Our last stop in Banff National Park was at Lake Louise. A ski destination for professionals and enthusiasts, we came for the views, the lake and the chateau!Before researching for this trip, we knew a few things about the Banff area, Peyto Lake, which we visited and posted about a couple weeks ago (find it here) and the Lake Louise area. Pinterest is to thank for that! We knew Lake Louise had a huge chateau on its property, one we were dying to visit, so we decided our last night in Canada we would go big and then go home! Ha! After our morning drive along highway 93, we made our way to Lake Louise to check into the Fairmont Lake Louise Chateau. When we arrived, we found caravans of alpine skiers. Apparently, the World Cup before the Winter Olympics was being held on the slopes around town and many of the teams were staying at the chateau. This made the resort a bit more crowded than really any other place we visited during the week. However, staying on track with going big, we booked our stay at the gold level so we had a separate concierge and check in up on the 7th floor, away from the main desk downstairs. After valeting, we took the elevators up to the gold level concierge where we were told we were being upgraded but the room wasn’t quite ready yet. They offered to hold our bags while we went to afternoon tea so we took them up on both offers! The gold lounge had private bathrooms we could use to freshen up so we changed out of our hiking gear and went back downstairs to the Fairview. Afternoon tea was incredible. The food was great and we had a huge selection of teas to choice from! Also, the scenery outside was breathtaking from the Fairview windows. After our teapots were empty, we headed outside to walk on the lake for a bit before the sun went down. The chateau itself is so beautiful but the views of the lake and mountains surrounding it keep the crowds coming, no matter the season. If we take a summer trip to Banff, we plan to come back and do some canoeing on the less frozen lake! We received a text that said our room was ready for us so we headed back up to the 7th floor to settle in. We were originally facing the Bow Valley mountains but with the room upgrade, we got Lake Louise views!! The concierge told us it was his favorite wing of the hotel and we found it hard to differ from his opinion! The staff had taken our bags to the room for us so we got organized, showered and walked the 20 steps down the hall to happy hour in our lounge. Everything was free and delicious! Gold level was so baller but traveling at that price would be nearly impossible for us. However, it did make this trip so much more special! Concierge had made us reservations at Walliser Stube, the Swiss fondue restaurant downstairs (last photo, above) but we had a bit of time to hit up the Lakeview Lounge for some local draft. Then we headed to dinner where we wined and dined and stuffed our faces with black truffle infused cheese and bread! For some reason, we still ordered the chocolate fondue for dessert... fresh fruit, banana bread, marshmallows! It was so good but we overdid it. Someone just roll me to the elevator, k?! The atmosphere was incredible and the food was heavenly. The next morning, we got up and had some breakfast to hold us over until we got back into Calgary for some coffee from Phil & Sebastian and pastries from Sidewalk Citizen. Everyone at the Chateau was telling us to come back in the summer so we could hike Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. If we do, the Fairmont chateau will most definitely be on the itinerary.
Until Next Time, C + D
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