Bow View Lodge

Overall Experience Bow View Lodge has a great location, the stay was disappointing for the price. At CAD 315 per night, the condition of the room and cleanliness were far below what should be expected in Banff. The hotel is clearly old, smells outdated, and shows visible wear, especially the carpets. If you are only looking for a place to sleep and leave early each day, spend a minimum time in the room, it may be acceptable, but paying slightly more for a better hotel would be a much wiser choice. Location The location is the strongest aspect of Bow View Lodge. It is centrally located in Banff and convenient for walking to downtown, restaurants, and nearby attractions. Atmosphere The overall atmosphere feels dated and tired. The building and interiors clearly show their age, which negatively impacts the stay, especially considering the price paid. Rooms The room was old and poorly maintained. Furniture, carpet, and fixtures felt outdated, and the condition did not match expectations for a CAD 315 per night rate. The carpet was visibly dirty, and the room had a noticeable stale smell from old furnishings. Value For the price, the value is poor. At this rate in Banff, the property should be in significantly better condition. This lodge only makes sense if you are very budget-conscious or have limited options. Cleanliness Cleanliness was below standard. Dirt on the carpet was visible, and the room did not feel properly refreshed or well cared for. Noise Level Noise levels were acceptable for sleeping, but nothing stood out as particularly good or bad. Service Service was basic but fine. No issues, no highlights. I do not expect anything extra, and the staff met that expectation. For me, this was fine—I do not expect special attention, and when I needed something, I simply asked. Amenities Amenities are very basic. This is not a place to spend time inside. It works only as a place to sleep and leave early in the morning, then return at night to sleep again.

🌟🌟 Affordable price / Cozy rooms / Sweetest staff / A view that feels unreal — there’s absolutely no reason not to stay here! 🌟🌟 ** I have stayed 2025/11/2~2025/11/4 ** Matthew and the Indian girl I mentioned below — please give them a raise or promote them, seriously! 1. Staff There was only one front desk staff when I first arrived — the Indian girl. Check-in time is 4 pm, but I showed up around 2 pm. Some staff might seem annoyed when guests arrive early, but she didn’t show even a hint of discomfort. She was pure hospitality. You could feel her “I’m here to help you” attitude right away. Even when she was putting a luggage tag on my bags, she was incredibly sweet. Thanks to her, my first impression of Banff started off perfectly. — When I came back at 4 pm for the actual check-in, Matthew helped me. He immediately carried my suitcase and explained everything clearly — the sauna service, the purpose of the deposit, the refund timeline, and more. He was incredibly professional, and on top of that, he was very good-looking with the warmest, sweetest smile. It instantly made me feel comfortable and welcomed. I experienced racial discrimination at another well-known hotel in Niagara just last week, so the kindness of the staff here felt genuinely healing. Every time I passed by, and even during my early morning checkout, Matthew was warm, friendly, and always made small talk. Because of him, not only Banff but my overall impression of Canada became much more positive. 2. Facilities Where else can you get two king-size beds, a hot tub, and a 4–5 minute walk to Banff downtown for just CAD 90–120 per night? The only small downside is that the room was a connected room, so if you’re extremely sensitive to noise, it might bother you a bit. (But honestly, expecting perfect soundproofing at this price is asking for too much.) You can connect your own OTT accounts to the TV — I logged into my YouTube and played quiet music like ASMR. The amenities were great too! Especially the bath bar/soap — the scent was amazing. Since Banff is freezing from November to April, I couldn’t open the window or use the balcony, which was a little disappointing but understandable. 3. View Waking up and staring at the river in the morning was pure therapy. If you’re coming for the view, you really don’t need to book a more expensive hotel. The combination of Bow River + the Rocky Mountains is something I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life. I honestly wanted to stay longer. This was the best accommodation I stayed at during my time in Canada.

Great place, friendly staff, a bit outdated but very clean. Access to the neighboring hotel with sauna and pool was a plus. Very walkable location for banff downtown. They arranged an infant bed for us which was great. Only downside was the high temperature at night (26C) without being able to adjust the thermostat. It was December, so we could open the door. Would visit again!

We were so pleased we chose the Bow View Lodge for a four night stay. Room was well equipped with a lovely mountain view from the balcony. The hotel is well placed for walk into Banff with a wide selection of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed the riverside walk which is right next to the hotel. Hotel communicated well before our stay and highlighted the lack of aircon. Although weather was good when we were there it was not really hot so this was not a problem for us. A fan was available in the room.

This hotel in Banff is simply unbeatable! Why would you stay anywhere else? My husband surprised me with a weekend getaway for my birthday, and I must admit, I wasn't initially excited. However, I fell in love with this hotel—especially their staff to name a few. Jasmine, Effie, and Matthew went above and beyond, making my stay truly memorable. When they discovered it was my birthday, they surprised me with wine, a heartfelt birthday card, and arranged for housekeeping to fold my towels into the shape of a birthday cake. Such genuine kindness is rare in other hotels. And of course, the stunning views, prime location, and cozy rooms make this place my top choice in Banff.

I really enjoyed my one-night stay at Bow View Lodge in Banff. The room was spotless and had everything I needed. The staff were so kind and helpful, which made my stay even better. The location is excellent — just steps away from shops, restaurants, and the beautiful scenery of Banff. I’d happily stay here again!

Hotel is unresponsive. We just booked with them because of the photos. After doing more research we found out that the photos that made us book is BANFF HOTSPRINGS. Mind you it’s our first time visiting Banff. We aren’t familiar with anything. I contacted the hotel showed them the photos that made us booked told them it was false advertisement. No response. If they’re not photos from the hotel your marketing team should have specific captions in the photos to provide clarity for new quests. Even before I booked it says free cancellation but why now it says 20% of the booking won’t be refunded. I literally contacted them 5 mins after booking. But a quick reverse google search did the job. Poor customer service and I would never book again!

While a little dated the Bow View Lodge is comfortable and clean. The location is fantastic. We had elk walk under our balcony. The beds are comfortable and the rooms a nice size. Overall I’d recommend it if you are looking for a deal in a great location.

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.