Category: North America (Page 2 of 4)

We were very lucky to have the weather clear up, right before our cruise to Spirit Island took off. The cruise is expensive, but I found the guide very knowledgeable and the views from the boat breathtaking. Of course the small stop to take some pictures of the mythical Spirit Island was the highlight of the trip. Such a beautiful place. We also hiked up to Moose Lake (a short and easy hike), but sadly didn’t see any mooses. We did encounter lots of mosquito’s though, so use insect repellent!

Maligne Lake, Maligne Lake Rd. 44 km southeast of Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
https://www.brewster.ca/attractions-sightseeing/maligne-lake-cruise/
+1 780-852-3370

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Maligne Lake also on TripAdvisor.

This is quite a challenging hike: you’ll climb 700 meters on a hike of 4km, but the view is so worth it! Gorgeous. The path is very well indicated and there are benches were you can take a rest. The last part of the hike I found the most difficult, because there were lots of small stones on the steep path.

Sulphur Skyline Trail, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
http://www.hikejasper.com/Hike-Jasper-Sulpher-Skyline.html

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Sulphur Skyline Trail also on TripAdvisor.

We had lunch and dinner in this lovely Greek restaurant by Miette Hot Springs Bungalows. What makes this place great is the lovely terrace with lots of flowers, the great Greek food and the friendly service.

At lunch I ordered a tuna sandwich and my friend went for a shut burger. The waitress made a mistake, I ordered salad with my sandwich but in place thereof I got french fries. I didn’t mind too much, so I didn’t complain. The fries were great. The sandwich also. Really loved the tuna spread with lots of tuna.

While we were enjoying our lunch we saw lots of wild goats just casually strolling around the terrace. We could approach them up till one meter. A very special attraction for our lunch.

We had enjoyed our lunch so much that we returned for dinner. I had the dinner suggestion, the moussaka en my boyfriend went for the chicken souvlaki. Both dishes were excellent. Best moussaka I’ve had in a long while. Lovely to see how this restaurant brings those lovely Greek specialties to Canada.

O yeah, I also ordered a strawberry margarita. An absolute delight! My friend tried out Greek beer.

Miette Hot Springs Resort, Range Road 275A, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada

Stayed July 2015. You can find my review about Miette Hot Springs Resort also on TripAdvisor.

This place is ideal to soak in the hot pools after a long day of hiking, surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains of Jasper National Park. The pools have different temperatures and if you need to, you can cool of in the (very) cold pools.

Entrance fee is low. There are individual changing cubicles and lockers to store your stuff in. The changing area could be cleaner, but that’s my only complaint.

Miette Hot Springs, Miette Rd, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
http://www.hotsprings.ca/#!miette-hot-springs/c1bpw
+1 780-866-3939

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Miette Hot Springs also on TripAdvisor.

I’m very sorry to say this, but I really didn’t like my stay in Astoria Hotel. The room was small and dark, the bed was decked with linnen and an old fashioned bedcover with bears on it, the furniture was made of heavy wood, not my style, but I can imagine this was the ‘rustique’ feel this hotel was going for. I really don’t mind small rooms, we had enough room to fit in our two big suitcases. I do mind when a bathroom isn’t clean, as was the case in this hotel. There were hairs on the floor, some mould in the bathtub (a jacuzzi which we paid for, but of course didn’t use because of that) and some leftover hairs stuck to the wall from a previous customer. No idea how long those hairs had been there, but we stayed for tree nights as did the hairs. Since those hairs were long and a very dark brown colour, I’m sure those weren’t accidentally mine, as I am a light blonde myself.

Wifi was working so so. Sometimes it worked fine, other times you had to wait for ages before you could connect to the acces point, or you just couldn’t connect at all. We were in the middle of Jasper Town, so there really is no excuse for the wifi not working properly.

There is no elevator in the building, so you have to carry your luggage up te stairs.

Worst of all was the way the airconditioning was set up. The outside connection of the system was fixed through the window. You couldn’t close the window because the suction pipe from the airco was blocking the window. If you wanted to close the window you had to remove the pipe, but then you couldn’t use the airco anymore (and when the sun was on the building it got hot really fast). Sleeping with the window open really wasn’t an option, because of all the noise.

We slept in front of the building, so we heard absolutely everything: honking cars, driving cars, noise from the pubs and restaurants, talking people and the worst: the dreadful, horribly loud noises of the nearby trains. It was terrible. Even with the window closed you could hear almost everything. But that’s not a surprise, knowing the windows consisted of only one layer of glass. It is a mystery to me why this hotel doesn’t invest in a proper airconditioning system and some good isolation.

Astoria Hotel, 404 Connaught Drive, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada

Stayed July 2015. You can find my review about Astoria Hotel also on TripAdvisor. My scores: sleep quality 1/5, cleanliness 1/5, service 3/5.

Had breakfast here three times, because Papa George’s was situated right next to our hotel. Lots of breakfast options to choose from! The pancakes are huge. Because I liked my eggs benedict with spinach so much, I ordered them again the next day, this time with salmon. The second time there was too much sauce on them to my liking. The third day I tried the granola, which was really excellent.

Waitresses are really friendly, got some nice tips for exploring the neighbourhood from one of them.

Papa George’s, 404 Connaught Drive, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
http://www.papageorgesjasper.com/
78-852-2260

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Papa George’s also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 4/5, service 5/5, food 4/5.

I was quite impressed by the selection of foods in this restaurant, both hot and cold options. I wasn’t very hungry so I went for the granola and some blueberries. My boyfriend went for a salad with shrimps, wich was kind of mediocre.

What really makes this place special is the view on Maligne Lake. Weather permitting you can sit outside on the lovely patio and enjoy the sun and the lake. This restaurant is quite big, so you don’t need to worry about finding a place to sit down.

Maligne Lake’s View Restaurant, Maligne Lake Road, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
https://www.brewster.ca/attractions-sightseeing/maligne-lake-cruise/dining/
+1 780-852-3370

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Maligne Lake’s View Restaurant also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 4/5, service 3/5, food 3/5.

Highly recommended. The view from the top of Whistlers Mountain is breathtaking. It is a bit of a climb from the cable car to the summit, but well worth it. Also loved the fact that the personnel in the SkyTram provided some interesting information about our surroundings.

Jasper SkyTram, Whistlers Mountain Road, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
http://www.jasperskytram.com/
+1 780-852-3093

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Jasper SkyTram also on TripAdvisor.

Really great place for fine dining in the center of Jasper. If you’re lucky you can sit by the windows to enjoy the view on the gorgeous mountains surrounding Jasper. This restaurant is situated on the first floor and also has a little terrace. We had no reservations and were lucky to get a table at all, no table by the window for us.

The meal was great. Freshly cooked en served by the lovely staff, who are always in for a joke. I love people with a sense of humor!

I really enjoyed my red snapper filet, tapped with mushrooms and spinach garlic cream sauce. My boyfriend went for a special Bison lasagne (with mozzarella cheese). The red rooster white wine, which was recommended, was too sweet for me.

I had loved my red snapper so much that I decided to order dessert. The berrie crumble was really excellent. The cosmopolitan cocktail I enjoyed after dinner was also really great.

Lovely place with very welcoming people.

Fiddle River Restaurant, 620 Connaught Dr, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
http://www.fiddleriverrestaurant.com/
+1 780-852-3032

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Fiddle River Restaurant also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 4/5, service 5/5, food 5/5.

I was surprised to find a Korean place in Jasper, but boy, what a pleasant surprise it was. This is a really excellent restaurant with lovely authentic Korean food.

We arrived quite late (at about 21.30u), but that wasn’t a problem. We ordered the dinner for two persons consisting of Kun Man Doo (fried dumplings), Woo dong (wonton soup), Bulgogi (beef) and spicy dak bulgogi (chicken) with rice. We didn’t have to wait longer than ten minutes before the food arrived at our table.

The portions were huge and the food was exquisite. Very, very tasty. We were very hungry but had a hard time finishing all the gorgeous food.

Highly recommend this place.

Kimchi House, 407 Patricia Street, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta T0E 1E0, Canada
http://kimchihousejasper.com/
+1 780-852-5022

Visited July 2015. You can find my review about Kimchi House also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 5/5, service 3/5, food 5/5.