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Marie-Christine Desjardins

I feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful country and to be able to share it with the rest of the world!

How did you get involved in travel?

"When I was in high school I traveled for the first time to the Caribbean and I fell in love with traveling - literally. I then decided to study in Tourism and pursue a career in this wonderful industry."

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"All of my travel experiences are unique to me, but probably walking on the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia, it was just amazing."

Marie-Christine is part of the following groups: British Columbia Travel Agents, Canada Travel Agents
Top itineraries and travel advice

Recent trip reviews for Marie-Christine

The snow and mountains were breathtaking!
Canada | Mar 11 - Mar 17, 2023

Dawn
Dawn R.
Missouri City, TX | Reviewed on Mar 18, 2023
We loved our vacation! The snow and mountains were breathtaking. We really enjoyed skiing the second day. Two of the three of us had never skied and an instructor was imperative! We had Christopher at Lake Louis and he was excellent. We had to secure the lesson through the Fairmont concierge however- Julie was amazing and we were so grateful for her help! We loved both hotels but the Caribou was under construction and they started banging away on the scaffolding Monday morning.
There...
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We loved our vacation! The snow and mountains were breathtaking. We really enjoyed skiing the second day. Two of the three of us had never skied and an instructor was imperative! We had Christopher at Lake Louis and he was excellent. We had to secure the lesson through the Fairmont concierge however- Julie was amazing and we were so grateful for her help! We loved both hotels but the Caribou was under construction and they started banging away on the scaffolding Monday morning.
There were a few times we were frustrated:
The car rental company was not clearly communicated. We had to go searching for any clues as to which company it was and found it on a receipt. We asked for help but I guess because it was the weekend we did not get a response until Monday.
One of the museum sites we wanted to visit and that was suggested was closed the two days we were in Banff (Mon and Tues)
The hotel did not give us ski lift tickets for the second day and this was not clearly outlined. The itinerary stated to pick them up at the “hotel”. Since we changed hotels and the first hotel had our first set of tickets, we assumed the second hotel would have the second set. That was not the case.
We wished some activities were suggested to us prior to the trip. There were a few things we would have liked to do and tried to make reservations for however everything was booked up.
In Banff we didn’t have any direction on the best places to eat (which all required reservations).
We also wish we were told that we needed to make dinner reservations at the Fairmont restaurants ahead of time.
I admit we had very high expectations after our Italy trip; but this was why we used Kimkim again for this trip. We were less impressed this time but still loved the trip and plan to return during the summer at some point.

Hotel Reviews
Banff Caribou Lodge and Spa
Banff

We loved the big, crackling fire in the lobby! The restaurant was excellent and the room was big and roomy. The heat did not work well at first but it was repaired quickly. the hotel itself was under repair so there was scaffolding built along the side we looked out of. We could not access the balcony or even open the doors because of this and the workers started banging away Monday morning. They should have mentioned there was a floor heater for our use. That helped a lot. The spa/hot tub was awesome. The desk failed to give us both sets of lift tickets. We did not know they had the second set and we had already traveled to our next destination without tickets. It was just a headache we didn’t need.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Lake Louise

Amazing! So beautiful. The staff were incredibly helpful, especially Julie at the concierge desk. She helped us secure a ski instructor at the last minute and that made our whole trip! We are so grateful for her help. The food at the new restaurant was excellent. We were really happy with our stay here.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Hotel Arts
Calgary

Very cool hotel in the heart of downtown. We weren’t here long but it was a comfortable stay and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We walked right around the corner for dinner at Ten Foot Henry; outstanding food.

Authenticity & Character
Loved the art!
Location
Staff
So helpful and friendly
Cleanliness & Comfort
Our sink would not drain but otherwise, excellent
Activity Reviews
Take the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
Take the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
British Columbia

Breathtaking! We really enjoyed this!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Ski/Snow rental
Canada

Loved our instructor Christopher! The lodge was cozy and vibrant. We had a lot of fun.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins

Good communication and when we had to make ch...
British Columbia | Sep 5 - Sep 12, 2022

J
Jose R.
Bloomingdale, FL | Reviewed on Sep 20, 2022
Good communication and when we had to make changes due to forest fires the team came thru!! Read more

Good communication and when we had to make changes due to forest fires the team came thru!!

Hotel Reviews
Irwin's Mountain Inn
Banff
Authenticity & Character
Old hotel
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Applause Hotel by CLIQUE
Calgary

Nice room and food was excellent

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Stoneridge Mountain Resort
Canmore

Room was nice, pool was not heated but overall workd out well.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Replied on Sep 20, 2022

Thank you for your review Jose! It was a pleasure helping you organizing this trip and I am glad that you enjoyed it even with the wildfires events.

Canadian Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper)
British Columbia | Aug 1 - Aug 7, 2022

V
Virender V.
United Kingdom | Reviewed on Aug 15, 2022
Overall our Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper) was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our specialist Marie-Christine quickly understood what we wanted and tailored a trip plan to suit our needs, including booking hotels, rental car and the Banff Gondola ride (which was amazing!) .
The drive from Banff to Jasper and back was exhilarating. Even though we only stayed overnight at Jasper It was worth doing - the views of the Rockies on the drive were fantastic and we stopped off at...
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Overall our Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper) was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our specialist Marie-Christine quickly understood what we wanted and tailored a trip plan to suit our needs, including booking hotels, rental car and the Banff Gondola ride (which was amazing!) .
The drive from Banff to Jasper and back was exhilarating. Even though we only stayed overnight at Jasper It was worth doing - the views of the Rockies on the drive were fantastic and we stopped off at several places en-route to see the sights such as Maligne Canyon, Athabasca and Sunwapta Falls and lake Peyto.
On the negative side, picking up the Budget rental car was not smooth Their rep (whose English was not good) said no cars were available for 1-2hours and actively tried to encourage us to try the other rental companies! Also I am glad we got a Parks Pass online for the duration of our stay on advice from a friend rather than buy as you go as suggested by M-C. It is cheaper and saved us having to queue at the highway checkpoints. Also it was not pointed out that you have to book online for a Lake Louise Excursion to get a slot for the park & ride. LL is so busy that we missed a morning slot while doing this process and, unfortunately , the day turned out to a damper in more ways than one as we were caught and utterly soaked by full a Rockies thunderstorm :( . Apart from this we were lucky with the weather.
We have returned with wonderful memories. If you are thinking about doing this - do it!

Hotel Reviews
Coast Canmore Hotel & Conference Centre
Canmore

Helpful staff. We enjoyed our stay there as a base into Banff (only about 30km away)

Authenticity & Character
Location
Easy access to H=highway to Banff
Staff
Prompt response for more coffee and tea
Cleanliness & Comfort
Layout of room.
Jasper Inn & Suites
Jasper

Beautiful Swiss style Inn Hotel.

Authenticity & Character
Our split level suite!
Location
View of the peaks from our bedroom window in the morning - breath-taking!
Staff
Friendly and attentive waitresses at the Inn's diner
Cleanliness & Comfort
The suite was presented to a high standard!
Applause Hotel by CLIQUE
Calgary

Good place to crash overnight. Well designed rooms.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Close to airport with free shuttle service
Staff
Man at reception (Shehzad) was polite and extremely helpful.
Cleanliness & Comfort
The shower head!
Activity Reviews
Explore around Banff
Explore around Banff
British Columbia

Banff is obviously the main tourist hub town. On our first day we did not find the rep at the Visitor Information Centre helpful - he was more interested in selling us multi-day bus passes which was irrelevant since we had a car. Anyway we figured it out ourselves by the second day.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
See comment above on Visitor Information Centre
Transport
Availability of parking space (except Lake Louise).
Take the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
Take the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
British Columbia

Super way of seeing Banff, Bow River Valley and the surrounding peakis.

Quality of Experience
The whole shooting match!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Staff are helpful and efficient.
Transport
Plenty of parking space next to Gondola station.
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Replied on Aug 23, 2022
Thank you Virender for your review - I am so glad that you had a wonderful trip in the Rockies!
Thank you as well for your feedback, it is very helpful. I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with the car rental company, we'll follow up with them. As for the Parks Canada Passes, we've never had any issue before in terms of waiting time at the gates, but it's good that your friend recommended to buy the Discovery Pass ahead of time! In regards to access Lake Louise, finding a parking...
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Thank you Virender for your review - I am so glad that you had a wonderful trip in the Rockies!
Thank you as well for your feedback, it is very helpful. I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with the car rental company, we'll follow up with them. As for the Parks Canada Passes, we've never had any issue before in terms of waiting time at the gates, but it's good that your friend recommended to buy the Discovery Pass ahead of time! In regards to access Lake Louise, finding a parking spot can be challenging in any season, so we'll definitely share this information moving forward.
Do not hesitate to reach out again for any future requests. :)
Take care!

Marie Christine was super to deal with. She responded quickly to any questions I asked!
British Columbia | May 26 - Jun 1, 2022

S
Sue P.
Canada | Reviewed on Jun 08, 2022
Marie Christine was super to deal with. She was attentive and listened to my requests for destinations. All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations. The only disappointment was the itinerary said breakfasts were included, when in fact most of our accommodations did not (there is a discrepancy from the itinerary and the information about the hotels.). If I had noticed this at the beginning of the trip, I may not have taken advantage of the KimKim service as pricing was now... Read more

Marie Christine was super to deal with. She was attentive and listened to my requests for destinations. All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations.

The only disappointment was the itinerary said breakfasts were included, when in fact most of our accommodations did not (there is a discrepancy from the itinerary and the information about the hotels.). If I had noticed this at the beginning of the trip, I may not have taken advantage of the KimKim service as pricing was now higher than what I had expected.

Hotel Reviews
Best Western Plus Merritt Hotel
Merritt

Convenient, clean and friendly hotel. Nice to have a great selection for the breakfast which was included.

Authenticity & Character
Large room, great shower!
Location
Convenient to the highway
Staff
Friendly front desk staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Rooms were spotless
Kelowna Bed and Breakfast
Kelowna

Fantastic place and friendly hosts.

Tips for future travelers

Book it before you miss the opportunity to stay here!

Authenticity & Character
Spacious room with private patio!
Location
We could easily walk to downtown Kelowna. Beautiful neighbourhood
Staff
Made sure we knew where everything was located and made us feel at home.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Fairmont Banff Springs
Banff

This is a unique hotel and the rooms are much smaller than newer hotels. We stayed here because of the history of the hotel.

Tips for future travelers

The rooms are very small - we went for the ambiance of the building and the grounds.

Authenticity & Character
The history of this hotel is amazing.
Location
Bus stop outside the hotel can be used for free to take you into town. Otherwise it is a 15 minute walk.
Staff
Extremely friendly and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Blackstone Mountain Lodge
Canmore

Lovely hotel with spacious rooms. Each room has a complete kitchen!

Authenticity & Character
Large rooms and full kitchen
Location
Close to downtown, great coffee shops and a nice walking trail along the river.
Staff
Everyone was super friendly!
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Activity Reviews
Arrive in Kelowna
Arrive in Kelowna
Kelowna

We arranged a last minute wine tour with Gerry of Wine Boss Tours. He graciously waited while we met him at his first pick up. The tour was fun and Gerry provided great insight into the wineries we visited.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Gerry was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining!
Transport
Clean van and water was provided for us!
Banff to Lake Louise
Banff to Lake Louise
Banff

Banff is a beautiful town but busy with tourists. We enjoyed the delightful coffee shop and went there twice for the fresh breakfast sandwiches made with their “made on the premises” bread. They were delicious and so was the coffee!

Quality of Experience
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Replied on Jun 08, 2022

Thank you so much for your review, Sue. It was a pleasure organizing your trip - it took me back a few years ago when I did the almost same itinerary! As for the breakfasts, I understand it was disapointing. It was raised to kimkim support and we are all working on a solution so it does not happen again. I am so glad you enjoyed your trip and do not hesitate to reach out if you are planning another roadtrip, maybe Eastern Canada this time? :) Take care!