Canmore & Fondue - Oh My!

Canmore Grande Rockies Resort

Usually once or twice a year, Tom and I pack ourselves up for a couple of nights to get out of the city. We never go far, usually Banff or Lake Louise will suffice. This year we heard about a new hotel opening in Canmore, called the Grande Rockies Resort. http://www.granderockies.com/ The hotel restaurant isn't open, and the pool didn't look like it was finished-- but because of this, the hotel is operating with reduced room prices. So we decided to check it out.

The rooms themselves are really nice. They look just like the photos on the website. The hotel room looked like a full condo apartment. Granite countertops in the kitchen, full fridge and microwave, laundry, two flat screen TV's, etc. Everything smelled new. The king sized bed didn't have divots in it from previous sleepers. The towels were still fluffy, and the bathroom had the most high-tech shower I'd ever see. We unfortunately forgot our camera, so I've googled a photo of a shower that looks something like it (but not quite). You could choose a steam or rain shower, foot or back massage, music, fans and lighting all from a touchpad inside the shower!

High-tech shower!

I only have two complaints about the hotel. First of all, the bathrooms were equipped with low flow toilets. I know Banff and Canmore strive to limit their environmental footprint--and I applaud them. But low flow toilets barely flush. So you have to flush them two or three times to get the same results as a normal toilet. And... I'm pretty sure that defeats the purpose of the low flow toilets in the first place! My second complaint was that the thermostat in the room didn't work! At 23 degrees, it felt like a bloody sauna in there! So we ended up leaving the balcony door and windows open. But we were facing the TransCanada, so there was a lot of noise at night. And it was still stifling and hot!

But don't get me wrong. The hotel was nice. Plus, it was really quiet. There were about 6 cars in the parkade which surely could have held over a hundred vehicles. We didn't ever see another person in the hallways either!

During the day on Friday we took a drive up to the community of Silvertip to take a look around. We also did a short hike to Grassi Lakes. There had been some fresh snow overnight, so parts of the trail were covered in snow, some were channeling runoff, and some areas were bone dry. The water in the lakes is a lovely turquoise. The weather stayed warm for us, and we spent about an hour and a half enjoying the scenery. Then Tom decided to climb up higher to get a look at some fossils in the limestone. He slipped a bit on his way down and grabbed onto a prickly plant. He still has some thorns in his hand to prove his adventures!

After out afternoon out, we were hungry! Last year when we went to Banff we made a reservation at the Grizzly House for dinner. We ended up cancelling at the last minute because I developed a terrible stomach ache about two hours before dinner. So we decided we'd try the Grizzly House one more time!

The Grizzly House is a fondue restaurant. A very busy restaurant! They offer vegetable, cheese and hot oil fondue, or you can also opt for a hot rock to cook your food. We decided to try the complete fondue dinner. It started with French Onion soup and was followed by cheese fondue (with dipping bread). We then selected two of the specials for the main course, a seafood trio of lobster, scallops and prawns, and a game trio of venison, elk, beef and buffalo. We cooked our main course on a hot rock, which the server told us was granite slate. Although I was tempted to argue with him (it has to be granite OR slate... It can't be both! Come on!), I let it slide. And that was followed up with a chocolate fondue with strawberries, banana, pineapple, blackberries and apples for dipping. Yum!

The meal was delicious. The only downside was that our clothes smelled like uncooked seafood, cooking smoke and grease after we left. And when we woke up the next morning, it was still stuck in our clothes!

The next day we went to a busy little cafe called Communitea. I had a blueberry and lemon iced green tea, and Tom had some white cherry tea with our lunch. Then we headed back home for the kind of delightful spring weather that only Calgary can offer (i.e. blizzarding snow).

Now I'm ready for another week of work.