Full Day at Banff Springs Hotel

 Sunday, August 31, 2025

Love the full days we have at a hotel. No rush to get on the bus or have your suitcase ready early. 

Down to breakfast - all of them have been delicious. Amazing buffets or order off the menu. From there we caught the 9:30 am shuttle to the Banff Gondola. We had a 10:10am up time, although they let you get in line even if it’s close to your scheduled ticket. A well run operation. Gondola’s hold 4 people, but they let us go up as 2, which was nice. They are fairly small and we’re still coughing, so good for someone else who didn’t have to go with us.

When we reached the top of the mountain we were at an altitude of 7486 ft. The ride up was quick - no more than 10 minutes. Once there you can walk along several boardwalks (some with stairs going down). The views of the valley were fantastic - the hotel was in view. Some mountain goats also arrived for a photo shoot - probably looking for food from humans. I’m sure they’ve been fed before even though it’s strongly discouraged.

I walked around a bit but fairly soon developed a headache that was quite bad. Blaming it on the altitude + my sinus infection, we decided to get right back on the gondola to go back down. Once down, the headache disappeared. Never had that happen to me before but I can’t say I’ve made a habit of being at that altitude. I’m a sea level kind of girl.

From there we caught a free shuttle into the downtown shopping area of Banff where we finished our souvenir/gift shopping and then found a pub to have a light lunch. Well, maybe not light… we enjoyed yummy broccoli-cheese soup but also shared “poutine” - the Canadian staple consisting of french fries with cheese curds and gravy. When in Rome…

Back to the hotel by early afternoon which allowed us to sit outside by the pool and relax for an hour or so before a scheduled ‘free’ history tour of the hotel.

They refer to Banff Springs Hotel as the castle of the Rockies. It is a pretty amazing building and I won’t be able to remember all the details of its history, but it’s worth investigating further - as are Lake Louise and Jaspar Park Lodge. Most of these hotels we have visited were built by the railroad companies, this one being Canadian Pacific. 

Many weddings are held at this hotel and the average cost for said wedding is $250,000! And they can host up to 22 weddings a day if necessary. There is a long wait list to be married here. We did see several brides and weddings in progress during our brief stay. Above are some pictures of the grand ballrooms. People who visited these hotels back in the 1920’s were expected to stay for the season - which was the summer season. They arrived with trunks full of their clothing - these trunks were stored in special rooms and your days clothes were brought to you each morning. Hence why many of the rooms are small. And we hear that people complain about this after what they pay to stay. But they are not allowed to remodel or make rooms larger - only keep up with what is there.

At 5:30pm we met up with our group to drive to a nearby hotel (the Rim Rock) for our farewell dinner. Free drinks and hors’doeurves and a special guest - a retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in his full dress, red uniform that we all know.  We all got pictures with him and he then shared the background and history of the mounted police and answered questions. From there we had a sit down dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Back to Calgary tomorrow - most are flying out but 6 of us are staying an extra night or two. We totally repacked our suitcases so one of the large ones doesn’t have to be opened until we get back to Maryland.

Now our post trip begins as we fly to Denver tomorrow; Colorado Rockies ball game; drive to Fort Collins on Wednesday to visit with Lyn and Dave; Estes Park over the weekend with a Saturday tour to Bear Lake and then meeting up with Tim and family in Estes Park on Sunday before driving back to Colorado Springs for another day and then home on Tuesday.

Stay tuned…

Betsy