dtph

My husband, 5 yr old son and I want to do the Canadian Rockies & Vancouver over about 2.5 weeks at the beginning of July.

Am I too late in planning a trip to Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper? I keep reading that accommodations will not be available.

Dogeared

Nonsense. Stop believing what booking sites and tour companies try to make everyone believe.

I would turn up in Vancouver, Banff, Lake Louise or Jasper without a reservation on any day of the year and not be concerned that I couldn't find a room available.

My complaint with hotels in the Banff/Jasper area is that many of them are overused and not renovated often enough. I consider most of the hotels in the area to be very poor value for money in that regard.

out_and_about

You are inquiring and commenting on various threads... at this point I think you just need to check into accommodations and find out for sure.
Best of luck!

dtph

i can't find anything in the jasper national park area for the entire 2-3 week span.

is hinton too far to stay?

kgsneds

I think Dogeared has not been to the Rockies in quite a while. Sure, you can always find something in Vancouver, but that is most definitely not the case in Banff, Lake Louise or Jasper. With the strong US $, weak $ and free admission to national parks, there are expected to be record breaking crowds in the parks this summer and many accommodations have long since been fully booked for mid June to mid September.

Early July is especially tricky because of the Canada Day long weekend - that's the big 150th celebration this year, plus the Fourth of July Holiday. Things will likely be completely sold out for Jasper, and possibly Lake Louise.

And has nothing to do with hotels or booking sites - neither are going to discourage people from trying to book as long as rooms might be available. And, in fact, many rooms/accommodations in the parks are not listed on any of the booking sites.

While it's not too late to be planning a trip the Rockies, as you've found out, finding accommodation is going to be a challenge.

Hinton is not a good alternative to Jasper. It's at least an hours drive (longer with construction) to Jasper townsite, then further to any of the places you'd likely want to visit. Plus, Hinton itself is a fairly unattractive mill town spread along a highway outside of the mountains. Can be smelly when the wind blows in the right direction (i.e. from the pulp mills).

I would suggest looking for private home accommodations - much like B&Bs, usually cheaper than hotels and availability can open up later as owners finalize their schedules. www.stayinjasper.com

Hostels also have private rooms. There's Hi Whistlers just outside of Jasper townsite, plus the World Traveller's Hostel and Jasper Downtown Hostel right in the townsite.

Worst case, you may need to focus on the Banff area. Try Canmore for more options. You could head west into BC - try Golden, Revelstoke, Radium Hot Springs etc.

dtph

ok thanks - reached out to a bunch of places on www.stayinjasper.com

dtph

if i can only get 1 nights accommodation in jasper - is that enough? or is 2 nights highly recommended?

kgsneds

1 night is better than nothing. Most PHAs will have a 2 or 3 night minimum unless they have a one night gap they need to find. So you probably are going to be looking for at least two nights there to find a place.

justineparis

One night is fine in Jasper.

Banff needs at least 2-3 nights.. unless you get lucky and can find something in Lake Louise.. ( so much to see in area.. Morraine Lake Emerald lake, and of course Lake Louise ( do the walk to the teahouse) and the hotsprings)


We've done this trip many times with no reservations and stayed at roadside hotels just outside towns .. always clean and most have a small pool( critical with kids) .. not fancy. Its nice to get a room in Banff for sure.. but its not always easy ,and now with time gone by it is highly unlikely.

Note if going without reservations always start looking for a room by 2-3 in the afternoon at latest.

kgsneds

Justineparis may have had luck in previous years, but the situation this year is very, very different. Come without a reservation for a place to stay and you will not find a place to stay. If you are really lucky and find a place, it's going to be very pricey -- high demand means high prices. Places have been booked for months. It's already very busy.

And beginning of July is going to be very bad - Stampede will mean Calgary and Cochrane are heavily booked and the July long weekend will almost be a sell out in the parks. Not a bed to be found.

I'm also not sure what roadside hotels justineparis is talking about. Those don't exist in the parks - or near the parks. In the parks, hotels are only in the townsites - the few lodges outside the townsites are expensive and long since fully booked. From Jasper, you'd be driving over an hour to the very unattractive Hinton. From Banff, if you are very lucky, you might find something under $350 in Canmore. But you'd need a lot of luck, lots of time and deep pockets in early July. More likely, possibly Deadman's Flats or driving back another 30+ minutes to the casino or further to Cochrane or even back to Calgary.

justineparis

Revelstoke !