Welcome to outdoor-friendly Canmore and your downtown Bow Valley Motel visitor base! Whatever your plan for mountain relaxation, our front desk crew is eager to assist. Here’s the loyal core of our hard-working team:

 
Owners Elaine & Ray: Now official “locals”, Elaine and Ray moved to Canmore pre-Olympics and have more than 25 years of work/fun time invested in this great town. They have raised a family here and now are enjoying semi-retirement and putting in more skiing, biking, hiking, or arts’ escape time.

Elaine & Ray
Managers Ralph & Beverley: Ralph and Beverley are long-time visitors lured here from northern Alberta by the beauty of the peaks. When not at a desk or checking rooms, Beverley enjoys gardening (the deck flowers speak to her abilities), dog walking and calling in at town coffee bars and gift shops. After managing bookkeeping tasks or room and laundry maintenance, Ralph enjoys being out on the boardwalk photographing the ducks, or hiking up Rundle Ridge drinking in the spectacular view.

Beverley & Ralph

Front Desk Assistants Cecile & Linda: Both of these friendly reservation clerks are Bow Valley residents of many years. Nature’s changing palette and the majesty of the mountains still enthrall them.

Cecile has logged some 22 years in hospitality, the last five of which have been welcoming guests to Canmore at this motel. She uses her downtime between check-ins and phone queries, to complete beautiful, hand-stitched needlework projects. A helicopter ride to view an otherwise inaccessible glacier, or a drive around the Smith Dorrien loop in Kananaskis Country are ways to experience the wonder of it all, says Cecile.

Linda relishes the everyday experience of living here year-round – the outdoors, the fresh air and the serenity nature offers while hiking, cross-country skiing and building a garden. Relax with such simple pleasures in whatever season you visit Canmore, she offers.


Cecile


Linda

 
Housekeeping Assistant Julie: Julie moved here from Ontario and has been enjoying Alberta sunshine and blue-sky days in Canmore for the past five years. She’s enthusiastic about the mountain lifestyle and the many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Even a walk around town trails is breath-taking with this backdrop, Julie says. And guided tours offer a more adventurous level of exploring the backcountry.

Julie

As our valued guests, please “help yourselves” to our collective well of great experiences by accessing our suggestions on the local activities page of this website. Simply click the activity list headings for our tips and personal recommendations at various levels of ability from beginner to advanced.

Dining and shopping are two areas we are always asked about. Shops and chefs may have changed, so you are welcome to scan menus and check directions at the front desk.

Also, our favourite pastimes may not be yours: we can not be responsible for what challenges you may face on any given day or on any listed outing, with or without qualified guides. Always check the weather and trail conditions, be prepared for sudden changes and only do what you decide you can handle. That said, you will come to know a remarkable connection to these surroundings if you do venture out and explore them firsthand.


Gin