Travel Deal for October 29, 2013
It’s not only one of the most beautiful hotels in Canada, it’s also among the nation’s most haunted places. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel was built in 1888 as one of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s collection of luxury properties located through the country’s major centres.
With 125 years of extraordinary history, you can imagine this hotel has been home to amazing stories and fascinating guests. In fact, it’s rumoured that some of those guests have been reluctant to leave.
Among them are bellman Sam McAuley, who passed away in 1976 but is reputed to still walk the halls of the hotel he cherished. Another ghost is said to be a bride who died in 1926 on her wedding day, tripping down a staircase and breaking her neck. Stephen King’s creepy novel “The Shining” is supposedly based on the events in room 873, where a murder has purportedly taken place.
All of those tales are part of the legacy of this opulent, magical landmark hotel that has plenty of savings for fall and winter. You can visit at Halloween, or before the Christmas holidays. Here are some of the offers available:
- Up to 45% off for the Fall into Savings Offer
- 30% off the best available rate for Alberta residents
- Romantic Castle Getaway that includes dinner and breakfast for two
- Christmas at the Castle for the family.
Find all of the deals online at the Banff Springs Hotel’s website.
Vacay.ca Discovers Ice Magic in Lake Louise
A 45-minute drive from the Banff Springs Hotel is Lake Louise, where you will find more Rocky Mountain beauty and an annual ice-carving competition that has turned into an attraction in the winter. Vacay.ca’s Jody Robbins took in the Ice Magic Festival in January and reported on this unique event in Banff National Park.
Robbins writes: “You’d think the sound of chainsaws ripping through a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site would be cause for concern. But in Lake Louise the only thing being cut down are 300-pound blocks of ice. Bringing that ice to life are 24 professional ice carvers during the Ice Magic Festival, one of the top ice-carving competitions in the world. … Ice carving is an endurance race as gruelling as any other, with the elements playing a huge role. Temperatures just above zero can make it challenging to keep the ice frozen together, while carving in minus-30 Celsius degrees (minus-22 Fahrenheit) is not uncommon.”
Read the rest of “Ice Magic Charms Lake Louise”
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