CanadaDH

If you're talking about US Thanksgiving, then, yes, that is absolutely low season. Basically, Canadian Thanksgiving (in October) is the unofficial end to the summer season in the Rockies, and many summer attractions start to shut down. Summer activities are done, but there's not enough snow yet for winter activities to start.

As you've probably noticed, Christmas and New Years are anything but low season. Banff is a very popular place at Christmas, and I would expect very high prices over Christmas/NYE.

The busiest months for tourism in the Rockies are July/August, followed by September, followed by June, and the prices reflect that. But winter in general is not low season. Winter is still very popular in the Rockies, as it's a huge skiing destination, but prices are not as crazy as summer prices. End of October to mid-December, along with May, would be considered low seasons. Some of the ski resorts will open in November for the winter, but it's by no means high season yet, since the snow coverage can be rather limited that early.

cruisingmickey

Thanks CanadaDH. Yep I was referring to the US Thanksgiving. I've checked every single week from Oct to mid Dec and the prices for both Banff and also Pacific Rim are ridiculously expensive (avoiding the holidays). Last year around that time, I was seeing much lower rates. Hoping to make one more trip since I have some certificates to redeem. Not sure if it will happen if the prices don't go down. Wonder why the prices are so high...

CanadaDH

I just checked, and the prices aren't crazy. Basic Fairmont Rooms are selling for ~$459 (CAD) in November. In the summer, the most basic room (if available, and most days, base rooms are not) starts at $799. What I find odd, is that November prices are similar to February prices, which doesn't make much sense, but on the whole, that rate doesn't seem too crazy for Banff. I guess the hotel thinks there's still a big chunk of tourists who aren't coming to the area for the outdoor activities, but are just there for a bit of food, drink, spa and windshield tourism. BSH also gets a lot of corporate conferences, and it's possible that such activities are popular there in the off-season, keeping prices from dropping too low in the off-season.

Don't compare Pacific Rim with Banff Springs. Vancouver and Banff are just not the same. I would argue that Banff is far more weather dependant than Vancouver when it comes to hotel demand.

But those rates are BAR rates. Even if the BAR doesn't drop much, you might find a lot of promo rate packages which are blacked out in the higher season are not blacked out in November. That might help to swing things in your favour. I see no reason to actually pay BAR at Banff in November. In summer, you often don't have a choice, when they've been known to completely remove the CAA/AAA rate codes and other assorted deals for the whole season.

CanuckFlyHigh

Don't be afraid to use a Virtuoso agent or Amex FHR so you get a free upgrade, and free breakfast, which is worth $100.

Also, keep an eye on Kayak or Trivago. Sometimes you will find a cheap Fairmont rate through one of the wholesale websites, and Fairmont has a great best rate guarantee program.

Keep an eye on their specials as well.

cruisingmickey

Thanks CanadaDH and Canuck for your tips! Yep, I am hoping to book via Virtuoso or Amex FHR and also use my certificates. I'll keep looking back. I still have some time so I'm not in a rush to book it. I was hoping to book before the crossover next week to Accor but guess that's not happening at these rates haha...

dmodemd

I happened to come in late May right as skiing ended but before the summer rush. It doesn't seem they have very long shoulder seasons.

dmodemd

One thing I forgot to mention is there is a nightly resort fee ($20 CAD I think?). I am not sure when this started. When we were greeted in the driveway by the valet and presented with our keys, they specifically pointed it out. I asked later at the front desk if it applied to Plats as well and they confirmed it did. I went back to my reservation confirmation and saw no mention of it, so this did irk me a bit. However, when I checked out they did not charge it to me, presumably because I used free nights for the entire stay.

CanadaDH

They've had that fee for a while, but it's increased over the years. All of my past bookings included the following text in the section on "Total Rate": "Resort and/or service fee applicable and is not included", so they do give warning about it, but don't necessarily say how much.

I went back through some historical Banff invoices:

Summer 2013 - $12.00
Summer 2014 - $12.00
Winter 2016 - was still $12.00
Summer 2017 - had gone up to $20.00

I did receive an e-mail about my upcoming bookings for this summer and next winter, saying that their resort fee had increased to $25.00. And, when I look at the BSH website, the "Fact Sheet" does confirm "Resort Fee $25 CAD per day, plus tax".

I can also confirm that I've never been charged this fee on nights when I was redeeming a free night certificate.

This fee does include all gratuities, other than restaurant servers. So, don't feel obligated to tip the bellman, parking valet or housekeeping staff here, as this resort fee covers that. A few times when I tried to tip valets and bellmen, they politely refused it.

Brendan

Free nights are exempt from the resort fee ! In 2012 I spent my 2 free nights from the then-new Fairmont Visa to stay in Banff & I was not charged the C$12 RF. Then in 2017 I returned to stay in Banff on a B2G1 cert., where I was charged the C$20 RF on each of the 2 paid nights but not the free one. I then went on to Jasper to use 2 free nights, where I was not charged their brand-new RF.
Please Accor, ban RFs throughout your system!

socaltam

We booked with FHR and both Junior Suite options are available.
Any suggestions for which to choose?
For $85 more we can move to standard Fairmont Gold but we are only there for one night and thought the Free 3 course dinner and AM Breakfast would be plenty.
Any suggestions on the many dining options available of where we would enjoy dinner the most for the FHR 3 course free dinner and any suggestions on where to have breakfast- the restaurant list is quite long.....

we are only at Banff for one night but can drive back from Fairmont Lake Louise 6 night stay if there are any must do's
BANFF
• Banff Gondola take RT
o Sulphur Mountain Trail at top of mountain to peak
o Interpretive Center
• Cave & Basin Nat Hist Site consider park tour need to call
• Whyte Museum of the Rockies
• Vermillion Lake system—kayak or canoe
• Lake Minnewanka Lakeside hike 3.5-6hrs either hike or fish possibly???
• Hikes around Banff Resort—any must do trails?
o Cascade & Rundell both seem a little too long of hikes for the first day and we are going to Lake O hara next day
• Tunnel Mountain- drive up to for view
• Banff Upper hot springs 9-11p ? not sure we want to bother with this
• Bike along Bow river—Adeventures by Disney does this—not sure if it’s a must do probably will skip this
• Grassi Lakes—need to read more- not sure if we want to go

CanadaDH

I don't like Fairmont Gold at Banff Springs. The lounge is beautiful. The food is great. I can't fault that in any way. I just find it too large and busy, as there are a lot of rooms (all of the 5th and half of the 4th floors) in Fairmont Gold at BSH. Just my opinion.

You probably won't find a better hotel spa anywhere in Canada, than the Willow Stream Spa at BSH.

There are some nice hikes around Banff, but really, Lake Louise is more the hiking capital (or across the divide in Yoho). It's at a higher elevation and you can get above treeline faster.

Rundle Mountain is not a hike; it's a scramble, and a full day slog at that. Cascade is even more difficult. If you want to put in that type of effort for a strenuous hike, best look in the Lakes Louise and Moraine area. Look at going up Mt. St. Piran, or Fairview Mountain, or the Devils Thumb, or Sentinel Pass over at Moraine Lake.

You can drive around Tunnel Mountain, but you need to hike to get up it. It's a nice easy hike that doesn't take long.

Grassi Lakes is another nice easy hike, but it's down in the Canmore area.

Vermillion Lakes are pretty. Nice to drive or bike by. Good spot for sunsets.

The museums are very good. If you have an annual Parks Canada Discovery Pass, you get free admission to both Cave and Basin and the Banff Park Museum. I think Whyte Museum is free regardless.

Sulphur Mountain is a nice gondola ride. Don't bother hiking up it. It's a boring slog mostly in the trees. Save the effort for a good hike. But, if you take the gondola up, by all means, do the walk across to Sansom Peak.

My favourite restaurant at the BSH is Castello. I never miss having a meal there on every trip to the Rockies. Book reservations very early. Waldhaus is also nice, if you like Swiss German food, and they have a nice view (unlike Castello that has no views). It's also nice to have a meal in the Rundle Lounge.

laner

Personally I like the turret suite, it's just kind of cool to be at the very top of the castle. I'm staying in one next month to burn some of my remaining FPC certificates.

CanadaDH

I'm not sure the Jr. Turret Suite is a good option for @socaltam. He's travelling with a party of 4, and those suites only come with a single Queen bed. They can't even fit a King bed in there! They feel cramped because the 350 total square feet is spread over 2 levels, with the bed at the top of the spiral staircase. You could use a roll-away bed or pull-out couch on the bottom level, and get everyone to fit, but I'm not sure how comfortable they'd all be. Maybe OK because it's just for 1 night.

My go-to rooms at the BSH are the 1-Bedroom King Suites at the front of the cross-section of the main building. Very spacious and views down the Bow River from one set of windows and up the Spray River out the others.

socaltam

This is why I was going back and forth with the option of turret or not since it is queen bed vs King-- the turret sounds neat.
-- 1 br presently not avail. I know we can easily fit in the other Jr Suite with couch and King bed. The 10 yr olds are small.
We actually all fit in a standard gold King room at the Orchid after they messed up our reservation for Spring break LOL! It was myself and husband and the 10yr olds. All in the tiny King bed Gold room and no sofa. They brought in a rollaway. So that meant there was no leg room to get out of king bed on one side and then the smallest of the 10 yr old slept on the chair, ottoman and desk chair all pulled together and we made a bed for him. Housekeeping then made the chair bed for him daily too LOL! He slept soundly every night for 9-10hrs straight.
They will have been hiking the week prior in the Sierras and even the floor at Banff will be more or at least equally comfortable as tent/sleeping bag ;-)

Only 1 adult going on this trip

socaltam

this part is stressing me out because I was pretty sure I needed to have reservations for dinner but how can I decide what time we want to have dinner with our laundry list of things we want to do, but of course we need to eat..... we typically eat at 6p PST -- I made a reservation for 8p already but wondered after I did if I should have made it for 7p I think the FHR 3 course complimentary meal for 2 is blocked out from Vermillion & CHop house and maybe Waldhaus but I am not positive....

What about breakfast?? Any suggestions- we get comp breakfast with FHR