests. Not the service you would expect from a resort of this caliber.

I haven't read other reviews but we loved everything about this resort. The grounds are…read morebreathtakingly beautiful and there's so much history. We stayed in the KOA and it was fabulous! Everyone was incredibly friendly and very welcoming. We golfed one day with two young local guys. They were so helpful on the course, which was in impeccable shape, and every hole was more beautiful than the last. We gambled a little bit and actually won! We will definitely be back.

Great desk staff. Friendly and fast. Nice clean rooms, updated and tidy. Only amenities missing…read moreare microwave in rooms and USB ports. Great find in Cranbrook!

Nice, clean hotel with decent sized rooms and a large waterslide area. The hotel restaurant seems…read moreto be pretty good, though I only had a coffee. Food looked good though! Friendly staff, and clean building.