This one afternoon, we ventured onto the Ski Lift for sightseeing purposes and on our way back down, we decided to stop into Great Bear which is on the upper floor of the Lake Louise Ski Resort. There’s lots of parking outside, but I can only imagine how busy they would be during prime ski season!
We really didn’t know what to order, so the first thing that we saw on the menu that was interesting was their Patroller’s Pie, which was ground beef with vegetables, topped with mashed potato. We upgraded the side salad to include a bison chilli, and this was the perfect meal for a cold winter day. The patrollers pie was quite delicious although it was a little dry. The chilli was really hearty and quite enjoyable!
We also ordered their Stuffed Baby Yorkies which is something my husband likes as he likes Yorkshire pudding. These were stuffed with shaved Beef with horseradish aioli & au jus on the side. These were little pillows of awesomeness! The Yorkshire puddies were crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside, with tender beef and gravy! There’s nothing not good in this combination!
Overall, the views and atmosphere here was really amazing! The log cabin resort feel, with the ski hills right outside. It was a great time even though we weren’t into outdoor sports/activities.
Great Bear Restaurant
The Lake Louise Ski Resort
1 Whitehorn Road,
Lake Louise, Alberta
403-522-3555
We had a luxurious opportunity to stay in Canmore’s Windtower Lodge and Suites and fortunate enough to have their One Bedroom Suite which was absolutely amazing! It was like staying in an apartment for our stay! The location isn’t hard to find and they have a small underground parkade which is really handy for cold winter days.
Once we checked into our suite, we looked around. Through the entrance way was closet space and a stackable washer and dryer – which makes this place amazing for long term stay or if you have kids or anything! The suite then opens up into the kitchen area, which was a bright gallery kitchen that the balcony opens right off of. The kitchen is stocked for your use and they do provide you with dish detergent and dishwasher soap for you to clean up after yourself.
The suite even has a nice dining room table that seats for guests which is perfect for a 1 bedroom suite!
From the dining room would the the lovely seating area with a DVD player and an electric fireplace. Although the fireplace wasn’t working, it was still nice to cuddle up on the couch and watch TV to wind down the evening. The couches were really comfortable and quite large for you to sink into.
The bedroom was in a separate room with the bathroom ensuite. So, if you did have family/friends or guests over, they would be going through the room to access the bathroom. The bed offered a nice king bed with a ceiling fan which I love. It wasn’t the biggest room, but it had enough space.
The bathroom/ensuite was a nice little bathroom that had a stand up shower and your basic bathroom amenities. It was lovely regardless of size. We did find the water doesn’t really get hot, but that was the least of our concerns.
Our overall stay was fantastic. We dined in the restaurant located in the lobby the Wandering Elk and the portions were really big and delicious. We also utilized their hot tub which was really nice – so our trip here was fantastic and we can’t wait to return!
I’ve been very fortunate and got to take a weekend trip with my family to Radium, BC which is just over 3 hours (driving) away from Calgary where we stayed at the Bighorn Meadow Resort just off of their Main Street.
Here we stayed in a 2 bedroom suite which offers 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining area, kitchen and living space. It’s like a condo, but it’s a resort. Once we opened the door, we were greeted with a giant entrance way with tons of storage.
Then, in the master bedroom, it offered a giant king bed and an en-suite bath. The room itself has a TV in the room and the bathroom offered a rain shower head standup shower which is super sized! All the bathroom amenities was by Bath & Body which was really nice for the skin and nose!
The second bedroom was smaller but it had 2 single beds and instead of an en-suite, there was a general main bath just across the hallway that offered a giant corner soaker tub. Both the bathrooms are extremely spacious and luxurious. In the suite itself, there’s washers and dryers – so you can do laundry if you’re doing an extended stay!
The main living area was the best, with an electric fireplace, built in speaker, and really comfortable seating area – we sat and enjoyed some movies during our stay!
The kitchen was very impressive, with a full function kitchen, with dishes, pots and pans and your basic utensils, we even got to make ourselves breakfast during our stay. There is a dining area which seats 6 people comfortably as well.
Overall, our stay was more than we could ask for. It was spectacular and much more than we could have imaged! The resort does say there are movies that you can borrow, but it didn’t actually specify there’s a fee to borrow them – so just be careful! But, we left with tons of great memories and we hope to be back soon!
Bighorn Meadows Resort
10 Bighorn Blvd
Radium Hot Springs, BC
(250) 347-2323
I had the lovely opportunity to stay at night at the famous Rimrock Resort in Banff. It’s a beautiful resort that is tucked away from the tourist of Main Street Banff. I love how the resort is built into the side of the mountain and offers spectacular views all around! We stayed in their regular Standard Guest Rooms which was still spectacular! The room was quite large and spacious complete with working desk space, seating area, and mini fridge.
My favourite part about the room was the seating area, as it’s right by the windows – which where punched out so you can lots, close and in the distance! We didn’t have too much view as we were quite low at floor 3. The neat thing about this resort, the hotel lobby was on the 7th floor and it sometimes confuses me to go “UP” to the lobby!
I love hotels that offer king size beds, so I loved this bed! It was quite comfortable as well, and the blankets was the perfect thickness for the season. The thermostat was a little weird as you had to push the “up” or “down” button for awhile before it changes. If you set it higher than 22C, the heat stays on constantly and it’s a tad noisy so I had to turn it down a bit and grab the extra blanket as I like to be really warm.
The bathroom was nice, it was huge and had toilet paper on both sides of the toilet, so I guess it can please all guests! 🙂 I’m not sure, it was honestly a little weird! I love the huge counter top for me to put stuff on – and I don’t even have lots, but it’s just nice to spread out. Our room had the standard tub with a shower head. The tub is quite strange as it curves at the bottom, so there wasn’t too much “flat” standing space, but we made do with what we had.
This resort did use nice bathroom amenities, as they offered Pharmacopia amenities and they smelled really nice! They used their Verbena product line which lightly scented and it’s an all natural and organic product!
Overall, we loved our stay here at the Rimrock and glad we made a weekend trip with a stay here! Check out below for my room walk-through to see it all!
Recently, I went to Las Vegas for a very short get-away and I stayed at the MGM Grand Resort right on the Strip. It’s closer to the South end, but it was a nice location regardless!
The immaculate detailing of the hotel room itself, let alone the rest of the resort was great! The suite was tastefully decorated and the use of their signature Lion Head symbol throughout the hotel was great!
One of my favourite features of the room, that is slightly useless – but wonderful would be the light on top of the TV Armoire! When you open up the doors it would expose the TV, and there is a little push button that says “LIGHT” and it illuminates the top of the armoire. I chose to use this light while I was out of the hotel room, so when I return, it wouldn’t be pitch black. It was a great alternative as I didn’t need to turn on all the lights.
The bathroom was really large, and the shower was a low tub walk in bath with a shower faucet. The low tub really makes it accessible for those guests with limited mobility – even though I did bang my arm on the handrail that was on the shower walls a few times, it is a necessary feature for hotel & resort bathrooms. The tub area was tiled with large tiles and enhanced with smaller and darker tiles that really gave a modern feel to the bathroom. The sink area offered a lot of counter top space and room for you to sprawl out if you wanted to. Or, if you were rooming for other people, it made it easy for everyone to have their belongings out and still have room to work with.
The bathroom amenities is one of my favourite memories of this resort. They are all Jasmine scented and when you wash your hands or anything like that, you immediately get a subtle scent of Jasmine – which reminds me of the Jasmine Tea that I drink at home. It was really heavenly scent that wasn’t over powering in any way. The soap that they use in the shower was a lovely Jasmine scented body massage bar, so it actually had the beads built into the soap. It was a nice touch and much appreciated after long walk up and down the strip to increase circulation.
The room is quite spacious and it has a wonderful lounging area with a large canape but a lot like a chaise longue. It was really nice and it added dimension and visual interest to what could be your “standard” hotel room. The room also had a large desk and the working surface was huge! I was able to have my laptop out and some of my work – and I didn’t feel cluttered at all! This is a great hotel room and even though it’s already not my first time there, I would be back again! The bed was large and luxurious and very comfortable. I’d fall asleep in no time with a king bed complete with 4 king sized pillows! The comforter was the right size and thickness and everything was really clean!
The room in MGM Grand doesn’t have as many in room amenities as some other resorts. This room did have an in-suite safe which was large enough to fit my laptop, and all the belongings I needed locked up. The room didn’t have a mini fridge which would have come handy as I did want to bring some left over dinners with me this one evening. The high speed internet that you pay for with the room classified under “Resort Fee” was super slow. I would understand if it was free and slow, but it was a slow and choppy internet which I wasn’t really happy about. But, I guess when you’re in Vegas, you’re not in your room a lot. I was wanting to update my blog throughout the trip so I could stay on top of things but I had to revert to making a list and doing it when I got home because of the internet problem. The hotel wasn’t super busy until Wednesday (Right before American Thanksgiving & Black Friday), so it wasn’t like there were a lot of guests connected onto the internet.
The housekeeping staff was excellent as well. They kept my room clean, and fulfilled all my requests! The towers were big and fluffy, and it was just a great stay overall!
