Motels to Avoid in Canmore?
 

Hi All,
What a great site!

I realize time is VERY late but my mother and I will be visiting Banff/Jasper and then Vancouver (flying in between) from Aug 11 for 2 wks. Does anyone know anything re Canmoor's Mountain View Inn? The prices are MUCH lower than others... scarily so... Someone on yahoo gave a review about another motel near the highway, very noisey, dirty, etc. We'd like "economical" but prefer to stay healthy. Are there any names of motels to avoid? Both in Canmoor and Hinton?

I'm thinking we'll stay in Canmoor (changed that from Calgary) to drive around Banff + Lake Louise and probably stay in Hinton to see Jasper tho I know some of you don't recommend that last due to the 45 min it takes to drive from Hinton. Did find a Days' Inn in Hinton that seems AOK... We'd rather pay for gas and airfare than gourmet food (maybe not in another life tho!).

Haven't booked motels yet in Vancouver or Victoria and will probably try to save some pennies there, too. Again, any to avoid? We'll see the usual touristy gardens, etc.

Also saw some rental car info up here but if you know anything very recent re good deal$, I'd be grateful. We'll rent a compact... no SUV for us.

Artzfan in Virginia

Not sure which to avoid although i do remember several mom and pop type motels. I can highly recommend the Best Western Pocatello Inn where we stsayed in 02 for four nights. One of the nicest BW's, with free breakfast and rooms with beautiful decor, fireplace, microfridge etc. They also have an indoor water slide that we ALL enjoyed :) Can't recall the rate but we're on a budget - our road trips are 3 weeks each so we stay in value-moderate motels.

We used Canmore as our base for exploring banff, lake louise and jasper and it worked well. The BW rates weren't the cheapest but they were much better than most in banff, and with the free breakfast, it was a good deal.

Also wondered if you'll be driving to Vancouver? From banff we drove to glacier np (underwhelmed after being in banff and also glacier-waterton), then stayed in kammloops at an excellent Holiday Inn Express (another fave chain). Again, immaculate, reasonable and their cont'l breakfast included a few extra items other than the basic hol inn exp bfst (which is still very good IMO)

Then in vancouver we stayed at the Pacific Palisades Hotel on Robson, a boutigue style hotel. Great location for shopping, site seeing etc. and nice indoor pool.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much, Ellen.

Yes, I did see the Best Western (saw two, in fact in the same general location) and was considering that strongly so you may have swayed me.

Interesting that you drove up to the Jasper area from Canmoor. That seems like a pretty hefty drive but it depends on what you saw and your route, I guess.

No, we're not driving to Vancouver. We debated the VIA rail, esp as it's 2 for 1 since my mom is a senior citizen, but we decided to save time by flying. How did you enjoy the drive?

I'll definitely check out the hotels you've mentioned. I agree that free breakfasts are awfully nice. So are fridges, microwaves, and groceries!

Did you drive your own car? Some rental places charge quite a fee if you don't return the car in the same area.

Many thanks!

Artzfan in VA

Hi VA, yes the drive from canmore to jasper was a bit long but our vacation road trips are 6-8000 miles anyway, so it was no biggie. :) Plus the columbia icefields are amazing and totally worth it! Be SURE you do it.

Yes, we drive our own vehicle (mini-van or SUV). The drive to vancouver wasn't bad at all, and quite scenic, but again we're used to (and enjoy) the long haul.

Have a great trip and please do a trip report when you return.