It's easy to think that TripAdvisor and Yelp are all you need to plan a trip, particularly to a popular destination like the Canadian Rockies. But this book reminded me of the usefulness of a well-written, recently updated travel guide.
This is the first Lonely Planet I've purchased in about 5 years, and the first I've purchased for such a well-traveled destination. It's great to see that the series is still doing well. Thanks to the guide's advice we've changed our hotel reservations to cheaper, better accommodations, modified our itinerary to include a few out-of-the way spots we wouldn't have likely otherwise discovered and generally improved our plans for our upcoming trip.
User-powered review sites to a great job of finding a few stand-out locations, but this guide goes beyond that with a broader and more in-depth look at places to stay, things to do and (perhaps most importantly) things to eat in the park - not to mention history and context you'll never find on Yelp or TripAdvisor.
Plus - with this guide in hand on your trip, you won't have to worry about finding cell-service on your iPhone so that you can remember the name of that great little restaurant you were planning to stop at.
Do yourself a favor, if you're headed to Banff, Jasper or Glacier - even if you've been there before - get this book.