Canmore Covid-19
By staying home today, we can travel tomorrow.
One of our great pleasures in the vacation rental business is welcoming guests from countries across the globe. We are in this situation together and we will come out of it together.
Canmore has now declared a state of local emergency. The main reason is to reinforce social isolation and to reduce the pressure on supermarkets and local medical facilities. All public buildings are closed, along with some car parks, trailheads and restrictions within the National Parks. The Trans-Canada Highway is still open.
This measure is only temporary and will shorten the life of Covid-19.
We understand completely our guests position with regard to your family and friends safety during this difficult situation for us all.
Our son has had to return to work as a medical officer in the Canadian military, having looked forward to retirement this year after 31 years serving Queen and Country.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Leslie Horsburgh, our unrelenting and hard working assistant, who has continued to support our guests without question and has kept the housekeeping to the highest standard in our condos without regard for her personal safety, even in these uncertain times.
We are all in the same position and Dallas and I have travel restrictions placed on us by both the UK and Canadian authorities. We had hoped to be visiting Canmore ourselves next month for condo updates and to visit this beautiful area. Even though we have been to Canmore many times we can truthfully say we are very disappointed not to be going.
Please Follow #dontcancelpostpone
Guests safety is paramount to us and in addition to normal regular cleaning, we have implemented even stricter regimes and introduced some different cleaning products so that when the virus has passed we will be in a good position to start welcoming guests back to Canmore as soon as we can.
Naturally we have a vested interest in staying in business, but as we are sure you understand related businesses have also suffered. Empty restaurants, bars and tour companies among them. We all deserve a vacation and we want to continue to support our friends and operators in Canmore as well as our guests.
Refunds and cancellations.
We would recommend in the first instance contacting your travel insurance company as in most cases you should be covered for this kind of event providing you had cover when you booked. You may also find that your credit or debit cards may offer you cover so please check with your bank. Governments are also putting pressure on airlines to refund or rebook flights so please check with your carrier. We have been told in the British press that accepting vouchers is not recommended as if an airline does go out of business the vouchers are worthless, but future flights should be covered. In the first instance please check your respective countries regulations.
Please Follow #dontcancelpostpone
What we can do to help
If you have booked with us direct we will do all we can to assist you in a refund or credit towards any new bookings. Although no one knows when this crisis may end, we do feel that there is a possibility that accommodation in Canmore will be in high demand as families will wish to take their hard earned breaks after the virus has diminished. As a very small family business we sympathise with our very loyal guests, some of whom have become friends. We greatly appreciate those of you who continue to support us and re-book nights rather than requesting a refund. Where possible we will be offering some additional nights and special deals to guests who re-book.
Guests who have booked via On Line Travel-agents.
Some guests are not aware that some travel sites do not pay us, the home owners, until after your arrival at our condos.
Homeaway, Airbnb, Vacationrentals and VRBO are holding all of your money so unfortunately you will have to contact their respective customer service departments.
These companies will be inundated with calls so please be patient. You will probably be speaking with a call centre, to a person with no vested interest in you or your booking, so try and keep cool. It can be frustrating.
If you would like to contact us directly and rebook, it will be cheaper for you as there is no commission, we will be able to work with you much more closely in what is a rapidly moving situation. All guests who have had to cancel and rebook, will be given priority over new guests as a show of good faith. Please remember some of these web sites hide our email address and phone numbers. You can always search for rentalsintherockies and that should bring you to our web site. You will also see our phone number and can contact us that way if you prefer to speak to us in person.
Please Follow #dontcancelpostpone
This situation is the most challenging we have faced in 16 years of operating our vacation rental homes in Canmore. We have always done our best to treat guests like family, have integrity, and do the right thing. Our business has thrived because of that. We value you, our loyal guests, and no crisis will change us or our ethics.
This is an unprecedented event. We want to find empathetic middle ground between holding firm on our cancelation policy and looking forward to welcoming you to Canmore in much better times.
Further information
Town of Canmore
https://canmore.ca
You should read information for yourself on the CDC’s website: General Information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
We especially like the Question and answer page on the World Health Organisation’s site which can be found here: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
NHS England
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Health Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html
https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-canada.html
Stay well, keep in touch and help those around you.
Best wishes
Richard and Dallas
[email protected]
Tel: 403-688=0366