familet

We are a rather large family with a son in the Navy in Whidbey Island, WA and a daughter coming to the states from Australia, and the rest of us from the East Coast. 2 parents and ages 16-26, also 9yr old son).

We have not been together in 6 years and everyone's availability has just come up so I am trying to throw together a last minute short vacation for us all. We have some skiers, but some non-skiers and due to the proximity of Whistler, we are considering that. However, I have also been looking at Banff & Lake Louise - Fairmont hotels in all locations.

Could anyone suggest which of the three locations might be best? Looking for beautiful scenery to sit by the fire and some shopping for the non-skiers, good restaurants (husband is chef), and skiing for the skiers.

Re. the hotel - service is very important as is ambience. I have read mixed reviews of Fairmont properties, but they are one of the only hotels left and look fabulous. However, from the reviews, it seems service may be lacking so I would love to get opinions on that.

Finally, most likely to go after Christmas and be at one of these locations over NY's Eve. Looking for a gala ball type affair where we can all dance.

GIven these considerations -which location & hotel would you suggest? If you have another suggestion outside of these, I'd also be interested.

Thanks so much!

WhistlerAl

I've done New Year's eve at the Banff Springs ( a number of years ago) and it was magical. I live in Whistler and the Chateau Whistler is one of our favorite spots, and they do a great job over the holidays. I have never been that impressed with the service at the Lake Louise. The setting is gorgeous, but the view is about all I could recommend there.
I think Whistler would be the easiest for you all to get to, and it has great restaurants, decent , but not great shopping, and it definitely is magical at Christmas. Cheers, Al

krp329

Lake Louise is a tiny village, and the Fairmont Chateau LL is up at the lake (3 or 4 kilometres away), not in the village. Dining is quite limited also in LL although the Post Hotel is supposed to be one of the best in the Banff/LL area. If you are looking for shopping and dining opportunities, I would recommend Banff over Lake Louise. I can't compare to Whistler because I have never been there.

Besides the Banff Springs hotel, there are one or two other higher end hotels in Banff - sounds like you want one of them. (Sorry, I'm not in Banff, and the names escape me right now but they'd be listed at www.banfflakelouise.com .)

It would also likely be one of these that would have the kind of NYE celebration you are looking for, but one thing to consider is that these are usually limited to 18 and over (legal drinking age in Alberta. In BC, legal drinking age is 19.)

ShelliDawn

The Rimrock Hotel in Banff gets good reviews and people often look at it if they're looking at staying at the Banff Springs.

As for which location to go to, I sugges checking availability asap as that may be a major deciding factor. Last minute in Banff often has limited choices, although the more expensive places may be easier to book than the more economical. I would suspect it's the same in Jasper and Whistler.

familet

Thanks for all your help!