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Four-star One MICHELIN Key Icefields Parkway, Banff

The Lodge at Bow Lake

Seventeen rooms in a red-roofed log lodge on the shore of Bow Lake, with every meal included and no televisions, telephones or wifi.

Book with the hotel for The Lodge at Bow Lake (opens in a new tab) Fly to Banff

Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.

MICHELIN
One Key, 2025 and 2026
Rooms
17
Opened
1922; reopened 2023
From the airport
About two and a half hours from Calgary

The hotel

Jimmy Simpson's lodge on Bow Lake.

The Scottish guide and outfitter Jimmy Simpson first worked from a hut on Bow Lake in 1922 and called it Num-Ti-Jah. In 1937, while the road to Jasper was being blasted through, he built a log guesthouse of 37 by 50 feet on stones taken from the rubble. It took travellers almost without a break for a century.

After three years shut during the pandemic, Bruce Millar and a group of investors, the third owners, restored the building and reopened it in 2023. Olson Kundig and the Calgary firm Shugarman Architecture + Design drew the plan. A second building, The Chalet at Bow Lake, takes bookings for 2027.

  • All meals in Breakfast at eight, a packed lunch for the trail, snacks in the afternoon and a four-course dinner at half past six.
  • On the lake Kayaks and catch-and-release fishing on Bow Lake, and dozens of hiking trails from the door; skiing and snowshoeing in winter.
  • Off the grid No televisions, no telephones in the rooms and no wifi in the lodge, which runs on its own generators.

Rooms & suites

Seventeen rooms above the water.

Every room has a queen bed and a modern shower room, with hand-hewn logs and stone fireplaces in the public rooms below.

  • Compact Whitebark Pine room The smaller rooms, simply furnished with a queen bed.
  • More space Fireweed room A larger room with a daybed sofa as well as the queen bed.
  • Top floor Num-Ti-Jah Suite The best view in the house and a Japanese soaking tub.

Dining

One table, one menu.

Meals as described by the lodge and the MICHELIN Guide. Shown for information.

  • Elkhorn Dining Room Four-course set menu Served at 6.30 pm at long shared tables
  • The bar Drinks Before and after dinner
  • Provision Co. Café Closed for the season, back in spring 2027

Recognition

Recognition.

  • One MICHELIN Key 2025 and 2026

Good to know

Before you go.

  • Season Open daily from late May to mid-October. In winter, from the end of January to early April, Thursday to Monday only.
  • Arrival Check-in from 3 pm, check-out by 10 am.
  • Pets Not accepted.
  • Tipping The lodge has a strict no-tipping policy.

Getting there

Flying to Banff.

Calgary International is the airport for scheduled flights and private jets alike. From there it is about two hours to Lake Louise and another half hour north on the Icefields Parkway, so allow about two and a half hours, our estimate. Parking is right off Highway 93.

Business & First Class Airline flights Calgary is WestJet's home base, with flights to London Heathrow, Paris and Tokyo. Air Canada also flies to Heathrow, KLM to Amsterdam and Discover Airlines to Frankfurt, with Edelweiss to Zurich in season. Request a fare Private Jet Private flights Million Air, Signature and Skyservice work around the clock at Calgary, and Sunwest from 04:00 to 22:00; customs and immigration are on site. The 4,267-metre runway is the longest in Canada. Request a jet
Approximate flying time by midsize jet to Banff
  • Vancouver 1 h 15
  • Los Angeles 2 h 50
  • Toronto 3 h 50
  • New York 4 h 35
  • London 9 h 35 long-range jet

Questions

What guests ask first.

Is The Lodge at Bow Lake open in winter?
Yes, from the end of January to early April, Thursday to Monday. It closes from mid-October to late January.
Are meals included at The Lodge at Bow Lake?
Yes. Breakfast, a packed lunch, afternoon snacks and the four-course dinner are all included in the stay.
Is there wifi at the lodge?
No. There is no wifi in the lodge, no television and no mobile signal from the main networks.
Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Banff?
Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Banff, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.

Also in Banff

Other hotels worth the trip.

All of Banff

Staying at The Lodge at Bow Lake?

Book the room, then the flight.

Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Banff, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.

Book with the hotel for The Lodge at Bow Lake (opens in a new tab)
Business & First Private Jet

Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.