To say that arriving in the Rocky Mountain milieu of Banff and Lake Louise induces a feeling of euphoria understates the natural high you feel just being surrounded by snowy peaks that touch the sky, turquoise lakes that glisten amid backdrops of glaciers and wooded mountains, in a place where fresh scents of pine perfume the air.
Although this location – often portrayed as an iconic image of Canada – is just a 90-minute drive from urbane Calgary, the aura it creates of a rural and rustic escape from the business world, where you are completely ensconced by nature, can literally set your mind a million mental miles away.
Indeed, it was these images that inspired the Royals – Prince William and Kate – to visit Banff / Lake Louise on their first trip to North America. Mind you, although they could choose from a host of top-notch hotels and resorts, they preferred to tuck into the romantically intimate and secluded Skoki Lodge, itself a National Historic Site within Banff National Park
To put Banff / Lake Louise into geographic perspective: Banff is the city with exquisite Lake Louise its nearby community. Virtually offering the perfect combination of rural retreat and business venue for the most demanding clientele, both are located within Banff National Park, a precious wilderness preserve recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary as Canada’s first National Park.
Eco-conscious planners organizing business meetings and conferences may be interested to know that – although this is a prime leisure destination, offering everything from summer hiking and fishing to winter snow-shoeing and heli-skiing – that Banff / Lake Louise excels as a high-tech yet environmentally sensitive meeting hub, including more than 25 local meeting and convention properties, and that 50 per cent of the hotels operate with exceptional “green” initiatives. In fact, Banff boasts two new LEED-certified meeting venues: the Kinnear Centre for Creativity & Innovation (part of the
Banff Centre), and the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre.
Planners who seek the ultimate accommodations – the type favored by high-powered CEOs for impressive meetings and incentive programs for their most-valued executives – can rest assured with the relaxed ambiance of the Presidential Suite at the
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – dubbed “Canada’s Castle in the Rockies.”
Discreetly secluded at the top of the Scottish-Baronial style edifice completed in 1888, the 1,500-square-foot suite offers spectacular, 360-degree vistas of snow-capped mountains, river valleys, rushing falls, and the rambling Banff Springs Golf Course. Spanning two levels, the suite exudes the casual luxury of a quintessential mountain retreat. Leather chairs and cushy sofas beg you to sink in and bask in the glow of the wood-burning fireplace with a single malt Scotch from the hotel’s rare cache. A gleaming grand piano and in-suite library provide diversions after an exhilarating day of fly-fishing, golfing the championship course, hiking wooded trails, skiing the peaks, or plunging in the mineral waters of the hotel’s Willow Stream Spa. Gracious service and superb regional cuisine is legendary in this heritage hotel that has, over a century, housed the Heads of State of most civilized countries, and recently, most luminaries in the savvy world of arts and culture. For security, the suite is accessed by a private elevator, and may be enlarged to include nine bedrooms for an entourage. Even the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would approve.
Read more about Banff in the Cvent Destination Guide, and check out my upcoming blogs featuring exhilarating incentive events in and around Banff and other
Alberta cities that have plenty to offer planners looking for unique programs.
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