New Air Service, Hotels & Attractions Enliven Alberta’s Appeal
by Judy Jacobs /New nonstop air service and an array of new hotels and attractions promise to enhance Alberta’s appeal to business and leisure travelers alike.
Access to the province got a recent boost with United Airlines’ new nonstop flight from New York (Newark International Airport) to Edmonton, the first direct service between the two cities. Additional service to Alberta – this one between Calgary and Dallas – was launched by Canadian carrier Westjet in April.
New hotels
Alberta’s hotel scene is also getting a boost from several new properties.
Marriott, which operates 74 hotels across Canada, will open its first property in Alberta, the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel, in September. The hotel will have 213 guest rooms, including a presidential suite, as well as 20,000 square feet of meeting and special event space and will be the only Renaissance brand hotel connected to an airport.
Azuridge, the first new hotel to open in Alberta in several years, is an upscale retreat property located about 23 miles southwest of Calgary in Priddis. Constructed of indigenous Rundle rock and timber beams, the retreat’s architecture was inspired by Canadian Pacific Railway’s historic Rocky Mountain train stations.
The former private residence of a Calgary business magnate was recently converted into a 13-suite hotel that can be reserved by individual guests or taken over for a corporate board meeting, wedding or family reunion. The estate is located in ranch country not far from Spruce Meadows, the world-famous equestrian center.
Pocahontas Cabins, just five minutes from the east gate of Jasper National Park and 25 minutes from the town of Jasper, has opened seven new executive cabins. These two-bedroom log cabins, which debuted last spring, were built to accommodate a family of four or two couples.
Each incorporates two bedrooms on the upper floor and a fully equipped kitchen, dining area and living room on the ground level. Facilities include a spa and swimming pool, but for those who prefer a soak in the hot springs which helped make the area famous, Miette Hot Springs is just minutes away.
Previously a summer-only resort, Pyramid Lake Resort, which is also located in the Jasper area, is now open year-round. Summer activities at the 62-room property on the shores of Pyramid Lake include canoeing, hiking, biking and horseback riding. In the winter, boat rentals have been replaced by two ice rinks for skating and hockey.
The resort boasts a collection of handmade curling stones, and a nightly campfire gives guests a chance to toast marshmallows and appreciate the star-studded skies of the Canadian Rockies. Jasper National Park ranks as the world’s largest dark-sky preserve, and Pyramid Lake is one of its most exceptional stargazing sites.
Attractions and activities
Cave & Basin National Historic Site – the place where Canada’s national park system got its start in 1885 after the discovery of the hot springs that gave birth to Banff as a destination – is reopening this month after a two-year, multimillion dollar renovation.
Jasper Dive Adventures has begun guided underwater tours of a World War II wreck in Patricia Lake, located just 10 minutes outside of Jasper. But this isn’t just any wreck. It’s the remains of a wartime secret project with the code name Operation Habakkuk.
Habakkuk was a prototype aircraft carrier constructed out of ice and sawdust in 1943, the creation of a British scientist who was convinced the design would make it indestructible. The cost of deploying a full-scale ice ship became prohibitive and construction was halted, the refrigeration equipment turned off, and the prototype sank to the bottom of Patricia Lake, creating a very unique experience for scuba divers visiting Jasper.
The Edmonton Valley Zoo is undergoing a $50 million upgrade that will transform the facility. Already completed is Arctic Shores, a new habitat for harbor seals and northern fur seals.
This summer will see the opening of the zoo’s Wonder Trail, which will wind its way through a variety of landscapes as it interprets the North Saskatchewan River Valley, one of Alberta’s geological formations. The zoo will also open a new North American river otter habitat for animals that inhabit the North Saskatchewan River.