Bow View Lodge

Good value for your money! Very friendly staff! Isa provided me with tips and information for my stay.|My room had a lovely view to the back where I could see the snow and bow river.King side bed and spacious room with everything I needed (shower pressure was ideal) Location is also ideal! A few minutes walk to main restaurants and town! Its also located next to bow river and there are a couple of short hikes you can do. I went to the Vermilion lake past the BANFF sign.

Enjoyed the Bow River Suite - very spacious & comfortable suite with a fantastic view overlooking the beautiful Bow River. Terrific staff Toby is enthusiast and very helpful. Does a very good job of promoting the property & Banff too. My go to when I visit the Rockies. Full use of the rec facilities at Banff Park Lodge & free underground parking is a real bonus.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Banff and staying at this amazing hotel, The front desk staff were incredibly kind. The rooms were spotless and well-maintained, providing a cozy retreat after exploring. The location was perfect, making it easy to navigate around the nature. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Banff!

My room was super spacious and clean and the service from the front desk from Joe, Isa, Toby and Sam was top tier. I highly recommend staying at the Bow View Lodge and will definitely be back when I return to Banff. The location is stunning along the bow river and the amenities on offer at Banff Park Lodge across the road are spectacular.

Highly underrated. Yes it’s dated but the rooms are spotless, no weird old smells or any smell to be honest just clean. We stayed the night before my surgery in case of bad weather coming from Calgary and they were so kind. There was a discount for patients buti wasn’t staying there much my husband was. They even offered to do a good check on its cleanliness before my arrival because I’m a bit neurotic and my safety before surgery was my number one priority. My husband worked from there and checked out the following day to pick me up from surgery. Good wifi. It was literally across the yard from the hospital. Within walking distance of many restaurants he utilized. Friendly staff. Thanks for making our stay stress free!

I visited Banff in late October staying at the Bow View Lodge. The access to the hotel parking lot is easy. I stayed in Room 308, with a view of the Bow River. The Lodge is an older property, well maintained, comfortable. I choose the limited service option, receiving a discount for breakfast at the Banff Park Lodge, an associated property. The Banff Park is a short walk across the parking, with access through the parking garage. There is an elevator to the restarant on the 2nd floor. I found the room to be large with a balcony, slept very well. Downtown Banff is a short walk away. If you would like a longer walk, the Bow Valley Trail along the Bow River will take you to Bow Falls, about 4km round trip. A wifi system for the TV had recently been installed. This meant that TV viewing was not reliable. The only negative of my stay.

Perfect for a weekend in the mountains! The room was clean and comfortable and having the use of the spa in Banff Park Lodge was a huge bonus for us. We found Tia particularly helpful at check in and all of the staff were very accommodating with our requests.

If you're planning a trip to Banff, I highly recommend staying at Bow View Lodge. The ambience is warm and inviting, and the staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome. They're incredibly attentive, always ensuring you have everything you need and offering assistance promptly. It’s rare to find such excellent service at this price point—it’s truly great value for money. I had a fantastic experience and will definitely be returning!

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.