Vacation idea help

[Lubicon]

NE Alberta (Cold Lake / Lac la Biche / Bonnyville area has some surprisingly nice lakes as well. Not your typical prairie sloughs.

[Northendzone]

as an aside, over the weekend my wife and i discussed getting away for a week at the end of june by going to whitefish, sandpoint or kalispell and i was stunned after looking at places to stay on VRBO. Some places are around $250/night prior to the may long weekend and then shoot up to $500 or more per night until labour day.

we will likely stay in fernie which is fine with me, but it would ahve been nice to go to whitefish as i really like the biking and option of several golf courses there

[Derek Sutton]

^ Travel and relocation into the Flathead Valley has seen a huge surge over the pandemic. Hotel prices are 3 and 4x's what they were in 2019 and the current services there are not capable of handling the influx of population which has grown by 35% over this same time. Traffic jams in Whitefish are a regular thing now. The locals would really appreciate it if the Canadians returned given that so many from Cali and NY have migrated to the area, and the area is not the same at all. My sister in law lives there.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

as an aside, over the weekend my wife and i discussed getting away for a week at the end of june by going to whitefish, sandpoint or kalispell and i was stunned after looking at places to stay on VRBO. Some places are around $250/night prior to the may long weekend and then shoot up to $500 or more per night until labour day.

You have to book really far in advance to get anywhere near a reasonable price in Montana. We booked the Hampton Inn for 3 nights over May Long for $500 USD back in February.

Sometimes the Firebrand has good deals on, but as you pointed out not during the high season.

[Northendzone]

Derek - I was thinking there must be a huge interest in places like this now from both sides of the border.

makes me sad that i may never be able to enjoy whitefish again.

[kipperiggy]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Is Whiskey Slew still a thing? Not an endorsement from me, but I remember people from Sask talking it up, using its real name of course.

Growing up we drove to Coeur D'Alene most summers. I remember thinking how awesome it was there but it may be kind of expensive with the exchange rate.

Glacier and Waterton parks pretty nice too.

I mean, it's a National Park, so yes.

[Derek Sutton]

We go to Meadow Lake every year, went to book a hotel room for the night before we check in and the Pine Lodge next to the Safeway is now a $300usd hotel. We would stay here for $75 in the past. And the price of golf has doubled (at least at Meadow Lake) as well. As an "owner" recently we played for $250+/- for the week, this year it is $495. Northern Pines has raised their prices substantially too. There is just a lot more money in the area then there use to be, primarily driven by the work from home folks moving to MT.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by indes

After living in the West Kootenays for 10 years I can't recommend it enough for a vacation spot. Castlegar, Nelson, Rossland and Christina Lake are all within an hour of each other. Cheaper and not as busy as the East Kootenays or Kelowna with everything but the wine tours.

Honestly, The Kootenays (East & West) is such a gem. It is one of my favourite parts of Canada.

We are really partial to Kimberly. Great little town with good eating and drinking options. Lazy Lake is right near by and not crowded at all.

It checks some many boxes.

[calgarygeologist]

In the past we would do a ski trip out to Big Mountain and we had a great place right by the lodge that we rented for a few years. The owner jacked up our rent from $650/night to $800/night and a couple years later to almost $2000 so we stopped going.

I don't remember if it was one here or if it is was a friend who has a cabin out by Eureka but I heard that during Covid the area was over run by southern tourists during the winters and it has really changed the scene down there. There is a lot of anti-Canadian sentiment although I can't confirm this first hand because we haven't been down in the last three years.