LODGING HELP! Any advice is appreciated! My husband and I are planning a five night stay in the Rockies during late August.
1. For nights 2 and 3 we plan to stay at Tekarra Lodge in Jasper. Any feedback?? How does it compare to Becker's Chalet's or Jasper House Bungalows?
2. For nights 4 and 5 we want to stay in the Lake Louise area. Any hotel/lodge or B&B suggestions? We want to spend about $150/night. Must be clean and conveniently located.
3. Also, where should we stay the first night? We are flying into Calgary and going to Jasper the next day. I was thinking we should stay somewhere on route to Jasper.
4. Also, we are interested in whitewater rafting. Is this a good time for that? Where would you recommend and what outfitter?
THANK YOU!!

>>>>>>For nights 2 and 3 we plan to stay at Tekarra Lodge in Jasper. Any feedback?? How does it compare to Becker's Chalet's or Jasper House Bungalows?<<<<<<

I have no personal experience of Tekarra Lodge. I have seen comments, here and there, that the cabins are a bit too rustic for some people’s taste. You might check the reviews on it in TripAdvisor’s accommodation review section.

In addition to Becker’s and Jasper House, other popular cabin-style accommodations just outside of Jasper townsite include alpine village, Patricia Lake Bungalows and Pine Bungalows.

>>>>>>For nights 4 and 5 we want to stay in the Lake Louise area. Any hotel/lodge or B&B suggestions? We want to spend about $150/night. Must be clean and conveniently located.<<<<<<

I don’t know if your budget is in US dollars or Canadian dollars. Mind you, I suppose that consideration is decreasing in importance as the values of the two currencies grow closer. In any event, $150/night is pushing it in Lake Louise in August.

There is really no place in Lake Louise that is "conveniently located." All accommodations in the LL area are convenient in some respects and inconvenient in other respects. It’s an area that requires a car, no ifs, ands or buts.

For example, you could stay in the village of LL, but then you’d be 3 miles from the lake of Lake Louise and 9 miles from Moraine Lake.

You could stay at the lake of Lake Louise (at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise or Deer Lodge), but then you’d be 3 miles from the village of LL.

You could stay at Paradise Lodge and Bungalows, but then you’d be about half way between the village and the lake.

You could stay at Baker Creek Chalets, but then you’d be in the forest, about 10 minutes’ drive from the village.

A place that is more affordable, by Lake Louise’s standards, is Lake Louise Inn. It’s located in the village. Some people complain about the small size of its regular rooms, though.

Although LL is expensive, in my opinion it’s very well situated for prime scenery, hiking, etc. For that reason I prefer it to Banff townsite and Canmore (just my opinion).

You also could try to get B&B style accommodation in the hamlet of Field, British Columbia, which is 20 – 30 minutes west of LL. But it’s a very small place, and its B&Bs fill up fast. Also, while it used to be a bargain compared with LL, it has been "discovered," and its rates have been moving up in the last couple of years.

The one place that comes up when you do a Google search for LL accommodation, that I do not believe counts, is the Crossing Resort. It’s at Saskatchewan River Crossing, at least 45 minutes from LL.

More in next post ...........

>>>>>>Also, where should we stay the first night? We are flying into Calgary and going to Jasper the next day. I was thinking we should stay somewhere on route to Jasper.<<<<<<

It depends what time you’ll be arriving. It’ll take you about an hour to clear immigration and customs at Calgary Airport.

If you arrive at night, you should spend that night in Calgary. You could stay in the northeast quadrant, which is close to the airport. You’ll recognize hotels that are located there by the fact that they have the word "airport" in their name and/or their street addresses end in NE.

However, traffic is light at night, and you would do yourselves a favour if you crossed the city and stayed in the northwest quadrant. That would save you from having to get across Calgary the next morning, during rush hour traffic, and you then would be well placed to set out for the mountains, which are to the west of Calgary. A good place to stay in the northwest quadrant would be one of the properties in Motel Village. You can recognize them by the fact that they have "Motel Village" or "university" in their names. Several of them are located on Banff Trail NW.

If you arrive in the afternoon, you could spend that night in Canmore (1.5 hours from the airport) or Banff (2 hours from the airport). In Canmore I like Lady Macdonald Country Inn and Georgetown Inn. I’ve also heard good reports about the Drake Inn and Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge, both of which are affordable by Canmore’s standards.

I’m not a great fan of Banff townsite in the summer. Some people love its restaurants and shops, but it’s too full of people for my taste. However, you can overcome that by staying in one of the properties that’s on the outskirts of the town. The Juniper (formerly the Timeberline), which has a pleasant and moderately priced restaurant onsite, is an example.

>>>>>> Also, we are interested in whitewater rafting. Is this a good time for that? Where would you recommend and what outfitter?<<<<<<

If you want exciting rapids, early summer is a better time for whitewater rafting. By the latter half of the summer the rivers are starting to get lower. You can do rafting on the Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers out of Jasper. However, those rivers tend to be tamer. Most likely you would have more fun if you went rafting on the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park. Most of the companies that operate on that river have their head quarters in Golden, BC (1 hour west of Lake Louise). Sorry, I don’t know specific outfitters.

Hope that helps.

late august it will be more of a float trip then white water but there are some outfits out of golden, bc you can go to from lake louise.
what time does your flight get into calgary? that will help us just your driving time.

Thanks for responses so far! Our flight arrives before noon. I thought we could stay in Canmore the first night and then Jasper the next two as I mentioned. When I said conveniently located referring to LL, I meant w/in 30 min. of cool stuff. THANKS AGAIN for your time

Oh, and I meant CAD but like you mentioned not a big difference.