Eyeing us casually, they crossed the trail, meandered downhill, the fawn nibbling berries along the way, before they splashed into the Bow River to feed. Flowering gardens grace the Banff Springs Hotel all summer long. Later, we soaked our weary bodies in the tingling mineral waters at Solace, the rejuvenated spa at the Banff Springs Hotel. Outside, snow-capped peaks glistening in sunshine one minute are hugged by clouds, misted by rain or powdered by snow the next. Inside, conditions evolve from the soothing to the sublime.
Therapeutic waters spring naturally in the Rockies.
By 1911, when the hotel proved too small for its burgeoning clientele, it was replaced by a larger, Scottish baronial-style edifice, which was again enlarged in the 1920's. When the seemingly self-indulgent allure of the baths evaporated during the depression and they closed, visitors flocked to the natural, albeit malodorous, hot springs at nearby Sulphur Mountain. Its steaming Upper Hot Springs is popular to this day. At Solace Spa, a mask shows the optimum points of acupressure for a facial massage. The spa's design pays homage to the landscape, the expansive windows reverence to the view.