Sunday brunch at Banff Springs, upgrade to Fairmont Gold floor, hiking, fondue dinner - June 30, 2013

Trip Index

• Canadian Rockies: Flying into flooded Calgary, Lake Louise in the rain, saloon dinner
• Sunday brunch at Banff Springs, upgrade to Fairmont Gold floor, hiking, fondue dinner
• Gold lounge breakfast, afternoon tea at Rundle Lounge, town of Banff on Canada Day
• Jasper National Park and Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge
• Hiking Cavell Meadows, Athabasca Falls, Wilcox Pass, staying at Crossing Resort
• Athabasca Glacier Ice Walk, Fairmont Lake Louise Gold, dinner at Fairview Dining Room
• Gold lounge breakfast, Lake Louise canoeing, Marcus the Dog, Tea House hike
• C-Level Cirque, Lake Moraine, Calgary Stampede, landing next to Asiana flight 214

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We left Lake Louise around 10am in order to make our 11am Sunday brunch reservation at Bow Valley Grill in the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.  The drive to Banff took about 40 minutes, going through town to reach the hotel, our home for the next two nights.  Arriving at the front of the hotel, the valet attendant asked for the name on the reservation and looked it up on his clipboard.  He told us that we were staying on the Fairmont Gold floor...upgraded from our standard room!  I had forgotten all about my signing up for the "e-Standby Upgrade" option that was included in the room confirmation email.  If you click on the link in the email, a list of possible upgrade rooms plus price per night are presented.  You can sign up for none or as many as you want, and if you get the upgrade, you agree to pay the per-night price listed.  You won't know until you check in whether you got the upgrade or not.  I decided to try my chances at upgrading to a Fairmont Gold Mountain View room for $47 CAD a night.  It seemed a reasonable price as it included breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres in the Gold lounge, in addition to a nicer view.  Now we know we got it!

A bell-lady unloaded our bags from the trunk onto her cart and led us into the bowels of the hotel towards the elevators to take us to the Fairmont Gold private check-in desk on the 5th floor.

"regular" check-in area

hotel lobby area

We were attended by Alex, the Fairmont Gold manager.  He apologized that our room was not yet ready, and took down my email address so he could send a message when it was available (as we didn't have cell service in Canada).  We were going to brunch anyway so it wasn't a big deal, plus we arrived way before official check-in time to begin with.

I had checked Yelp to find good eats in the area; the Bow Valley Grill Sunday brunch was recommended by many.  I made reservations on OpenTable, which earned 100 points. (collect 2000 points to get a $20 OpenTable dining cheque good at any OpenTable restaurant)  When we arrived at the restaurant, there was a group of people standing around, waiting to get in.  It turned out that the restaurant closes for half an hour between breakfast and Sunday brunch.  In the meantime, Kaleb and I headed outside to enjoy the mountain views.

spectacular!

We returned a little bit after 11am, hoping the waiting area was clear.  A line had formed, starting on one side of the host podium and wrapping around the front waiting room.  It wasn't the best way to queue up, as people were coming up a hallway that led dead center to the podium, and not everyone noticed there was a line.  One person complained loudly to a group who unknowingly cut directly to the front.  Heated words were exchanged, and eventually someone else in line exclaimed, "They're not going to run out of food!"

The buffet brunch had a lot of selection, considering we were in the middle of the wilderness.  There were breakfast foods as well as carved meat stations.  Most of it was displayed in small quantities, replenished often so the food stayed fresher than sitting in a big stainless steel pan.  I would recommend this brunch if you want a little bit of everything.  If you can get a table next to the windows, then you can also enjoy a nice view.

cold salad station

side dishes

delectable desserts

After our meal, I checked my email using the free wi-fi offered to Fairmont President's Club members (enroll here for complimentary membership - get lots of benefits including free local calls and discounts) and there was a message informing us that our room was ready...perfect timing!  We returned to the 5th floor where Alex had our keys ready and led us to a quiet corner room at the end of the hall.  Our bags had already been delivered.  It was a very comfortable room equipped with many amenities including welcome treats and a shower with jets coming out of the wall.

welcome letter and cookies

comfy bed with pillow menu

pillow options (which I did not partake in)

another welcome gift

accompanying note

chocolate covered almonds, Werther's, and cookies

French press coffee and tea service

contemporary bathroom

"car wash" shower

the usual Rose 31 toiletries

walk-in closet including umbrella, slippers, and hiking sticks

view from our room

After freshening up, we went out for a little hike to Bow Falls, not too far from the hotel, that was listed in the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide.  Due to the torrential rain received over the past week, the falls were at over-full capacity, inundating the boulders at the bottom.  There was orange plastic fencing set up to try to keep tourists away from the swift-moving water at the shore of the river.  (key word here is "try")  We weren't stopped from getting closer but we did hurry away when we saw a park ranger's truck arriving.

took the Waldhaus stairway to get down to the falls

Bow Falls

Spray River Bridge

We crossed over the Spray River Bridge to get another angle of the falls.  The golf course nearby looked very nice. 

Bow Falls from downriver

Fairmont's golf course

The weather was getting warmer so we headed back to the hotel to change and also to select another trail from the guide.

bridge out...but didn't stop us from exploring

on the quarry loop trail

stones from this quarry were used to build the hotel

a rebellious tree

a bridge! let's make our way down there...

getting closer

made it!

simply magnificent!

3 second Zoe video of the scenery below:

Making our way back to the hotel, we ran into a resident of the forest seeking relief from the hot sun.  The stag was huffing and puffing on the grass and didn't run away when we passed by.

strange sight

We made it back to the room in time to enjoy the complimentary evening hors d'oeuvres in the Gold lounge (served from 5-7pm).  This was a well-attended event.  Alcoholic beverages were self-serve via "honor bar" - guests filled out a form with room number and total number of beverages consumed.  We had dinner reservations at the Waldhaus restaurant so this was our "appetizer" course.

entering the lounge with inviting fireplace

beverages and honor forms

cheeses, cured meats and canapes

tasty skewers and small bites

We headed back out and down the stairs again to the Waldhaus Restaurant for our 7pm reservation, selected from reading reviews on Yelp.   (reservations can be made on OpenTable for another 100 points)  The cuisine is Alpine-inspired, with fondue being a specialty.

Waldhaus restaurant

heed the warning signs on the stairs

stein of beer!

As we were already filled up from appetizers, for dinner, we shared the cheese fondue appetizer with charcuterie board and chocolate fondue for dessert.

charcuterie board

alpine fondue (melted Swiss cheese with cured meats)

rich chocolate fondue

The fondue was pretty tasty.  The restaurant also had a pub with an outdoor patio.  Next time, I would just eat in the pub as the cheese fondue was also offered there, along with reasonably priced dishes like sandwiches, schnitzel, and bar food.

After dinner, we walked around the grounds.  It certainly didn't look like it was 9:30pm!

it'd be dark back home at this time

Tomorrow, we celebrate Canada Day - enjoying afternoon tea and the town of Banff...stay tuned!

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