Banff Ptarmigan Inn

Our stay at the Ptarmigan was cut short due to an emergency. The staff were so kind and compassionate and made our unexpected early check out process go smoothly and quickly. We enjoyed our quick stay. The rooms were clean, beds were comfortable, and the close walking distance to downtown make it a great choice to stay.

Absolutely amazing service by all staff we interacted with. Great food at the inhouse restaurant (the Meatball, I think) with the ability to take it to your room if you want. Our room was clean and presented well with lovely local soaps and lotions. We didn't get a chance to use the spas or sauna but were able to smell the chlorine on the second floor, so it's definitely there! - I think that was the only downside we found while there.

We've been staying here for many years and unfortunately it's just gone downhill. It was a bit of an under-rated gem at one time, with an impressive free breakfast, great service, clean and modern facilities. Breakfast is no longer free and now a simple breakfast for a family of 4 is around $100. Inflation sucks but it doesn't explain why the rooms, halls, lobby, saunas are dinged up/dirty and service is subpar. And yet the prices are similar to or higher than newer hotels in the area. Unfortunately we're on the lookout for a new go-to spot in Banff.

3 stars at most. Booked a pet friendly room over the phone was told that there was parking- 1st come first serve. Was told that breakfast was included and it was not. There is a small bar/restaurant for you to buy a la cart. Nobody could seem to give clear directions to the pool area and there was little signage up to lead to there.

Our stay was nothing short of amazing, and it’s all thanks to the incredible staff who went above and beyond to ensure we had a great experience. From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed with warmth and professionalism, making us feel truly valued as guests. Like any trip, we ran into a few minor issues, but what truly set this hotel apart was how they handled them. When we brought our concerns to the front desk, they immediately addressed everything with efficiency and genuine care. Instead of brushing us off or making excuses, they took swift action to turn things around and make sure we were happy. Their dedication to guest satisfaction is truly commendable. Thanks to their attentiveness and commitment to service, what could have been a stressful situation was completely turned around. They saved our trip and left us feeling not just accommodated but truly taken care of. It’s rare to find a team that is so responsive, kind, and eager to make things right, and we are beyond thankful for them. The hotel itself was great, with clean, comfortable rooms, nice amenities, and a welcoming atmosphere. But it’s the exceptional customer service that will make us return. If you’re looking for a place that genuinely cares about its guests, this is it. Thank you to the wonderful team at The Partamgin —you made our stay unforgettable in the best way! We can’t wait to come back. I forgot everyone’s name who helped us but there was a younger lady at the front desk with brown hair, the manger we spoke too and a kind gentleman working night shift who all deserved extra shout outs for being so great! Thank you again guys!

Hotel is nicely located in downtown Banff, close to everything there. The hotel itself is pretty worn out, needs updating definitely. Room was an ok size. Water pressure is not very good and for staying on the first floor - it took a while to get hot water (no idea why it took so long to warm it up). The lights in the room are very dull, which is good for the night, but not really for the rest of the day. Other than that - pretty ok for staying in Banff for that price. If renovated, that would be a very cool property. Outside is better looking than the inside for now. The shuttle bus to the Banff Sunshine Ski resorts stops right here at the front door. Which is nice!

Best stay in Banff!! It’s marked as a 3 stars hotel but felt like a 5 star one. Room was spacious and super clean, staff were kind & helpful, location is extremely convenient, downtown in front of Banff Transit Hub with buses that bring you everywhere. As a solo traveller, I really enjoyed my stay and would definitely come back again. :)

The rooms was clean, and loved the Rocky mountain soap products in the bathroom. We didn't try the hot tubs. The location to downtown is great. The only thing I didnt enjoy was the loud train noises during the night. I would recommend staying here with kids. We had our 3 kids with us.

Stayed here for a couple nights and it was great. The location is amazing, the staff is super friendly, and overall it was a great experience. My favorite staff member was Esme - she helped out with any questions I had, was super helpful, and overall just a delight (unlike the other girl that works there that had an attitude). As I mentioned - the location of this hotel/inn is incredible. Everything is close by and the bus stops are right there. The room was clean, shower and bathroom was great, and overall a great experience!

The reason why I'm giving the hotel such a low rating is they botched our reservation. We booked our room through Expedia, and although our documentation says we were checking out Sunday, the hotel made us check out Saturday. We learned of this while we were one hour out of town on our way to Emerald Lake. We were forced to return, pack our bags, and find another hotel. The manager offered to allow us to stay one more night in our current room, but for a significantly higher price. The higher price did not justify the mediocre accommodations so we passed on her proposal.

The staff is extremely friendly and helpful, the hotel, is on the older side, but it's kept clean and in good order. It is close to everything you could possibly want and need in Banff. -They offer a free local bus pass (route 1 and 2) -Restaurant inside, but they have plenty of other places to eat close by.

This place exceeded our expectations. The hotel has excellent location being in there center of Banff Avenue. You can walk to all the restaurants. It is across the street from Banff High school, which is where you get the express bus to Lake Moraine/Louise for $8 each way. It's a 40 minute drive with no Parking issues! The hotel staff was helpful with explaining activities in the area and the use of the bus. Certain bus routes (gondola, tunnel mountain, springs hotel) are free with ticket from hotel. There is free underground parking. The rooms are quiet. There is a table fan in the room and a safe. The bathroom was a good size and good amount of sink counter space. The hotel is very clean. There is an Italian restaurant that is used for the breakfast. The free breakfast included: omelettes, eggs, sausage, bacon, pancake, bread pudding, muffins, cereal, cottage cheese, yogurt, potatoes, canned fruit, coffee, tea, juices. The staff was efficient and friendly. I highly recommend staying at this hotel.

Hotel located right in town, close to all the shops and attractions. Attraction bus right outside and will take you to all the popular destinations. Rooms were obviously renovated and looked good with a small balcony. Beds were comfortable, rooms decent sized, small bathrooms though. We weren't able to check in any earlier than check in time. You can leave your luggage near the front desk with no protection. Free parking. Parking structure was a mess! So dusty and looks horrible. 2 enclosed hot tubs- pretty good because it was empty. Breakfast was good. Made to order eggs and omelets. Everything else was not that good.

This is a decent place close to the town center in Banff. You can walk to most of the sites in Banff. The rooms were modest but well kept. We stayed for 3 nights and requested rooms to be made. The room service did not vacuum the room, neither neaten up the bed sheets. They only tucked up the comforter and replaced the used up towels. We were Ok if they did not replace the sheets to make it green friendly. For the price there may be better options that include breakfast.

Banff Ptarmigan Inn is a pretty good place to stay, although I think I'd prefer to stay in some other hotels before I'd venture back here. What makes it great: - Free parking underground - Super friendly staff - Fantastic location in the center of Banff - *If* you upgrade to a posher room, it's pretty nice. Why I didn't give it 5 stars: - Most standard king rooms are in the center of the hotel, so you have a window looking down to a restaurant, rather than out to any views! I found this too oppressive (and noisy), so we paid extra to upgrade to a room with a window. I would not have booked this hotel initially if I realized their $270 per night rooms were windowless. - It's nice that there is a breakfast buffet included, but the quality of the food is baaad. They have an omelet bar, but somehow make totally tasteless omelets(!) - We didn't eat at the restaurant in the evening (mostly because I was so unimpressed with the breakfast) but as the center of the hotel is a giant atrium, the food smells waft up from below. It did not smell appealing.

Beyond words. This place was well above expectations. Ask for room 105 it has a great deck, such a beautiful view of the scenery and wild life. 10 out of 10.

Make sure to take your license plate off your car when staying at the Ptarmigan - our license plate and several other cars license plates were stolen in the hotel garage. Also, be prepared for noisy college dorm style hangouts in the hallways, doors wide open with folks staying up late and gathering in the hallway, dogs barking, and doors slamming shut when you're trying to sleep. When I spoke to the manager about the issues I was told it wasn't the hotel's problem. Talk about terrible customer service much less trying to make it up to us in ANY kind of way. I ended up having to miss my spa day to go to the police station and file a report on the license plate. Breakfast was included and not terrible but not great. Bed was comfortable and you could fall asleep once the hallway partying stopped. Hot tub / jacuzzi was so small and packed with people that it was impossible to soak after a long ski day. I'd stay somewhere else. I've stayed at many of the other hotel options close by that are walkable to town and you don't have these issues. I've never experienced these issues any where else I've stayed in Banff and lack of customer service really is not worth it.

Loved this hotel! It was a great accidental find through a website booking and it really exceeded all expectations. We had a nice king suite, modern furnishings, all the wifi you need and everything was very clean. Location, location, location . . . you're right in the middle of everything. The staff was wonderful and helped us further enjoy our vacation. They took time to explain the bus system (free and takes you to all the popular destinations in the Banff area) and also areas around town. It was great not to drive an entire day (stayed two nights) to explore the area. Housekeeping helped us get an extra pillow and the restaurant for the included breakfast was great. The staff there explained the omelet process and there was a chef preparing individual egg omelets. Hint: put the order in, go pick up the other breakfast items (had plenty of hot options) and coffee and the omelet is ready in three minutes. Wonderful! The omelet guy deserves an award. Overall, this is an excellent find that exceeded expectations. We'll stay here again.

It's very clean the staff are friendly you get free breakfast free wifi beds are clean everything is clean and free coffee I really do recommend Edit: FREE PARKING

I recently stayed at the Ptarmigan Inn for the weekend and it was a great experience! It is centrally located with a free shuttle to Upper Banff Hot Springs and Gondola right outside the front doors. They offer free parking and a hot breakfast including made-to-order omelettes! The rooms are spacious and comfortable and the staff are friendly and helpful. A nice extra is the amazing natural soaps in the bathrooms. I visited the store that makes the products and received a discount for mentioning I was staying at the hotel. I would definitely stay here again the next time I'm in Banff.

Location was so convenient and walkable to everything and the local free shuttle stops right outside. The breakfast is free and had cooked to order omelets. Just don't pick the first floor because you can't leave your window open at night. The beds were comfortable and there is free underground parking.

At bit worn, some carpets are dangerously Popped up, decent breakfast, indoor parking Snag a deal on Hotwire for $100 and you have a nice place intown at a great price.

The Ptarmigan is a good hotel with a good staff. We came here for a short weekend vacation and were well looked after. A few minor complaints: one of the beds in our room was horrible; we switched to the other, which was less horrible, the following night. And the screen door on the balcony was off its tracks. Otherwise, the staff treated us well, the in-hotel restaurant was good and the hotel was pretty quiet. All in all, it was a nice getaway.

Super comfy queen beds made the stay. The bathrooms are outdated an the age can be seen. The rest of the hotel is very clean and modern. The underground parking is good to keep the snow of the car, and the location is right on the main strip within walking distance of stores. If you book in advance and get a good rate I recommend to stay here.

Overall we were pleased with our stay, the staff were helpful and it was well located. The breakfast at the restaurant was good for us and our kids. We also had dinner there one night and service and food was good. We had no issues with car parking and we could drive to the Norquay ski fields in 15 minutes. Our room was better than we expected having read some of the previous reviews, so I assume the renovations have made a difference. WiFi worked fine for us. The lifts are painfully slow and if you aren't out of your room by 9am it appears it doesn't get serviced.

Came for my birthday weekend and was treated amazingly well. The atmosphere for the bar close to a fireplace was beautiful! We were supposed to leave sunday but decided to book another night last min because we didnt wanna leave. Great staff... Awesome bartender and close to the shops. Best location for a nice short walk back to your room from the bars and shops.

I am giving the Ptarmigan one star because my room faced a major construction site. The banging and large machinery started every morning at 7AM, and some nights continued all night long. No rest for the weary. If you plan to stay here, you have to get a room on the other side of the hotel--and if you can't get one, stay somewhere else. The hotel itself is fine. Good breakfast, comfy beds, close to downtown restaurants and shopping. But the noise from the construction is just too overwhelming.

We were very disappointed by our stay. Construction in the hotel started everyday at 730am despite being told they would not begin until 10am. One day they shut down the water altogether. The sinks outside the bathrooms in the hotel room another annoying feature. Would not recommend this hotel.

The 2 nights staying here was absolutely awful for noise due to people running around screaming in the hallways, opening and closing of room doors way past the quiet time from (11pm-7am) for over 2 hours straight for both nights. After calling down to the front desk the first night we were advised they would send someone to check on this as we were not the first ones to complain. Well that complain was useless as the noise continued for another 1.5 hours and it was already past 3 am when the noise finally stopped and we were finally able to get a few hours sleep. The next morning we stopped by the front desk to speak with someone who I believed to be the "manager" of the facility. We brought forth our complaint again regarding the noise and how nothing was done and we were not the only ones complaining. Instead of an apology, the "manager" states we were the only ones from our floor who complained and the other complaints were regarding other issues and we shouldn't have been hearing any noise as there was no one staying in the rooms beside us. She basically argued we were the ones who were causing unnecessary trouble. I was very offended and disappointed that the fingers got pointed back to us for the cause of the issues. The last time I checked I do not have a hearing problem and doubt the noise was a figment of my imagination. Anyways, we asked if these people around the other rooms close by would be moved as we believed they were the source of the noise. The "manager" assured us they were leaving and checking out and they would make sure no one else was staying close by our room on our floor. The second night was worse than the first night. After settling in and falling asleep around 11:30 pm around 12 am the noise started again this time more screaming and shouting from I believe the same people who were supposedly have 'Checked out" from the hotel as per the "manager". So again called down to the front desk to complain and explained this is the second night in a row this has happened. The front desk clerk indicated he would send someone up to check. They did send security as I was able to hear security talking to the noise source. About 30 minutes later the noise started again and my partner called down and told the clerk the noise has started again and he can see that this hotel has done nothing to provide us with any help. The clerk on the phone said, "oh it is a bunch of locals having a Christmas party and you need to give them time to settle down". Well, that response was completely irresponsible as they were pretty much standing up for the group causing all the noise and ignoring the other few hundred people who were staying in the same hotel. So after a second horrendous night, I do not have intentions to stay here again nor recommend people to waste their money here. The only good thing that came out of this experience was upon check out the manager apologized and deducted $100 off and the manager would like for us to come back to give the place another shot. Nothing, unfortunately, will get rid of the bad taste from this negative experience. I would have to think about staying here again.

I booked a standard single queen bed for 2 nights on expedia. The place was easy to find and right on the main street beside the downtown strip. Check in and out was quick and painless. The front desk staff very friendly. We arrived around 10pm though and were told they had no parking in their parkade. We found this very odd as it was the start of the weekend how could you not have enough parking already? They instructed that there was a street behind the hotel where we could park overnight and not get a ticket as most places around Banff is strictly enforced timed parking. We managed to find a spot but then had to somehow find our way back into the hotel which we had to go through the parkade exit ramp and back up through the maze of stairs and hallways. We were able to get a spot the next day while people were out. Our room was a little small but clean and with free wifi and cable tv. The bed was a little uncomfortable and I woke with a headache the second morning. The main thing that got my vote was the breakfast, There is complimentary hot breakfast from 630-1030 am. So much variety and all delicious! The hotel was within walking distance to everything being right next to the shopping district and on main street which was great so you don't have to drive anywhere.

Reserved a room via Hotwire. It was the cheapest place I could find for a last min visit on a Sat. Our front desk clerk was friendly in our check in. Free parking w the hotel room was a plus. Our room, though, was sub par. Room smelled like mold when we first got there - good thing weather was good so we could open the window/turn on the fan to air the smell out. The beds were comfy. The room was dated and did not feel most welcoming or clean but heck, it was for one night. The bathroom shower head and drain were rusting - not visually appealing at all. Rooms were surprisingly quite for being 1st floor on the main road. Free breakfast was convenient and Decent tasting... Basic selection of hot and continental breakfast. E.g, eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast, cereal, etc. Overall, it was a decent stay given we only needed a place to stay for 1 night.

Kind people work at the front desk and elsewhere. Easy to find. Free parking and hot breakfast. Close to the "main downtown" area. Great Rocky Mountain Soap Company soaps. Free wifi (which they say is available in all rooms but I have to go to hallway to get it to work). These are the only good things I can say about this place (and it might be enough to come here for some people). Call me picky, but I want to sleep in a room that's cooler than 25C. When I walked in the first room given to us, an inside room with windows overlooking the indoor lobby, and saw THREE fans in the closet, I knew we were in trouble. When I spoke with the front desk about this, they replied that most hotels in Banff don't have A/C as a way to reduce the "footprint" and cost to the environment -- but the hallways are air conditioned! It was late and we turned on all the fans while keeping the room door open for a while to suck in some cool air, but asked to be moved the next day to a room that has a window. They were able to accommodate this (and charged us the extra money for the upgrade), despite the busy summer season -- whoopee! When we walked into the new room and went immediately to the window, there was no screen on the window. Great! Fresh air AND mosquitoes! Finally, we were moved to a third room, one bed that was only a double but hey, we'll take it. The mattresses aren't great. Hallways are narrow and one entry into the parkade is dangerous with a set of stairs blocking part of the door that a person could easily walk into if not careful. I didn't try the small pub but it looked like fun. There is a wall with a bunch of information on what's going on in the town. And, like I said, the people at the front desk are pretty great. My sympathies go out to them b/c they're pretty busy.

The location is fine, close to a grocery store and close to shops. The staff at the Ptarmigan Inn were friendly and responded to needs quickly. Wyatt, the dog, makes occasional appearances as he helps with behind the counter duties. Good to know that this place has pet friendly rooms! The breakfasts consisted of made to order eggs (omelets, fried, etc.) and other breakfast items such as cereal, potatoes, fruit, yogurt, meats, french toast, pancakes, etc. I enjoyed my stay here and would come back to this inn again.

The room was fine, great location right on the main drag and easy access to everything in Banff. However, my 5-stars are based on the staff which was exemplary. We had a car rental problem that we weren't able to resolve because we were leaving that day but the desk clerk dealt with it for us AFTER his shift. Then my wife forgot her purse and one of the staff was dispatched on his bike to run it down it down to us at the train station. Pretty amazing service.

Inexpensive clean place to stay. Right on the main street..saw several other placesplaplaces and cabins we would have liked for the same price ...should have researched it more...but all in all a good place. No air conditioning.

My family and I stayed here over Christmas for three days - here are the pros and cons: Pros: they are pet friendly, within walking distance of downtown Banff and their complimentary continental breakfast is quite good. Cons: We found the staff to be awkwardly unfriendly (they all appeared to want to be somewhere else except for Alex who works at the restaurant in the hotel), the rooms are outdated and run down (especially for the outrageous price), there aren't mini-fridges in the rooms and the pet friendly room was not clean (which is not something you should have to sacrifice especially since they charge you extra for bringing a 17lb hypoallergenic dog). All in all, we won't be back. We've had much better stays at a few other places in Banff...I'd look elsewhere.

We stayed here for two nights as a hiking escape from Calgary. This is an average hotel in Banff. The pluses, they have decent sized rooms, a nice sauna and underground parking. The hotel is walking distance to downtown, which was really convenient. The cons, the hotel is really noisy, we got ear plugs our second night. The omelette chef was super friendly and nice, but the rest of the wait staff looked like they would rather be somewhere else (probably true) and we had some expired cream in our coffee. If you want to be out most of the day and just need somewhere to crash this place is good, but if you really want to relax at the hotel I would keep looking.

After booking our two-night stay online, my wife and I arrived at the hotel and were quickly checked-in and given the standard arriving info (parking, wifi, breakfast hours, etc). Our first problem came when we tried to park in the underground parking and our SUV didn't even come close to fitting - thank God for the warning bar at the opening to the garage. After running inside, I was pointed in the direction of the outdoor parking location, but it would have been nice to know that big vehicles (ie. trucks, minivans with a roof rack, etc.) hadn't a chance in hell of fitting in the underground parking garage. The room we had was clean and pretty standard, but we didn't plan on spending much time in the room, so clean and standard did the trick for us. Our favourite aspects of the hotel were: 1) Excellent location - super close to most of the shops and restaurants. 2) Above average breakfast - the included breakfast was quite good and included an omelette bar which I love! 3) Happy Hour - nice deals and an incredibly friendly barkeep make the bar a great place to sip a bevy while sitting on the patio. Aside from the parking problem a few other difficulties include: 1) the free wifi signal only reached our bathroom and the password was changed every day without any warning (be ready to call the front desk to ask for the new password every day). 2) As part of our welcome package, we received a coupon book full of coupons that expired three months earlier. When I asked, I was told all of the coupons would still be honoured, but really...??? For us, the location more than made up for any difficulties and The Ptarmigan made a good base camp for us in Banff.

An okay hotel, but not great. Only perk about this place was the breakfast buffet, other than that, it was an overpriced stay in Banff. The WiFi is nonexistent, the pipes in the walls vibrated loud enough that it woke us up in the middle of the night, and the room was hot (couldn't leave the windows open because we were on the ground floor facing the main parking lot).

Quite excellent for the price. The hot buffet breakfast included with the room is really a cut above what you normally see for free in hotels (weak continental cold breakfasts) and we had a $140 breakfast for four people for nearly the same food at the next hotel on our trip. We did leave the windows open during the day to cool it down as it was very hot this week and there was no air conditioning. Small cars can park underground for free, there is a parking lot as well for vehicles above 6 feet. Booked this hotel barely a day in advance and they gave us two of the last three rooms available in the building, perfectly clean and ready for us when we arrived. The hallways are a little bit of a maze to navigate, but the wifi is free which is getting scarce at hotels as well. Staff were excellent. Even the day time room cleaners would rush to push the elevator button for you if they saw you coming so that it would be there when you got to the end of the hallway. There's a nice little bar on the main floor and down a half flight of stairs is the restaurant. The Ptarmigan is situated right in downtown Banff so we easily walked to all kinds of food and shopping. Only real problem: The room had two full sized beds, but the bathroom space and counter was so small that it was cramped for just 2 of us. I wouldn't want to try to fit four people's toiletries and towels in there.

we stayed for our honeymoon at the end of last month we had some issues with parking we had been out all day in the mountains we came back around 930 10 to find absolutely no parking it was a Friday night on a long weekend, and the inn was letting people who only paid for1 room use 2 parking stalls because they let more than one car per room and we were told that the place only has enough parking for one car per room and they wanted us to park on the street a few blocks away so if you don't have to take your vehicle out don't and if you do bring it back by 6 or there might not be anyehere for you to park but my husband protested enough that they told us to use the handicap parking the Free WiFi sucks, you have to push a bnoton to make the dry and steam saunas work so if you if are the first to use them in the morning thry might be stone cold and will take along time to heat up having to push the button every 10 minutes to keep them going and if you go back later they may still be cold if no one was constantly using them all day, they ran out of bottled water in the spa space so make sure you have a bottle of water with you in case you are thirsty and they got a little lazy at cleaning the spa area dirty towels hanging every where and almost no clean towels anytime you want to use the room and a recommendations they have two hot tubs use the one on the right for ten minutes then move to the hotter one on the left, our room smelled wonderful everyday it smelled like roasted toasted marshmallows although the shower is very small barley enough room for two but we managed and there is no ac but they do have a fan in the room and our room was right above the smokers area so in the morning we always got cigarette smoked out and I'm trying to quit it was interesting and the hot breakfast was really good the omelet chiefs will make your omelet to order the way you like it cooked mine was omelet eggs cooked then raw bell peppers and tomatoes cheese and served it was yummy just they way my mom made me when I in was growing up and the silver Dollar sized pancakes and the fruit salad was awesome as well

Probably didnt help that we stayed during renovations to the carpet (which sounds like they were much needed), but there was a lot of noise related to that. But, the staff was courteous and attentive, and the location was great. For the price it was a pretty good value.

This place was undoubtedly the height of disappointment of our 2+ week vacation in Canada. $170.00+ a night for a hotel room that was out dated, and worse, had no working air-conditioning which management was aware of but suppressed during check-in due to the oscillating fan positioned on the floor just inside the doorway of the room. Opening the balcony door to the covered public atrium was stiflingly hot, so we sweltered in bed with the fan blazing inches away. Sound like upscale or even average lodging to you? Me neither! I most definitely would NOT return again. We felt robbed.

I stayed at the Ptarmigan the second week of February with the Columbia Ski Club (about 38 in the group). I have all great things to say about the Ptarmigan and the staff there. The hotel was clean, very comfortable, and located on the main street with easy access to all the shops and restaurants downtown. We were greeted by a very friendly and professional staff, and that hospitality remained throughout our entire stay. The front desk staff Matt, Maria and Randy were always helpful and cheerful. The bar/lounge was very pleasant and comfortable, and the bartenders Ryan and Dave were very friendly and professional as well. We had several meals from the Meatball restaurant, and all seemed pleased with their food. There is a steam room and hot tub area, but I was not able to use the facilities so cannot comment on that. The only complaints I heard were that some of the rooms were too hot, and that the complimentary breakfast was "ok." I loved the omelettes! Other that, I recommend staying at the Ptarmigan.