Hotel Canoe & Suites

On Banff Avenue's uptown stretch, Hotel Canoe & Suites has replaced the aging Inns of Banff and Swiss Village motel with a 187-room, four-star property built around a rooftop hot-pool and sauna deck facing Cascade Mountain. Owned and operated independently by Banff Caribou Properties, the project used one of the last remaining slices of Banff's commercial development cap. It opened in stages — partial occupancy in late 2023, fully unveiled by July 2025 — alongside its sister property, the Otter Hotel, on the same redeveloped site.

The place

Hotel Canoe & Suites sits at 2000-600 Banff Avenue, at the northeast end of the town's main commercial strip, a short walk from downtown Banff's shops and restaurants and close to the Bow River pathway system. The address places it toward the quieter, uptown stretch of the avenue rather than the busiest tourist core, with unobstructed sightlines north to Cascade Mountain that the hotel's design and rooftop deck are built around.

The concept

The hotel occupies the site of the former Inns of Banff and the adjacent Swiss Village motel, both long-standing independent properties acquired by Banff Caribou Properties in 2005. The redevelopment proceeded in two phases: an approved 2019 renovation of the existing Inns of Banff building, followed by full demolition of the 54-room Swiss Village to make way for a ground-up new-build addition. Combined, the project drew on one of the last significant allocations of Banff's commercial development cap, a hard limit the town has been approaching for years. Banff Caribou Properties and its hospitality arm, Banff Lodging Co, kept the project independent rather than bringing in an international flag, rebranding the combined property as Hotel Canoe & Suites. The positioning leans into Banff's outdoor identity, pitched at adventure-driven travelers rather than the more refined, mature-traveler audience aimed at by its sister property on the same site, the Otter Hotel.

Dining & wellness

The signature amenity is a rooftop wellness deck with hot pools, a sauna and a fire-feature lounge area overlooking Cascade Mountain, open daily into the evening. Onsite dining is handled by Sudden Sally, a comfort-food restaurant and bar developed with Calgary restaurateurs Dwayne and Alberta Ennest, alongside a bakery and grab-and-go counter for house-made pastries and coffee.