Bow View Lodge

We stayed in this hotel for 3 nights. A nice hotel with good service. The price is reasonable. You can also use the Gym and swimming pool at the next door building " The Banff Park Lodge Resort and Hotel " . You can enjoy a special price breakfast there too. Nice view from the room, can enjoy the beautiful sunset view. It's easy to get around to downtown area, no need to drive. Parking is not easy at the Banff downtown area. Also, walking along the Bow River Trail can see the beautiful Bow river . The Banff Canoe Club is just across the road, you can rent a canoe and enjoy the Bow River in another way.

Visited in May 2025 - Room looks a bit dated, but was clean and spacious and had a nice little balcony. Nice sized tv and tea & coffee making facilities. Location is excellent - just off the main street and right on the beautiful Bow river. Was also able to store my rental bicycle for a few hours in a designated area. Didn't need much interaction with staff, but when I arrived and was told my room wasn't ready, they looked after my luggage at the desk so I could explore freely until it was. Great value.

We had a great stay here! Please do not pay attention to the negative reviews, this is an excellent, affordable option for a great stay in Banff NP! Rooms are comfortable and clean, parking is super easy and the shared amenities (pool, hot tub, steam room) with the neighboring Banff Park Lodge are wonderful! Will for sure stay here again!

I had a good weeklong stay at the Bow View Lodge. The location is perfect for walking around Banff - it's just steps away from all of the restaurants and shops, and it's alongside a nice walking trail on the Bow River. The hotel itself is nothing fancy, but it is good value, especially considering the location in downtown Banff. We enjoyed the complementary parking in the sister hotel, and the discount in La Terraza for breakfast/dinner. I also loved the complimentary tea and coffee in the lobby. The room was overall comfortable, except for one night when the heat was on too high. Otherwise, no complaints about the room, and the terrace with river views was nice. I would definitely recommend this hotel to travelers looking for the best deals in downtown Banff.

First off, I did not see the disclaimer when I booked that the pool was in an adjacent hotel. BUT, was not far AND the pool was very nice! It had a fireplace, and two hot tins at different temperatures. One hot, one semi hot. We really appreciated this gesture a lot. Plus there were locker rooms/bathrooms/ showers. So you could adjust convention if you needed to. We stayed in a balcony room with a view of the Bow River. This was excellent for so many reasons. This hotel does not have AC. We were there during a break of nature heat wave. But, having that door open for air was perfect for sleeping at night. This hotel is not fancy, know that going in. But it is clean and well cared for. Beds were comfortable, including the couch pull out. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. Also the restaurant at the adjacent hotel was really good. Breakfast better than supper. However, both were good. Would decently stay here again. Location to everything was also amazing. Easy walking anywhere and pickups for tours were accessible at sister hotel. Loved our stay!

I went in May and didn't realize how close it was to everything. The river is literally in the back so you can walk, its also at the heart of downtown Banff. The room is old, but the price for the location is good. After I checked out on the last day we were planning to go to Lake Louise with all our baggage, but they were able to keep it at the front until we came back and gave us a token.

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!

Beautiful and comfortable stay right next to the bow river front. Great to have an elevator to get to the upper floors. Rooms were clean and well equipped.

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.