The 43 Best Places to Drink and Stay in Banff

Stone turrets rising against the Canadian Rockies make the Fairmont Banff Springs look less like a hotel and more like something a railway baron commissioned to intimidate guests. This grand 724-room resort sits inside Banff National Park, with a golf course, a full-service spa, several restaurants, and enough seasonal outdoor activities to exhaust anyone who came to relax. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide 1 Key
3. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended

The Gold Experience is a hotel-within-a-hotel tier at the Fairmont Banff Springs, that sandstone castle the Rockies have been posing behind for well over a century. Gold guests get a private courtyard entrance, dedicated fifth-floor lounge with all-day refreshments, and a concierge who actually books things. The Forbes Four Star property's golf, spa, and mineral pools are still yours; you're just skipping the lobby scrum to get there.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

The glacial lake it overlooks is an almost implausible shade of turquoise, and the hotel's scale matches the landscape rather than fighting it. This is a grand railway-era resort in the Canadian Rockies, the kind that draws guests who want wilderness close enough to admire but a proper bed waiting when they're done. It holds a Michelin Key, and the Rockies do the heavy lifting on atmosphere from the moment you arrive.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

A red-roofed log lodge on the Icefields Parkway, this Michelin Key property sits deep in Rocky Mountain wilderness with Bow Lake out front and not much else for miles. The log construction looks rustic and means it, but the rooms are quietly modern inside. Every evening, guests gather for a four-course set dinner in the Elkhorn Dining Room, which makes it feel less like a hotel and more like a very scenic house party.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

A mid-century downtown motel in the Rockies, renovated into a boutique hotel with worn leather, reclaimed wood, and just enough Scandinavian restraint to feel intentional rather than precious. Rooms come with Nespresso machines and Bluetooth speakers, there's a shared hot tub, and Canmore's whole walkable downtown, cafés, wine bars, taverns and all, is right outside. No restaurant, but the neighborhood handles that just fine.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A boutique lodge on the edge of Banff National Park where breakfast shows up at your door and a sauna is waiting when you drag yourself back from the trail. Rooms are stylish without being precious, so hiking boots are welcome, and some have gas fireplaces; the Micro Suite adds a kitchen for longer stays. Cruiser bikes are available in summer to poke around Canmore, which is exactly the kind of town you'd want to poke around.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

A small lodge in Canmore, right where the Rockies tip into Banff National Park, with twelve suites that split the difference between mountain cabin and proper boutique hotel. Loft suites sleep four, and the Cougar Creek Suite pulls back to an intimate two. The restaurant, Devil's Table, arrived with the owners from the Caribbean island of Bequia, so the menu is a genuinely odd and pleasing detour from the expected après-hike fare. Selected by the Michelin Guide.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved

The entrance sits on the seventh floor because the hotel is carved into the side of Sulphur Mountain and simply keeps going downhill from there, which means nearly every room faces the same broad sweep of Rocky Mountain valley. It's a full resort in Banff, so gondolas, ski hills, and hot springs are all close, but the building's clever geometry means you don't need to leave the window to feel like you're already somewhere improbable.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. AAA Approved

1. The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin