manish

Jasper2009, thanks for the great info!

kokinos

Checked out of the Chateau after a 3 night stay over Christmas day. Booked a Mountain view room and got the one category upgrade to Lakeview which I appreciated considering the time of year. Haven't stayed in one of these rooms in about 7 stays (about 10 years ago or so) and wow it's small.

Overall we had a pleasant stay. I must give props to the kitchen because the food was at or near the top out of any Fairmont stay I've ever had. Keep in mind I find Fairmont food to be nothing exciting and usually refrain from their restos when possible. The old bar has changed into Alpine Social and had a nice renovation and new menu. Great atmosphere and tasty food for an informal setting.

We didn't get a platinum amenity. The hotel was very busy, every time we tried to get a table or make a restaurant reservation at the hotel they had to confirm we had a room before they would even look for availibility. This proved to help hotel guests and we never had an issue for finding the time/place we wanted.

If you need a FPC BMW ride and happen to have skis/boards let the bellman know and they will send a 10-12 passenger ford van instead as they don't give rides in their BMW with equipment. This came in handy after a cross country ski down to the post hotel for lunch.

Parking overnight at the adjacent gov't parking lot is being more patrolled lately I was told as well by some staff who I have known for years.

gnomey

btw, between June vs Sep vs Oct, which is a better month? like hiking, but generally i like to see snow-capped mountains (while roads are clean and safe) which means it should be June, right? but heard June can be rainy. not sure if you can see snow-capped mountains in Sep or Oct. i presume the lake color for all 3 months would still be turquoise

the nice thing abt going to Canada in 2017 is the free admission to national parks. speaking of which, i still havent receive my free pass yet even though i apply online several weeks ago...

sigh. i am not putting much hopes on this. will go lurk in the fairmont CLL FT forum to see if i can get more insights.

Jasper2009

Well, you're unfortunately not the only person taking advantage of the free park entry offer.

I'd say Sept. > June > Oct.

Sept. is very much still summer (though you may see a few snowflakes in late Sept.). Weather in June is somewhat variable, but generally pleasant.
It starts getting colder very quickly in Oct. Peak season typically ends around Canadian Thanksgiving and it is quite possibly to get snow and minus temperatures in Oct.

gnomey

I see, thanks for the insight!

CanadaDH

If hiking is your plan, then early to mid September is best. It depends on how snowy a winter and how cold a spring it will be, but June can still be great in the Rockies, but at that time, many of the trails in the alpine area will be snowbound. The additional snow capped mountain, while great for scenery, doesn't help the hiking. Lake Louise doesn't normally become ice free until the first week of June (and sometimes the second), and the blue/green colour develops over the following couple of weeks, and any trails much higher than about 7,000 feet will still be snowy until July. There will still be nice hikes to do, but many of the spectacular ones will either be blocked by snow, or covered in mud, at least until toward the end of June, with north-facing slopes taking longer to lose their snow.

You don't actually need the free park pass. Parks Canada is not going to be enforcing that people carry free passes. Mine took about 4 weeks in the mail to arrive, so I expect yours will come eventually. And, with the additional popularity, I find I'm paying thousands of dollars more this year for my visits in hotel costs, so my savings on the pass this year are only a small consolation. Many Banff and Jasper hotels are already reporting they are fully booked for the season.

JoeBlack89

Thanks. Darn it, as this won't work for us in June 2018 then. Is the Chase Hyatt a good alternative to this card?

gnomey

thank you for these additional information.

if you go in sept/oct, will you be able to see snow-capped mountain (from fresh, light snow fall)? also, which month is this photo taken, you reckon? http://www.fairmont.com/lake-louise/ (first photo on this website, where the water is so blue/unfrozen and mountain has lots of snow)

also, i heard it is easier to see wildlife like bears in june vs sep/oct. cos that is when they wake up from hibernation and forage for food. is that true?

thanks for the note on free park pass.

do banff/jasper hotels generally get booked up 7 or 12 months in advance? i guess i should start planning for 2018 then haha. even if i cant get to apply for FN cert on CLL, which is my first choice. my alternative is to go in winter, but i dont like driving if icy although i would be interested to see the ice carving show. my understanding is rental car agencies normally dont outfit their car with winter tires, and winter tires are mandatory from Nov-Apr

my second option if i cant get to calgary this summer/shoulder months would be to use it at fairmont whistler. the castle is probably not as grand, i guess. somehow CLL just give me the romantic, mystical feeling that is quintessential of fairmont

my third option is to use it for one of the two fairmonts in Hawaii. not my ideal option since i can always stay in cheap airbnbs there.

mahasamatman

You'd have to decide that based on your own travel patterns and preferences, but their free nights have the same restrictions.

CanadaDH

We should probably take this offline or move it to a different thread, since it's not really the topic at hand.

I'm not sure which photo you refer to, because when I go to that page, the first photo that comes up is one where the lake is completely frozen over. That blue colour, if we're looking at the same photo, is just the snow and ice covered in shadow from Fairview Mountain beside it. Lake Louise typically becomes completely iced over by around Nov 15 each year, and ice off is early June, but it starts looking like a winter wonderland before the ice comes. So, if you want to see the mountains covered with snow, but the lake still unfrozen, you'd be looking at early November (not a busy time, as there's not much to do then), or in June, after the thaw and the snowpack in the alpine is still thick.

If you really want to know what the lake looks like at different times of the year, then have a look at this link:

http://cams.skilouise.com/archives/cam9/

You can view images of the lake, taken from the webcam on top of the Chateau, with images saved about every minute throughout the day.

I was hiking up Mt. St. Piran near Lake Louise around the Labour Day weekend in early September, on fairly dry trails and had a little snow blizzard come in on me. It's the mountains--weather is variable. A year before that, I was hiking up the Beehive right next to the lake in late June, and was sinking waist-deep into the warming snow.

Yes. Early in the season, the upper elevation areas are covered in snow, so all the critters (along with the people) are gathered in the valley bottoms to find food. The Lake Louise area is the highest concentration of grizzlies in Banff and Jasper parks.

Historically, you could find availability much closer in. In recent years, the area is seeing record visitor numbers, so people book earlier to get the hotels they want. I booked my Aug 2017 stays at CLL and BSH well over a year in advance. My upcoming Feb 2017 stay at CLL was probably booked about a year out. If you're flexible about timing, not fussy on specific room types, and not trying to use FPC certificates, you can still find availability in the summer. If you're looking to stay in the off-season, you could probably just roll up to the front door without a reservation at the beginning November and be fine (and perhaps a little bored)! June through Sept is high peak time, so is Christmas/New Years, and they remain busy through the winter into April. Skiing closes in early to mid-May.

You need full winter tires (with the mountain/snowflake symbol, not the M+S "Mud and Snow" variety) if you plan to drive the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper in the winter. For the area around Banff and Lake Louise, you can get by with "M+S" tires, which most YYC rental companies will be using. The full winter tires normally have to be requested and cost extra.

Whistler is a totally different atmosphere. People go there to ski and party in the village. I stayed there for a week on the gold floor last winter, and had a great time. I wasn't trying to use any FPC certs. The scenery is nice, but not as majestic as Lake Louise. Personally, and while many will disagree with me, I like the skiing in Banff/LL better.

Send me a PM if you need more info. Banff is one of my more frequent vacations destinations, and I go there multiple times every year.

gnomey

Thank you so much, CanadaDH!!! These are useful information. You will very likely have a PM from me whether I end up going this year or next.

Sorry moderator, this is a little off-topic, I agree. Feel free to move it to CLL FT thread.

azepine00

I d stay away from the area in peak season this year - iirc they expect 35% more visitors. Saving $50 on park fees is such a minor part - you'll pay overpay hundreds on all travel related stuff due to high demand let alone having to deal with throngs of tourists traffic etc...

gnomey

i probably will end up not being able to go anyway (if i want to apply FN since there is no redemption availability).

have you been to Banff/LL area? what months would you recommend outside of the peak/shoulder season?

now debating what are my secondary options, which may be one of the following

- redeem FN at CLL, but at shoulder season or even low season
- redeem FN at other fairmont properties in Canada or Hawaii

CanadaDH

If your plan was to use your free night certificate, then CLL might not be best, assuming you want a view of the lake. Officially, FPC certificates can only be applied on the base "Fairmont" rooms, which at CLL, do not have lake views. CLL is among the more flexible properties when it comes to using upgrade certificates, allowing you to book a mountain view room and upgrade to a mountain view junior suite, but also book a lake view room and upgrade to a lake view junior suite, and booking deluxe rooms and upgrading to 1-bed suites, etc. When it comes to stacking free nights with them, for about the past year, they're only allowing them on non-lake view room bookings. They might be more flexible on that policy in the off-season, I'm not sure. You'd probably need to contact the hotel directly.

I've stayed at the CLL in about six different months of the year, so am familiar with the many seasons there. I've never been there in the lowest demand times like November or April/May. Whether or not low season will be a good time, depends on what you want to do?

If you just want to experience the mountains, take in the views, relax at the lake, enjoy afternoon tea, then there is nothing wrong with coming in low season--it will save you a lot of money. The lake and the mountains are there year-round for your viewing pleasure! It's when your interests are based on specific outdoor activities like skating, skiing, rafting, hiking or climbing that you will be most limited.

stephem

We have the week of April 8-15 off this year for kids spring break and it's a toss up between Whistler (spring conditions i know what we would get) and maybe Banff/lake louise. Anyone here done an early April ski trip to CLL and skied LL or Sunshine? Looks like a solid year so far so i am assuming a decent base, and reports say chance of new snow is far greater in LL than Whisler in early April. Any first hand experiences?