Trip to Banff
 

Hi everyone,<BR><BR>I need your great advice! We are going on a tour with Backroads in July in the Banff/Jasper/Lake Louise region.<BR><BR>We will be coming into Banff a day and a half prior to the tour.<BR><BR>Rimrock Resort looks really great, but I also found this B&B which also looks wonderful. Has anyone ever stayed and/or seen Thea's House on Otter Street? It looks so appealing for a short stay, but I only have the website to go on (and a small review posted there). Any advice would be great?<BR><BR>AND, I need advice on two restaurants for dinner while we are in Banff. My husband and I like upscale dining - - but the food quality is the most important to us (as opposed to atmosphere, views, service). Does anyone have recommendations of places they have really enjoyed?<BR><BR>Thanks so much!<BR><BR>Anita<BR><BR>p.s. anyone out there tour with Backroads? This is our first tour . . .with any company.

Anita,<BR><BR>If you like good food I would head up to the dinning room at Buffalo Mountain Lodge (in July make sure you reserve in advance). They have a unique menu (they call it Rocky Mountain Cuisine) that encompasses allot of local produce and game. The food quality is excellent (they've twice been asked to cook for the James Beard Society in NY) and the wine celler is rated in Wine Spectator.<BR><BR>I have never stayed at the B+B you mention but Otter street is right in the heart of Banff. I have stayed at the Rimrock and it is nice but it is a bit out of the town centre. Great views from every room but it is a fairly large hotel and thus not as intimate as a B+B. You may consider staying at Buffalo Mountain Lodge (it is slightly out of the town centre up on tunnel mountain). It is a smaller hotel that has a nice intimate atmosphere. Book one of their premier rooms, it is my accomodation of choice in Banff.

Thank you so much for your reply.<BR><BR>Is staying in the town worthwhile? I like the idea . . .but have never been to Banff before . . .<BR><BR>Anita

Anita, staying in the townsite is personal preference. I personally have never stayed right in Banff (always on the outskirts at Buffalo Mountain Lodge, Rimrock, or Banff Springs). Downtown Banff has shopping and restaurants -- to get to the sites ( for example: Cave and Basin Mineral Springs, Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Bow Falls or day hikes out of Banff) you will need to hit the "outskirts" of the townsite. <BR><BR>Your trip in July will fall during peak season -- meaning there will be allot of people in Banff (at some times it is a slow crowd moving down Jasper Avenue). If you have a car staying outside of Banff is not a problem. There is a cute bus service that runs between most of the outskirt hotels and the town centre so if you don't have a car you won't be totally isolated.<BR><BR>To put the distance into perspective, Buffalo Mountain Lodge is up on Tunnel Mountain. It is a short 20min walk into the centre of town (or an even shorter 5 min bus ride). The Banff Springs is about the same distance in the opposite direction and the Rimrock the furthest out. It is a bit of a treck up Sulphur Mountain -- about 1 hr walk or a 15 min car drive from the townsite. <BR><BR>I still prefer Buffalo Mountain Lodge because of the location (close in but far enough away to escape the hoards of summer tourists -- plus it has some good hikes right outside the lobby). The Banff Springs is just too big and the Rimrock too far out and isolated.<BR><BR>Does this help?

We stayed at the Buffalo Mtn Lodge in Sept and absolutely loved it. The food is very good....my husband and I loved the game platter appetizer. Nice rooms and service. We prefer not to stay in town, but went into town each day by car without a problem. Enjoy!

thea's was a beautiful place.however,the owners seemed so uptight.for instance,you had to take off your shoes upon entering .for food,i would go to buffalo mountain lodge,le bougelais(msp),or post hotel in lake louise.

Elaine, As I have never stayed at Thea's I cannot dispute your "groughy owner" comment. I will however point out that in Canada it is custom (and I use that word losely) to remove your footwear when you enter someone's home. As Thea's is a B+B (and therefore someone's home) it would be common Canadian courtesy to remove your footwear. I had Canadian friends who went to graduate school in the US and were horrified when guests arrived at their home and did not remove their footwear. I'm not sure if the practice of keeping footwear on is common throughout the US but here in western Canada removing footwear is quite common. It would be rude to not take off your shoes.<BR><BR>Just a bit of Canadian trivia.<BR>

Is that for real? As a Canadian who likes to go shoeless, I would not expect to take my shoes off at a B&B.

April, normally I wouldn't expect to take my shoes off at a B+B either but allot of the B+B's in Banff are very small with rooms right in the owner's residence. As this may be the case with Thea's House then requiring (or asking) guests to take their shoes off would be logical.<BR><BR>It has always puzzled me as to why Americans generally don't remove their shoes -- and perhaps I am generalizing here -- but out of curiosity can anyone offer an explanation?

I see this message board is revolving around the same two places. I live in Banff and believe me, just walk around and look. There is a lot of upscale dinning at every corner. Just enjoy your trip.

I can answer the question about why Americans don't take their shoes off. 1. We don't like to smell other peoples' feet and 2. We don't walk in mud.

Interesting bit here about taking off one's shoes when entering a home. In my associates it's not very common. Being Jewish my mother always gave me the impression that people walked around the house in their socks when they were in mourning but I don't think an aversion to taking shoes off in the home is a Jewish thing.<BR><BR>Living in Vancouver I have noticed that virtually all Chinese and Japanese remove their shoes on entering a home so I assume it is definately an Asian custom.<BR>I have also noticed Americans taking their shoes off at home and there I have assumed it's because they don't want to dirty their carpets.<BR><BR>In snowy dlimates - which much of Canada is I would think it's natural to take off wet and clogged footwear on entering any home. And in the early part of the 20th century going backwords I would guess there was always a good chance of there being some manure on one's footwear - not something you'ld want to track into the house.