If you are planning a trip to Banff National Park in Alberta and are confused on where to stay when visiting Banff, then you have come to the right place. Especially during the summer season, the town of Banff can get quite busy and packed with tourists leading to escalated hotel prices and sold out hotel situations. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is a beautiful mountain town, Canmore, located near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park, only 15 mins drive away from the town of Banff.
Luckily, as I was scrambling to find a hotel to stay in / near Banff, I stumbled upon The Malcolm Hotel in Canmore, Alberta and fell in love. It looked so stunning that I decided to stay here during my trip to Banff. Before I go ahead and tell you about my stay at The Malcolm Hotel, here are a few reasons why I suggest staying in the town of Canmore instead of Banff:
CHOOSING CANMORE AS YOUR BASE
Personally, I enjoyed staying in Canmore because it had the same beautiful mountain views as Banff, but without the hustle and bustle of the town of Banff. If you are looking for more tranquility and peace, then you should definitely consider staying in Canmore. Here are a few other reasons why you should stay in this town instead of Banff:
- More affordable hotel options and spacious rooms providing you with better value for your buck
- Better dining options and cafes
- Located closer to Calgary Airport than Banff
- Closer to Kananaskis Country, a provincial park system in the Canadian Rockies
Now if I have convinced you to stay in Canmore, check out my review of The Malcolm Hotel below.
BREATHTAKING VIEWS
Overlooking the Three Sisters Mountains and across the road from the Spring Creek, the Malcolm Hotel literally has one of the most stunning hotel views that I’ve ever seen. No matter where in the hotel you are: in your room, by the pool, or just strolling around the hotel; you will be constantly surrounded with the epic mountain views that will make you fall in love with nature more and more!
LOCATION
Located in the heart of the Bow Valley, The Malcolm Hotel is only 5 minutes walk away from downtown Canmore and 3km from Trans-Canada Highway. All the restaurants are pretty much walking distance and the hotel also offers complimentary underground parking to its guests. What I also love about The Malcolm Hotel is its close proximity to both Kananaskis County and Banff, as well as Calgary. It is in the middle of everything and makes getting everywhere so much easier!
ROOMS
The Malcolm Hotel has 124 rooms including standard rooms, premium rooms and royal suites. During my stay, I had the opportunity to stay in the Malcolm Royal King suite as well as the Malcolm Queen room. Both rooms were spacious, clean and had great mountain views.
All rooms come with the following important amenities: complimentary Wi-Fi, iron and ironing board, coffee machine, refrigerator, bathroom scale, hairdryer, bathrobe and room service.
If you are looking for a more luxurious experience, I will definitely recommend booking the Royal King Suite as it includes a balcony overlooking the creek and mountains, a king bed with pull-out sofa bed, and a more spacious bathroom.
AMENITIES
The Malcolm Hotel offers many great amenities including the following:
- Outdoor heated pool and two hot tubs
- Outdoor patio creek and fire pit area
- Onsite restaurant called Stirling Lounge & Grill
- Onsite concierge service
- Fitness centre
- 8,800 sq. ft. of meeting and event space
- Pool table and foosball table
DINING
As mentioned above, The Malcolm Hotel houses the Stirling Lounge & Grill which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant is open from 7am-10pm on weekdays and 7am-11pm on weekends, with happy hour during 3pm-7pm daily. Check out the Lounge menu here.
I enjoyed breakfast here in the morning and everything my friends and I ordered was delicious. I had the Avocado Benny two days straight as it was amazing!
Overall, I had an amazing stay at The Malcolm Hotel in Canmore and I can’t wait to be back here soon!
Ps. let me know in the comments section if you guys are planning a trip to Banff and if you need any travel tips or advice! <3
Leave a Reply