Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa

Everything about their King rooms is depressing- if you’re coming for a couples weekend book elsewhere. The Queen rooms are fine, and the hotel itself is fine, but all the King rooms are set up to “take advantage” of the otherwise wasted space that would be the 4th floor under the roof buttresses. What this means is that half your roof slopes inward, taking up almost half your room headspace. Because of the buttress, you also get shorted a window, so now your room is cramped and dark. To top it off, they’ve wedged the bathroom in a tiny little space behind the door- it disappears when you open the door. Our room also came with the lumpiest duvet I’ve ever seen- it is disgusting. No other options were available from the front desk.

Stayed at The Carabou for 11 nights for a ski holiday. It’s located towards the edge of town (about a 10 min walk) but this is quite good if you are here to ski as the ski buses stop here first or second on the way out to the ski resort and on the way back so always able to get a seat. In fact the ski buses / coaches are really well run and frequent (although they don’t run to the resorts all day the last one too sunshine village is 1140am and takes about 20 mins and the one to Lake Louise is 1049am and takes about 45 mins). Back to the hotel, the staff were helpful and friendly, free ski lockers are available in the underground parking area, first come first served and big enough for a couple of snow boards - either bring your own padlock or you can borrow one from the hotel. Our initial thoughts were that the hotel decor felt a bit tired and dated but it was ok. Our room had two queen beds a single arm chair, a small table with two chairs, a coffee machine (coffee bags provided), kettle, small fridge, safe, hair dryer, towels provided, and small bottle of shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser. Bathroom had a bath and over bath shower which was hot and powerful. The was a small wardrobe, two sets of 3 drawers and a coat rack. Certainly enough room for ski stuff and clothes for two for 11 nights. The hotel also provide a free bus pass for the town bus (roam bus) which you can just hop on and off when you want. There is a laundry (2 cad to wash and 2 cad to dry), free coffee available 1st thing whist you wait for the ski bus and Keg steakhouse attached to the hotel. There is also a nice spa area which consists of a small gym ( treadmill, static bike, cross trainer and some free weights), a large jacuzzi pool and a steam room. The chlorine in the pool was quite strong but it was nice and warm. The steam room was a decent size but hardly ever full as it is the hottest steam room I’ve ever been in! Nice after a day on the snow. Towels are provided in the spa but no gowns or flip flops in the rooms so take some if you don’t want to walk back to your room in your swimming costume... although most people do! Would stay here again and it seems plenty do return.

We had a fabulous 10 night ski break at the Caribou Lodge in February 2019. It's a very atmospheric place with a typical lodge feel. Staff were universally very friendly. Our sleep quality was great in rooms that were as expected in a lodge style hotel. Ski storage arrangements were excellent and the Caribou Lodge has the advantage in its location of being one of the first pick-up and drop-off stops for the ski bus. The walk into town is around 10 minutes but there is a free roaming bus to get you there, although it's only every hour or so. The on site Keg restaurant is also highly atmospheric and service is excellent. Breakfasts feature a very good variety of options, reasonably priced. Our one complaint was the lack of vegetarian choices on the dinner menu and we felt a little insulted that we had to order a variety of starters with fries for our main meal. Overall however this was a definite 5 star stay. Highly recommended.