We're not staying here

That was what my dear friend (A) visiting from Ottawa said when we arrived at the lodge I had booked in Kananaskis.  On line, it looked great, but the price should have given me a clue; it was $300 cheaper than the one I should have picked.  Nothing is "cheap" in Kananaskis, but this was a tad too cheap to actually be habitable.  Think a down-at-the-heels motel somewhere off the Vanier Parkway.  That's what I had booked. 

So, off we drove to the main Pomeroy Lodge -- a gorgeous hotel -- to try and book there.  "We're absolutely booked solid," said the clerk.  "Try again," said my friend -- an international traveller extraordinaire who will not take "no" for an answer.

We met in 1984, when we both worked for the federal presence at Expo '86 in Transport Canada.  Amazingly, we have remained friends since.  When she asked the clerk to just give us our money back and we would find something else, suddenly something miraculously popped up!  No way was this clerk going to be responsible for handing a guest $300, instead of up-selling for another $300.  We all know that all hotels always have a room somewhere and apparently, this one did.  So, we forked over the difference and were booked.  "Do you have anything with a mountain view?" asked A.  No.  Try again.  And what do you know?  A two-story, luxury loft suddenly opened up at the same price as an ordinary room!

I don't know how A does it, but she always gets what she wants.  We travelled together all the time with Expo '86, back and forth to Vancouver and to all the provinces to promote the fair and I should have known she would pull it off.  I, on the other hand, was all set to pack it in and head back to Calgary.  "Nancy, don't be stupid," she admonished.  "We're going to get what we want."  And we did.  Not only did we get settled when a knock came at the door.  I opened it and there stood a young man with a bottle of champagne, two flutes and a platter of chocolate-covered strawberries.  And this was all because I had effed up the original booking.  To top it off, they had compted the valet parking.  Maybe we looked as if we might throw a fit?   

Later that evening, when we were in the bar -- naturally -- we met another couple who had booked the dumpy one.  "Did you manage to get in here?" I asked.  "No, there was absolutely nothing available," said the wife.  When I told her we had managed, she was incredulous.  That's A for you, a very experienced and professional traveller. 

The decorations were beautiful.

Our chef, Francois.  We ordered steak tartare and he came to meet us.  Lovely chatting in French.