It was a couple of years ago that I had the thought of providing my ski resort’s only hotel some business after a hard day on the slopes. Allow me to share a story of Kananaskis Lodge.. The Kananaskis Mountain Lodge is located in the Kananaskis Village at the foot of Nakiska. Actually the Stoney Nakoda is a half hour down the road as well.  I thought, why not grab a bite and a room and come back the next day after a night at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. 

Here is the thing. When reception greeted me, the price was $350 and rooms were available.

BTW….this story comes to you courtesy of inspiration derived from the Calgary Herald’s editing department who removed my dignified post in reply to an article today referencing hard times in hospitality in Banff / Canmore.   

I thought to myself….this can’t be right. “Excuse me” I exclaimed….did you say $350? Are there rooms available? Yes sir. Well, I’m not paying $350….can you do any better? No sir.  Naturally, I drove home. They didn’t get my business and neither did Nakiska the next day for lunch. My Nakiska early bird season pass was less than this one night quoted at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge.

Fast forward to today. The vacancy rate is very high. The Herald is quoting 50 per cent today during our covid reign and other posters whose posts have managed to subsist over at the Herald have declared that rates have not come down. 

Am I empathetic to hoteliers given my experience? No. Am I empathetic to folks in the service sector who have lost their jobs because of idiotic decisions by hotels? More so but not particularly. They decided to keep working for the misaligned greed driven owners who weren’t willing to accommodate me and obviously others local to their establishment. You see….Isaac Newton said it best. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If one goes about their business defying natural law expecting a consequence in their favour aberrant to normal course –why should one be empathetic toward a predictable plight? Although COVID may not have been on the horizon, certainly the potential for a Black Swan like event has always persisted as a variable to cause harm to hospitality.

If you ever conduct your affairs in such a way that you take advantage of someone with unfairness, there will be a consequence. You’ll never know when that consequence will show up. There is always reckoning in spite of a cultural denial at every turn that judgment can be avoided.