Banff National Park is a seemingly endless outdoor playground, making it the perfect destination for a family vacation. In the summer, families visiting Banff with kids will love the endless opportunities for hiking, biking, wildlife viewing and more. While in the winter, your family will love snowshoeing, winter hiking, cross-country skiing and downhill skiing in Banff.
No matter the season, you’ll need a family-friendly hotel as a base for your family trip to Banff. Banff is an extremely kid-friendly destination with a wide-selection of family-friendly hotels. We live in Canmore (minutes from Banff), and we have traveled extensively with our kids, so we know how to find the best family-friendly hotels in Banff – it’s right in own backyard!
Plan your banff family vacation
As a local family, you can trust our information to plan your family trip to Banff. We hope you will read our Guide to Visiting Banff with Kids. Your kids may also enjoy our Banff Activity Book for Kids!
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Top Family-Friendly Hotels in Banff:
Tunnel Mountain Resort
Best overall family resort in Banff (space, cabins & amenities).
If you’d like a family-friendly hotel in Banff which is near the Banff townsite, but is actually in the forest, check out the Tunnel Mountain Resort. Just a 5 minute drive from downtown Banff, the Tunnel Mountain Resort is a resort in a natural mountain setting just outside of the Banff Townsite.
In addition to the beautiful natural setting, families at this kid-friendly Banff hotel will enjoy the indoor pool, the fitness room, a sauna & steam room, bike rentals and an outdoor playground for the kids.
The Tunnel Mountain Resort is one of the few hotels near Banff with family-friendly cabin rentals. These fun Banff cabin rentals feature a master bedroom and an upstairs loft, with enough beds for up to 6 people. You’ll also enjoy a fireplace and a balcony or patio.
In addition to the cabin rentals, additional family-friendly room options include a one-bedroom apartment with a loft or a superior suite with a queen bed and two singles.
Our experience traveling with our kids has proven that having separate bedroom leads to a much better sleep for everyone. Any well-rested kids are much happier and more co-operative travelers, which is exactly what you want for your family trip to Banff!
A short walk or drive from this family-friendly Banff hotel is the popular the Banff Hoodoos and the trailhead for the Banff Hoodoos Trail, an excellent easy hike between Tunnel Mountain and the Bow River. This kid-friendly Banff hike ends up at Surprise Corner near the Bow Falls and gives excellent views of the famous Banff Springs Hotel (another family-friendly hotel featured on this list).
The location of Tunnel Mountain Resort is either a major benefit for families, or an inconvenience, depending on the priorities for your family trip to Banff. It’s ideal for families who value space, cabins and a quieter forest setting. It’s not ideal for families who want to walk to the shops and restaurants along Banff Avenue every day.
If you are visiting Banff without a car, the Tunnel Mountain Resort is a surprisingly good option. This car-free Banff hotel has a Roam bus stop on the property and gives guests free bus passes to use. It’s roughly a 12-15 minute bus ride from the resort to downtown Banff.
Hidden Ridge Resort
Best family apartments with full kitchens.
The Hidden Ridge Resort is another excellent family-friendly Banff hotel tucked away in the forest on the side of Tunnel Mountain. As with the Tunnel Mountain Resort, you are just minutes from downtown Banff, yet you feel miles away.
When traveling with kids, eating out three times a day can get very tiring and expensive! This is why families will love the apartment-style accommodations at the Hidden Ridge Resort. The apartments at this kid-friendly Banff hotel feature full kitchens, allowing families to cook some meals at home. In addition, you’ll love the wood-burning fireplaces (with complimentary firewood), balconies and the DVD player.
The apartment-style accommodations are excellent for families, but to me, it’s the amazing year-round, outdoor hot pools that make the Hidden Ridge Resort one of the best family-friendly hotels in Banff. The main hot pool is huge, has a beautiful natural setting and offers spectacular mountain and forest views.
The hot pool area has a year-round sauna, a lounge seating area with a fire feature and, in-season, a wading pool for the kids.
Rounding out the family-friendly amenities at the Hidden Ridge Resort are the outdoor play area, bike rentals and on-site laundry.
There are plenty of fun and easy Banff hikes in the area, including the very popular hike to the top of Tunnel Mountain.
The family-friendly apartments at the Hidden Ridge Resort come in 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom varieties. One of the two-bedroom apartments even has a games room in it! Another of the two-bedroom apartments is one of the few hotel rooms in Banff with a private jetted tub!
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Basecamp Suites Banff
Best downtown Banff apartment-style suites for families.
If you love the idea of having a large living space for your family trip to Banff, but want a more central location, then take a close look at Basecamp Suites Banff. With a very convenient location in the heart of downtown Banff, you’ll be able to enjoy easy family walks to Bear Street and Banff Avenue for family meals and souvenir shopping.
There’s a wide range of 2 & 3 bedroom suites for your family to choose from, some of which sleep up to 10 people, which is ideal for large families or multi-generational trips.
If you are traveling to Banff on a budget and wish to cook your own meals, the full kitchens make it easy. Plus, you can easily walk to the IGA, Banff’s biggest supermarket, as it’s literally right next door.
After a fun day of enjoying all the best family activities in Banff, head on up to the rooftop and have a soak in their rooftop hot tubs. From this high vantage point, you’ll be in awe of the stunning 360-degree mountain views.
Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel
Best large family suites in downtown Banff (up to 6 people).
If you’d like a family-friendly hotel in downtown Banff, check out the Banff Park Lodge. This recently renovated kid-friendly hotel is only 1 block away from downtown Banff, where you’ll find many of the best restaurants, shops and attractions. Despite it’s central location, I love that it also backs onto the beautiful Bow River, giving guests the opportunity to easily enjoy peaceful moments in nature.
Kids will love playing in the large indoor pool or soaking in the hot tub at this family-friendly Banff hotel.
The top two easy hikes in the Town of Banff are easily accessible on foot from the Banff Park Lodge. A short walk north on the Bow River walking path will lead you to the popular Fenlands Loop Trail. If you go south on this easy Banff walk, you can go all the way to Bow Falls.
Besides its excellent downtown Banff location, the best part about the Banff Park Lodge for families is the very spacious Family Suites. Measuring nearly 800sqft, the Family Suites feature two double beds and a sofa bed, sleeping up to 6 people, making the Banff Park Lodge an excellent central Banff hotel for large families.
Best of all, in case you are visiting Banff on a budget, the Banff Park Lodge made our list of the best affordable places to stay in Banff!
Moose Hotel and Suites
Best central Banff hotel with rooftop hot pools & family suites.
Enjoy a warm elegance at this popular family-friendly hotel in Banff. The Moose Hotel has an excellent location in downtown Banff and has an indoor pool, an exercise room and two rooftop hot pools with amazing views of the surrounding Rocky Mountains.
The Moose Hotel has a wide-variety of family-friendly rooms. Superior rooms with two queen beds are the standard offering at the Moose Hotel, but families will really enjoy their 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom options.
Be sure to check out their massive, two-bedroom rooftop family suite which rivals the Banff Park Lodge as the largest family-friendly hotel room in Banff!
The Moose Hotel isn’t just one of the best Banff hotels for families, overall it’s one of the best hotels in Banff, period.
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
Best luxury “castle” stay with kids.
The castle-like Banff Springs Hotel is the most famous of the luxury hotels in Banff. For over a century, the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has treated every guest like royalty (whether they were actually royalty or not).
Exciting news for families considering a stay at the Banff Springs Hotel! Fairmont just completed extensive upgrades to their Gatehouse rooms. These newly renovated rooms and suites were purpose-built for families, with built-in bunk beds, separate sleeping spaces, larger bathrooms and loads of storage, all in a dedicated family wing right beside the Adventure Centre and a modern family lounge with dining on site.
Despite being known for luxury in the Rockies, the Banff Springs Hotel is one of the most family-friendly hotels in Banff National Park. In fact, the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine recently voted the Banff Springs Hotel as one of the best family resorts in Canada!
The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has a Kids at the Castle program offering a rotating selection of seasonal kids’ activities like outdoor adventures, games, crafts and scavenger hunts. Extra fees apply to these kid friendly activities and advance reservations are required.
In addition to the Kids at the Castle program, the Banff Springs Hotel offers recreation programs for the whole family including a creativity evening, bingo, geocaching, a treasure hunt, music trivia, tennis and croquet. You can even try out the driving range or putting green at the incredible Banff Springs Golf Club!
If you are staying at the Banff Springs Hotel in the winter, you can go skating on the Vermillion Room Skating Rink or enjoy toasting s’mores on your own private campfire pit. These are also the perfect family activities for a magical Christmas in Banff!
As if that’s not enough family fun, the Banff Springs Hotel also has an indoor pool, an outdoor heated pool and even a bowling alley on-site. Plus, there’s tons of fun activities near the Banff Springs Hotel too!
Your family will never forget a stay at the Banff Spring Hotel – the most luxurious, yet somewhat surprisingly, the most kid friendly hotel in Banff! The only reason I ranked the Banff Springs so low on this list is the expense – it’s a big splurge for most families, but it delivers an unforgettable ‘castle in the Rockies’ experience.
If you are considering a stay at this iconic Banff hotel, be sure to check here for any Banff Springs Hotel deals first.
Rimrock Banff, Emblems Collection
Note: Rimrock Banff is temporarily closed for a full renovation and is scheduled to reopen in July 2026 as part of Accor’s Emblems Collection. If your trip is before then, look to the Fairmont Banff Springs or Moose Hotel for similar luxury and views.
Best for Banff Gondola & Hot Springs.
The Rimrock Banff joins the Banff Springs Hotel as the only luxury family-friendly hotels in Banff. If you plan on sightseeing during your family trip to Banff, you’ll love that the Rimrock Banff is super close to two of Banff’s top things to do with kids.
Families can take the Banff Gondola or hike up Sulphur Mountain to enjoy some of the best views of Banff available anywhere. Or, after a day of enjoying the mountains with your family, take a short walk from the Rimrock to the Banff Upper Hot Springs for a relaxing soak with the kids.
Within this luxury Banff family-friendly hotel, there are lots of things to do with your kids. Enjoy a swim in the large indoor heated swimming pool or a soak in the large indoor hot pool. If you are lucky enough to stay at the Rimrock Hotel with your kids in the winter, bring your skates and go ice skating on their outdoor skating rink.
Families will love the opportunity to rent one of the Rimrock Hotel’s outdoor fire pits. Located right next to the outdoor skating rink, you kids will love toasting s’mores or hot dogs while you soak in the Banff mountain scenery.
Speaking of food, the Rimrock Hotel is home to one of Canada’s finest restaurants. The Eden restaurant is one of only 4 restaurants in Canada which has earned a coveted 5-Diamond award from AAA/CAA. Don’t be intimated by this elite restaurant status though, as you are welcome to dine at the Eden Restaurant with kids.
If 5-Diamond restaurants are not your style, the Larkspur Lounge has an excellent kids menu with burgers, pizza and more.
The Banff Rimrock Hotel has a wide variety of family-friendly rooms, ranging from two queen beds to a 1-bedroom suite.
Canalta Lodge
Best family loft suites with bunk beds, kitchen and breakfast included.
Another solid family-friendly Banff hotel option, the Canalta Lodge has two things my kids love most in a hotel – bunkbeds and free hot breakfast buffet!
Located in the Uptown Banff district, the Canalta Lodge has a wide variety of family-friendly room configurations including the Triple Queen Suite with Sofa Bed, which sleeps up to 6 people.
In addition, the Double Queen with Bunk Beds Suite – Loft Room, is not only a ton of fun for the kids, but will give you some privacy after they go to sleep. This room is particularly well-suited for families as it comes with a full kitchen, allowing you to self-cater some meals on your family trip to Banff.
It’s not all about breakfast and bunk beds at the Canalta Lodge; they have a lot of fun stuff outside too. Their amazing outdoor courtyard features outdoor hot tubs, a barrel sauna, and a firepit with cozy seating. Imagine toasting marshmallows and eating s’mores after a fun day of playing in Banff National Park!
Irwin’s Mountain Inn
Best budget family suites with kitchenette near downtown Banff.
Last, but not least on our list of family-friendly hotels in Banff is Irwin’s Mountain Inn. New on our list for this year, I’ve included Irwin’s Mountain Inn as a solid option for families looking for affordable accommodations for their family trip to Banff. It has a very walkable location, just a few blocks from downtown Banff on Banff Avenue.
I like that Irwin’s Mountain Inn has true family suites, which are hard to find at an affordable price point. The Superior Suite features 2-bedrooms with a basic kitchenette for easy family breakfasts and snacks.
Irwin’s has a good selection of family-friendly amenities too, including free Roam passes, on-site laundry facilities, an indoor hot tub an dry cedar sauna.
Banff Photoshoot
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Family-Friendly Hotels in Banff for Pets Too
If you want to bring your pet on your family vacation to Banff, there’s a good selection of pet-friendly hotels in Banff. In fact, five of the family-friendly hotels in Banff listed above also accept pets:
- The Fairmont Banff Springs
- Tunnel Mountain Resort
- Hidden Ridge Resort
- Banff Rimrock Hotel
- Moose Hotel and Suites
The only hotel on our list of kid-friendly hotels in Banff above that does not allow family pets is the Banff Park Lodge. Please check with the Banff hotel of your choice for their specific pet policies.
Get Your Kids Excited for Banff!
Our Banff Kids Activity Book will ignite your child’s passion for nature, exploration, and learning. Grab a copy before your family trip to Banff and unlock a world of adventure right at your fingertips.
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Dan Brewer, a life-long Alberta resident, calls Canmore home along with his wife and two kids. He is the co-owner of Travel Banff Canada, where he gets to share his passion for the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Dan, along with his family, love being outdoors doing one of the many activities they enjoy in the mountains: hiking, mountain biking, paddleboarding, skiing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
When he's not in Canmore enjoying one of his favourite local hikes, you can find him hopping on a plane to explore a new country with his family or working on one of their other two travel sites: Family Can Travel and Baby Can Travel.