New Year Hotel Packages in Banff

Banff is a superb destination for celebrating New Years, where sophisticated New Year’s Eve parties, mouth watering New Year menus, and fun family activities, all combine to make New Years in Banff Alberta very difficult to beat.

Find a Room

For hotels in Banff, New Years is a much busier time than Christmas in Banff and early reservations are strongly recommended. Although many Banff accommodations do not offer specific packages for New Years, you can be sure that they are all open for business, and those with restaurants will generally have special dinners or festive menus available.
*Note that at this busy time you will generally find better availability for a 2 night stay or longer.
To check availability and rates at Banff hotels for New Years or other dates, click here.

Alternatively, if you are looking for a special New Years hotel package or festive menu, we have featured some interesting options below.

Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge

Guests of the Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge are fortunate to have the Evergreen Restaurant on the property, one Banff’s finest dining establishments. For New Year’s Eve the Evergreen is offering a delectable 4 course menu for $75 per person. The choice of appetizers includes Leek & Shiitake Champagne Cream Soup, Fried Shrimp & Albacore Tuna Tartar, and a Warm Duck Breast Salad. Following a Sorbet palate cleanser the entrees consist of Alberta AAA Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras Mousse, Fresh Atlantic Salmon Filet & Nova Scotia Lobster Tail, or the Vegetarian Garbanzo Bean & Lentil cutlet with Fontina Cheese. The meal is rounded off with a Chocolate or Strawberry dessert.
To check room availability at the Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge, click here.
For dinner reservations, contact the Evergreen directly.

New Years at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

For years the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has been renowned for hosting the biggest New Year’s Eve party in Banff, and December 31st 2011 will be no different. If you are thinking of visiting the Banff Springs for New Years, you should take a look at what they have planned for their New Years Gala, and indeed throughout the holiday period there is a whole host of exciting festive activities and events taking place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, as well as several ways to spend New Years Eve itself:

New Year’s Gala – Dec 31
This is Banff’s big New Years celebration – in the Van Horne Ballroom a wonderful 4 course dinner is served including wine service and a host bar, with a nine piece band playing in the background. Following dinner the music becomes livelier and dancing begins for a fully fledged New Year’s Eve party until 1am, with a midnight buffet included. After dinner from 8pm children aged 6-12 yrs are invited to attend the New Year’s Kids Party (see below).
7pm-1am
Cost for the whole evening $295 adults, $149 teenagers (13-17 yrs)
Cost for dance only $125 adults, $90 teenagers (13-17 yrs)
Cost for dinner & kids party $149 (6-12 yrs)

New Year’s Kids Club Party – Dec 31
This children’s party is ideal for the 6-12 year old kids whose parents are attending the New Year’s Gala party (see above), and includes dancing, bowling and kids’ activities.
8pm-1am in the Upper Level of the Banff Springs Conference Centre
Cost for gala dinner & kids party $149 (6-12 yrs)
Cost for kids party only $79 (6-12 yrs)

New Year’s Family Skating Party – Dec 31
Two course family dinner in the Waldhaus Pub, followed by ice skating on the Waldhaus Rink
6-9pm, Adults $50, Children 6-12 yrs $25, skate rental extra.

Hunters Brunch – Jan 1
What better way to start off 2012 than to enjoy the New Year’s day brunch in the Bow Valley Grill? A veritable feast and, for many, a New Years institution.
11am-2pm, Adults $56, Children 6-12 yrs $28

To check room rates and availability at the Banff Springs Hotel for the holiday period click here.
For further details of all the festive activities and dining events taking place over New Years, take at look at the Banff Springs Hotel’s Christmas at the Castle Guide by clicking here.

Buffalo Mountain Lodge

Buffalo Mountain Lodge is offering a New Year’s Eve Extravaganza Package, valid for one night on December 31st 2011. The package includes lodging and a gourmet dinner with a glass of sparkling wine, DJ entertainment, plus a buffet breakfast the next morning. Rates start at $277 per person based on double occupancy.

Ptarmigan Inn

The Banff Ptarmigan Inn is offering a New Year’s package for a 2 night stay which includes accommodation as well as a buffet and a lively New Year’s Eve Party at Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon, plus a hot buffet breakfast each morning. Rates start at $269 per person, valid for stays from December 30 to Jan 1.

Restaurant Le Beaujolais

Le Beaujolais is Banff’s premier fine dining restaurant and for New Year’s Eve they have put together several delicious menus, ranging from 3 or 4 course dinners with early seating from 5.30-6.30pm to a superb 6 course Gala dinner with seating at 8pm. There is also a late seating 3 course option at 9.30pm. No matter which dinner you choose, at Le Beaujolais your last meal of 2011 is sure to be a memorable one.
To view the full menus and prices visit www.lebeaujolaisbanff.com.

Rimrock Resort Hotel

The Rimrock Hotel has several dining options for New Year’s Eve, including a 6 course gourmet dinner in the Eden Restaurant, a five course New Years Eve menu in the Primrose Dining Room, and a Ballroom Gala including a dinner buffet, wine and live music.

*The above rates are subject to applicable taxes, subject to availability, subject to change without notice, and hotel room rates are generally based on double occupancy. For current information, please contact the Banff accommodations directly using the links provided.
If you are spending Xmas in Banff, you may be interested in reading our article about accommodation packages in Banff at Christmas.
If you are looking at various options in the Rockies for New Years, you may also wish to consider New Year’s Eve in Lake Louise.
If you cannot find a vacancy at a hotel in Banff for December 31, you may wish to consider spending New Year’s Eve in Canmore, just 20 minutes drive east of Banff, where room availability can often be better.

Banff Ski Resort Opening Dates

It’s mid November and with snow on the ground in the Banff and Lake Louise area thoughts about skiing and snowboarding have already started to dominate the minds of snow sports lovers across the country. Probably the most common question for skiers and riders from now until the season starts is:
“When do Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Mount Norquay open for the 2011-2012 ski season?”
Well, the long wait for the winter season is now over and all of the ski resorts in the Banff Lake Louise area will be open by the end of the week!

The Lake Louise Ski Area has already enjoyed its opening day on November 5 2011 and is now open 7 days a week until early May 2012.
After a 40cm snowfall over the weekend Sunshine Village has a confirmed opening day of Thursday November 17 2011 with Strawberry, WaWa, Wolverine and Jackrabbit quads all expected to be running.
Mount Norquay opened on November 5 2011 for limited operations at weekends only, with just the Cascade Chair running from 9am to 4pm. Full operations at Norquay are due to start on December 2 2011.

The reason of course that some of these opening days are ‘tentative’, is that the resorts need enough snow on the ground to operate. For this reason the dates are subject to change so be sure to confirm the actual opening day and the current conditions directly with the ski areas nearer the time if you are planning to head up the mountain on the first day of the season.