Bow View Lodge

Location is legit. Wow walk everywhere easily. Rooms were very roomy. We had a love seat, double bed, spacious storage throughout room to put all our stuff! Yes rooms have dated furnishings, BUT room was CLEAN!!!! Yup really clean. Front desk staff super helpful and friendly. I think the price was a great value!

I picked this place because it was available. The front desk was nice. I did not like that the pool hot tub and gym were in a building across from us. there was no free breakfast there is no AC in the rooms. it was very walkable for downtown. The parking was free and there was a garage. It did come with like little shampoo bottles which was nice. But for what I paid it was outrageously expensive and mediocre. I was basically just paying to be close to town. Right by the river which was nice and there is a canoe company next door so it you're into that it's super close by. the balcony was decent but the no AC made it kinda w a c k in the summer.

I booked last minute to stay while packing and moving. My room is great - faces the river, king sized bed, very clean. The staff is very friendly. ||I love to open the slider and listen to what’s going on outside. The train is closer than I’m used to based on where I lived while I lived in Banff. I recommend earplugs if you’re a sensitive sleeper or it’s just good travel practise anyway. ||I posted a pic out my screen - on the second floor above the river parking - no worries, zero noise from the parking.||I don’t want daily cleaning - if at all for short stays. I won’t end up using them but they give you a $5 card for their restaurants in the BPL in exchange for foregoing daily cleaning. ||I think this is a better spot than many of the more expensive places - location and vintage vibe. ||I’ll definitely check here first for availability on a return trip.

Staff were helpful and polite and friendly..most staff spoke most languages..reception area had seating coffee, tea,refill..water bottle had free refill station...hotel look old from outside but once in its quite nice.car Park..storage for bikes,ski's and pushchairs. Lift to all floors. Could use all the facilities in sister hotel over the car park. .my room was dated but not bad considering...it was clean and tidy and had a river view...bed not bad..could ask for more pillows if needed..ideal to walk to downtown Banff.. near local hospital and railway station and bus stop around the area to get you to all the tourists spots..supermarket just a 5 minute walk..cafe restaurants nearby..shopping scattered all around the area..play area's scattered around Banff.. parks and walking trails everywhere..so plenty to do in and around hotel area...

I was disappointed to have my reservation unexpectedly canceled by the hotel. I was told it was due to an issue with my credit card, but after checking with my bank, there was no indication that any payment attempt had been made. Shortly after, I noticed that the room rate had increased significantly. While I can’t be certain of the reason behind the cancellation, the situation does raise concerns about transparency. I hope the hotel can review its booking and communication processes to provide a more reliable experience for future guests.

A bit dated hotel but for what you get here, it isnt as bad as others would comment. Much more affordable than all the other Lodges/Hotels. Close to stores and not far of a walk to the main strip. So far, it's quiet. I got a King Room with a mountain view. Not too bad! Parking is limited. Normally the staff want larger and oversized vehicles parked there, while there's also underground parking most fly used for smaller to mid-sized vehicles. First time here and im liking it so far.

I stayed here after a day surgery at the nearby hospital. Staff was incredibly nice, and was able to offer some specifics to make me more comfortable. My room was very clean. And I loved the 90s feel . My bed was incredibly comfortable with lots of great pillows. I am hopefully done visiting the hospital.. but I will happily stay at this hotel if I want an over night in Banff! Isa was my initial contact, she was the best. And the young man that booked me in was incredibly patience as I chit chatted with my ride!

The staff are perfectly nice and helpful. My issue was with the rooms. You can hear everyone and everything. From sneezing to using the washroom to conversations. Every noise was heard. So if you are a light sleeper bring ear plugs or consider somewhere else. The washrooms are a bit confined, but keep in mind this is an older hotel. The parking situation was a bit weird but in the end it was still convenient.

The Bow View is clearly trapped in the 1970s, from the furniture to the carpeting to the musty smell. The lobby is clean and comfortable, but the rooms need a lot of work. In my pet-friendly room, there was a large bleach stain on the carpet, and a large square of carpet had been clumsily replaced near the bathroom door. Double beds are small; the mattress was comfortable but the bedspreads are old and in a dreary gray, and the pillows are flat. The thermostat didn't work; the room was intolerably hot until night time. My dog and I could see the Bow River from our room, and thanks to a working window, we were able to get fresh air. A good location if you are traveling with a dog and are on a budget. If you can afford a pet-friendly room elsewhere, do. Two stars for the hotel itself, five stars for the service. The staff is wonderful.

Great location. Next to river. Rooms need a little bit more tlc but amazing views staff

The hotel decor is plain, dated and a bit sad. When I first walked in, I found myself mentally redecorating their lobby area. There were chairs, an electric fireplace and a decorated Christmas tree, but somehow the place still seemed to lack some pizzazz. Inside my room, I had a blast from the past when I saw the old school tube television! This place could definitely use some updates. On a positive note, I felt that this hotel was budget friendly, clean (no strange odors), had a nice view (I paid a tad more for a view overlooking the Bow River) decent parking (above ground lot) and a great location (short 5 minute walking distance to the main part of town). There's also walking trail beside the hotel which is located along the Bow River. Here you can enjoy the gorgeous view of the river and mountains. It's a great place to check out the beautiful scenery! I also have to mention that I'm impressed with how quickly the house cleaning service works here. I went out for breakfast around 9 am and returned a little past 10 am to see my room was already cleaned! My room was adequately supplied with towels, wash cloths, tissue paper and toilet paper. This place wasn't over the top amazing but it wasn't horrible either. I had a fairly comfortable stay here. These simple accommodations met my basic needs. Overall, the price was inexpensive compared to other hotels in the same general area. For three nights, in a queen room with a river view, I paid $336.50. In other Banff areahotels, I would've easily spent $400 and up. If you want a budget friendly hotel and aren't too fussy, save your dollars and give this place a try!

Friendly staff, room was small and super dim, not an abundance of outlets either. Wifi was super slow as well, and parking was super tight, too many cars and not enough parking. Thankfully only stayed here for one night, would not stay again.

I guess the other reviews make sense if you expect luxury accommodations with a concierge and all the amenities. But if you are a down-to-earth person looking for basic accommodations in an awesome location, I can't imagine staying anywhere else! As near as I could tell this is the only lodging in Banff that's right on the Bow River, and the river view was totally worth it! That turquoise green water that everyone raves about at Lake Louise is running right outside your window. You are steps from the Banff Canoe Club and two blocks from downtown. The staff were friendly and not only let us leave our luggage when we arrived mid-morning but weren't bothered when we came back twice to swap out stuff from our bags. I would definitely stay there again!

DON'T STAY HERE!! I had a sign on my door that said we don't need cleaning. We came back from snowboarding and the floor had been vacuumed had all my cash taken. RIDICULOUS. If I wanted someone to come in my room I would have put my belongings away. There are also no safes and the management has done nothing to help me. DON'T STAY HERE!!!!!

This hotel is in a great location and provides everything you NEED but don't expect a bunch of things you'd WANT. It's clean, doesn't smell of old people or smoke, has a TV (old school tube style but still a TV), and a bar fridge. The room we had was on the third floor, was larger than most, and had full length windows and balcony. We faced the Bow river and had great views of the mountain. It's $5 per day for wifi but atleast it had good bandwidth and speed. If I had to pay and it was slow I'd be unhappy. I would prefer free but that's a WANT not a NEED. There's no restaurant, pool, or hottub in this hotel because it's a satellite to the Banff Park Lodge around the corner. So you have to use their ammenities. The Bow View is only two blocks away from Banff Ave and the Bow river walkway is just out the back of the hotel. I don't think even think being right on Banff Ave is better because of the noise and people. Sure there are better hotels for more money and better hotels for similar money but further away from the main strip. I'd definitely stay here again because of the location and price.

I came to Calgary, AB for a business trip, and sometime during that trip fell a weekend where my co-worker and I drove off to Banff, AB for some weekend relaxation. We were referred to this inn by our client, and since I had never been to Banff or let alone to Canada, I was more than excited to go. We came into town and drove down Main St. and saw all the wonderful hotels and lodges. After a brief right turn off Main St., we came to the Bow View Lodge. It was a lot smaller than I had imagined it to be, even though I had seen pictures of it when booking our rooms on their website. If I could compare it to anything else, it resembled typical motels and inns across the US. I walked into the lobby and my excitement wore off as I realized that it was not as nice as the other hotels we had driven by. We were helped by their friendly receptionist, and took our bags upstairs. Being a child of the 80's and a frequent horror movie enthusiast, I walked down the hallway to our rooms and thought I was going to have a heart attack any minute. I don't do very well with sleeping in hotel rooms period. Older hotel rooms, forget it! I opened the door to my room and was reluctant about going in. I flipped on the light WITH my front door open expecting to see somebody sitting on the chair infront of me ready to strangle me. Fortunately, that wasn't what had happened. My room was pretty cozy; it was set-up for a family of 2 adults and 1 child (I'm deducing this from the queen bed and twin bed that were set-up side by side and separated by a night table). There was a sliding door to a balcony facing the Banff River, which could not be seen in the dark. Right outside my room stood a Canadian Aboriginal (Canadian for "Native American," because you can't be Native American in Canada, as much as we would like to keep things simple) totem pole, and tons of snow. The first morning was the one thing it took to completely change my mind about the Bow View Lodge. I drew the curtains to a BEAUTIFUL view of the Banff River, trees, and mountains literally in MY backyard. I looked down from the balcony and saw that a deer had just been there and tracked its hooves all over the snow. My co-worker and I met-up to take a walk around the surrounding area and streets, and found that a 3 minute walk took us to all of the restaurants and shops on Main St. It was perfect. I have never been to a snow town like Aspen, but I could definitely say that I probably have visited the Canadian version of it. It occurred to me that the Bow View Lodge was probably our best bet for a place to stay in Banff; I looked-up the prices of other lodges and hotels in town, and they were at least twice the amount. I didn't mind staying there in the end; after all, where else could you get such a beautiful view to wake-up to in the morning? And realistically, how much time DO you spend in your hotel room while on vacation? That's what I thought. If I ever find myself in Banff again, I'll consider staying here. Cutting back on hotel rates means more money for the gondola, massages, and the hot baths! Just sayin. All in all, the Bow View Lodge gets 3 stars -- they do need to update their fixtures and give their place a more modern look or stick to a strictly cozy/comfortable/country look.

Horrible, awful, don't stay here! Paid $20.00 extra for a "King View Room" which apparently overlooked the Bow River......technically yes, if you look waaayyyyy over there! I travel alot and have have stayed in some really bad Hotels, this one takes the cake. The bed, I swear was made of concrete, the Hotel is very noisy. No air conditioning, the room was like an oven with one small fan. The decor is VERY outdated. I slid open the patio door and screen and the screen fell off the track. Very over priced, even for Banff

Very average . Clean but outdated, good location to Banff ave (main strip). Customer service is lacking, upon trying to check in staff barely spoke directly to us and was chatting to fellow staff, When I asked about the room rates being different then when I booked staff was rude and said because I booked through a third party it wouldn't get honoured and also wouldn't honour an AMA discount. For the cost we could have def gotten something nicer with kinder staff. We also weren't allowed to use the pool or hot tub as it is shared with Banff park lodge so guess we will stay there next time! Won't be back.

I think it's interesting to hear someone say they've traveled a lot and this is the absolute worst place they've stayed. Very lucky if that's the case. Don't get me wrong, I think Bow View is overpriced for what you get (hard bed, outdated everything, no amenities), but let's be real- it's less than everything else in Banff and you're there to be in Banff, not your hotel room (hopefully). So ask yourself, do you want to stay in a nice place with the mountain lodge feel for $550/nt, or do you want a place to crash each day after exploring for $300/nt? We chose to use the extra cash on a helicopter ride, Via Ferrata, White-water rafting, etc.

Paid extra for a king room, bed was hard as rocks and I ended up have to sleep on the pull out couch. They didn't have any extra blankets so we had to spilt the ones we had. There is no pool, you just get to use the one at the hotel next door. Hotel was quiet Thursday night but very loud Friday night. All you could hear was people showering, toilets flushing and people having sex. For what we paid we could have stayed somewhere nicer with a better bed. Will never stay here again, would never recommend this place. We stayed two nights and we left exhausted.

This "hotel" (more like an old motel) needs updates big time. Yes, its clean and the location is convenient, but the rooms are VERY outdated from the furniture to a ripped old carpet and plumbing issues (strong sewage smell in the bathroom, sink drain clogged). No internet, no breakfast obviously. Adjacent rooms with paper-thin walls so that you hear every fart neighbours make and every single person walking in the hallway. Beds are not soft and not hard, they are just horrible for some reason, which is basically mentioned in every other review for this place. And all this for a high price. I mean, yes I know its Banff, but c'mon...

Our stay here was not great at all. First off front desk made it so complicated to get a room transferred from one name to another. Then hotel looked like it was from the 30's which is not a compliment as it definitely needs to be updated. Then the fridge in the room would not stop making a horrible and annoying sound nonstop that we couldn't even sleep. Also there is no pool or jacuzzi or underground parking unless you're talking about the next hotel over, but not this one. Not staying here again and been to most hotels in Banff and this could be the worst.

We stayed at this hotel on a TravelZoo voucher, and for the area the price was reasonable. This is a sister hotel to the Banff Park Lodge but is in no way the same hotel. Dated decor, old style tube tv, almost no plugs to charge modern day gizmos, and uncomfortable beds... A stark contrast to the much better sister hotel next door we stayed in earlier in the week. There was nothing really unacceptable, it was clean and the bathroom was alright, but the sister hotel offered a much better experience for about the same price, at least with our voucher. The staff was nice and polite and I wish this place had surprised me... But it didn't.

This is a nice, inexpensive place to stay in Banff. It was very quiet and cozy and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Like everywhere in Banff, the view is spectacular. You can go right outside and skate on the river or just look out at the mountains.

The aptly named Bow View Lodge is a perfectly nice hotel for the price, and you absolutely cannot beat the location if you're looking for something right in Banff. I've stayed here twice and have no complaints. The man who works at the front desk is lovely and very helpful. The rooms are run-of-the-mill but adequate. The real selling point is the location - right on the Bow River, and right downtown without actually being on the main drag. Quiet, convenient - really perfect. We spent our days hiking, and this hotel made it easy to come back in the evening, shower, then easily walk to a restaurant for dinner or stroll along the stunningly beautiful river at dusk. Certainly not a luxury hotel experience (I probably wouldn't honeymoon here, for example), but ideal for our purposes, and I'll absolutely return. This part of Canada is breathtaking, so Banff shouldn't be your only stop, but while in town, the Bow View Lodge is a terrific place to stay.