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Banff

Jenny

Angel Diva
So, looks like we'll probably be there the first week of January. @Albertan ski girl, any lodging tips? I'm checking out flights and possible lodging right now - there's a sale if you buy by August 31st. Do you know anything about Banff Aspen Lodge?
 
That's awesome. We're headed to Banff/Lake Louise last week of February and come back 3/4. We are staying at the Lake Louise Inn, located a free 6 minutes shuttle ride from Lake Louise Ski Resort and Banff Caribou Lodge and Spa, located a pleasant 10-minute walk, or complementary all day shuttle, from the shops, restaurants and nightlife of downtown Banff. I've never been here before let alone stayed at these places but I figured they would be names of places for you to check out. Hope you guys have so much fun and you have some shiny "new" skis to play on :smile:
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
I was going to ask you where the ski club trip had you staying. We've never been there either, but the friends we'll be meeting have. They just say they've stayed a lot of places but never remember any names!
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
Woo hoo!!! @Jenny ! I'm going to be in Banff then with my honey for a post-new year's getaway!!!
There's lots of great lodging - just a few questions though. Are you going to have a rental car? Do you want a kitchen or kitchenette? Any other amenities? Do you want to be somewhere 'closer' to the action or further away? Do you have a budget? Banff Aspen Lodge is very nice. I would call it an upscale motel with a decent breakfast option. It is also in a pretty good location. If you can provide some details, i would be more than happy to give some recommendations. Also feel free to PM me if you would prefer.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Woo hoo!!! @Jenny ! I'm going to be in Banff then with my honey for a post-new year's getaway!!!
There's lots of great lodging - just a few questions though. Are you going to have a rental car? Do you want a kitchen or kitchenette? Any other amenities? Do you want to be somewhere 'closer' to the action or further away? Do you have a budget? Banff Aspen Lodge is very nice. I would call it an upscale motel with a decent breakfast option. It is also in a pretty good location. If you can provide some details, i would be more than happy to give some recommendations. Also feel free to PM me if you would prefer.
Yay - I was hoping maybe you'd be in the area then!

We can go either way on the rental car, but were first going to see about going without. Friends say the shuttle and bus are easy to use. The biggest thing is that DH sleeps less than I do, so it's nice to have the bedroom separate from the sitting area, not to mention then there's more room to spread out all of our ski stuff without walking all over it/each other. And really, if they're feeding us breakfast, we don't need the kitchen. Microwave and fridge are nice, though.

As for location, if we go without a car, I'd like to be somewhat close, but not right in the middle of it all. The friends we're meeting generally go a little more centralized than we do, but if there's a nice place on the edge of the action - one that's quiet enough to sleep - then that's great. I would HATE to be in the place with everyone's favorite bar! And I need to check out how far it is to the shuttle stops, unless they're right at the hotel.

And budget - we're not the fancy people who need lots of high-end stuff. Clean, relatively quiet, and convenient are the first things we look for.
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
I think without rental car is easiest. The shuttles are really easy to use and there are a number of stops within Banff where you can pick up the shuttle. I don't think the shuttle schedule is up right now, but there are 3 or 4 stops within the main area of Banff. We're going to be staying in the Canmore from January 3 to January 6 - we're planning on skiing 3 of those 4 days probably, and we would be more than happy to pick you up and head on out to the hill together on those days. We've got an SUV with a roof rack, so it shouldn't be a problem for 4. The shuttle is really easy, especially to get to Sunshine Village - but I do think it's faster to get by car to Lake Louise. We usually spend at least one day doing something else - walking around the trails in Banff, or going for a snowshoe or something like that.

If you're going to be car-less, I would recommend staying close to the main part of Banff - which is off of Banff Ave, between approximately Moose Street and the Bow river. The area further down Banff Ave is just hotels, and you'd have to walk quite far to get to restaurants etc. Some of those hotels do offer a free shuttle downtown, so if you would want to do that then that's ok, but I prefer not to be bound to a shuttle.

Banff Aspen Lodge, Brewster's Mountain Lodge and Banff Park Lodge are all pretty nice and in about the same category of hotel. Brewster's and Banff Park Lodge are pretty close to the main town parking lot which is one of the shuttle stops. If you stay at the Banff Aspen Lodge, the shuttle stop is very close by too - at the Banff Ptarmigan Inn which I believe is just 1 or 2 doors down. I don't think any of these hotels would have a separate room/suite layout - most of the hotel rooms on Banff Ave are just one room, and one or two beds in them.

Brewster's is very nice - clean, convenient, has fridges and a free continental breakfast. Banff Park Lodge does not have breakfast - but is also very nice, clean and has fridges. It has an excellent location, like Brewster's. I like that Banff Park Lodge is also just behind Banff Ave, so off the main street, and close to the Bow river. Banff Aspen Lodge is great - free buffet breakfast. Again, really good location, right at the end of the busy strip - so very convenient and its a nice and clean place.

The Moose Hotel and Suites just opened up about a month ago, and I've never stayed there, but I've heard very good things about them so far.

If you want to be a bit further out from the main area, the hotels on Tunnel Mountain are very nice. And these will often have better amenities. They will often have one bedroom suites with kitchens, nice pools, restaurants etc. It's much quieter on Tunnel Mountain and more family-oriented. In that area, I can recommend the Buffalo Mountain Lodge, Douglas Fir Lodge and Hidden Ridge Resort. The one annoying thing about this area is that it is not on the shuttle pick-up route. You have to take the resort shuttle into Banff and then take the shuttle from Banff. It's not a huge amount of time added, but it is definitely annoying to have to do that. You'll also have to take the shuttle into Banff for dinner and for activities in Banff.

Check those places out - there are, of course, other options if you want to have a car. But being car-less is pretty easy considering there is a shuttle from the Calgary airport straight to Banff, and they will drop you off right at your hotel:
https://www.brewster.ca/transportation/brewster-banff-airport-express/

There are also 2 fancy resorts in Banff - the Banff Springs and the Rimrock. They are not however on the shuttle route. They're also not in the downtown area, so I don't generally recommend them. But if you are looking for something more than usual, it would be those two!
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
I should also warn you - January can be cold. We'll see how the winter progresses, but definitely don't leave the long underwear at home :smile:
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Thanks for all of the info! I'll be busy checking things out the next couple of days, for sure, and will probably come up with more questions - I'm good with those . . .
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
Sounds great - looking forward to it :smile:
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Should have said - thanks so much for the transportation offer, too, but we are likely to be there with three other people, which is a bit much! Still trying to coordinate everything but we're all looking at flights and such right now.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
I stayed at one of the Banff hotels right on Banff Avenue... They are mostly 3 star hotels and all decent places to stay. I wanted to mention that I did get a massage at the Banff Springs Hotel and that was a wonderful experience. The spa there is fantastic and if you book a treatment, you are able to use the facilities including the mineral baths, etc. This was in the evening after a freezing cold day of skiing!
So much fun.
 

W8N2SKI

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've stayed at the Banff Springs several times and loved it (I was with my club, however, and we had club-negotiated pricing. It is an old hotel, so the rooms are quite small - you'd definitely be tripping over each other). The breakfast is beyond exceptional. Even if you stay elsewhere, you really should go up and have drinks, or try the cute little (really little) fondue restaurant in the hotel, if it is still there.

My club also stays at Chateau Lake Louise. It also is worth a visit. The setting is gorgeous and XC skiing on the lake is great fun on a day off.
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
I also love high tea at the chateau lake Louise! It's so much fun, and great teas and views. One thing I will say though is that if you opt for a carless vacation, it is difficult to get up to lake Louise. The ski resort is a ways from lake Louise and there is basically only one (overpriced) taxi in lake Louise...But seeing the lake is a must!
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
High tea at the Springs too. The brunch is to die for - need reservations though. I have friends in the right places!

There is a bus from the Airport, direct to YOUR hotel. I took it last year and the service was great. I'll get the name when I get home, but I that it should be Brewster's, but it could have been someone different.
 

W8N2SKI

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I also love high tea at the chateau lake Louise! It's so much fun, and great teas and views. One thing I will say though is that if you opt for a carless vacation, it is difficult to get up to lake Louise. The ski resort is a ways from lake Louise and there is basically only one (overpriced) taxi in lake Louise...But seeing the lake is a must!

I second this one. Seeing the lake is an absolute must. The views at the Banff Springs are lovely, but the Chateau is jaw-dropping gorgeous. And the ice bar! How could I forget the ice bar?! Bundle up.
 

W8N2SKI

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
429350_10150662435584286_1862584100_n.jpg
 
Going to add high tea onto our Banff list too :smile:
 

Albertan ski girl

Angel Diva
..and, of course, there's dinner at the Deer Lodge in Lake Louise...caribou and elk...
 

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