An All-Encompassing Experience
The Fairmont Hot Springs Resort has been attracting guests for decades.
The Fairmont Hot Springs Resort (FHSR) may have worn different hats under different owners over the years, but one thing that has stayed the same is its hot flowing waters.
It all started in the early 1900s when visionary John Hankey purchased the Fairmont Hot Springs Ranch from Sam Brewer and constructed a bathhouse on site and renamed the ranch Fairmont Hotel Springs. In 1912 the hotel was purchased by William Heap Holland and he built the resort’s first swimming pool, restaurant, tenting camp and bungalow. The resort was then purchased by Lloyd and Earl Wilder in 1965 and a major expansion was undertaken. In the 1980s Lloyd’s daughter Carol and her husband Don, purchased the Riverside Golf estates and incorporated it into Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. In 2008, Ken Fowler Enterprises purchased the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort and Riverside Golf Estates merging the two businesses to create Fairmont Hot Springs Resort as it is known today.
“The Fairmont Hot Springs Resorts is a leading resort and hospitality service provider located in the Columbia Valley region of British Columbia,” says CEO Vivek Sharma. “The centrepiece of its offering is the natural mineral hot springs – the largest in Canada, which attracts new and repeat guests every season. “
The resort offers several accommodation options including the Main Lodge, the Juniper Lodge, cottages and cabins including the Mountain View Cabins.
The Main Lodge offers the traditional resort atmosphere with 112 total units of mixed queen, king, family suite and loft layouts. Fifty units face the pools to the west while the rest face the Rocky Mountains to east.
The Juniper Lodge is tailored to guests looking to access the resort’s amenities, but who are not looking for the traditional resort experience as they are spending time on and off the resort.
The cottages and cabins are located away from the main resort area providing guests with a more secluded and private accommodation experience.
The Mountain View Cabins are located along the river and provide spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains.
“Nestled against the Rocky Mountains the lodge accommodations are centred around the hot springs pool and provide incredible views of the Columbia Valley below. The cottage and cabin accommodations flank the resort at the south and north ends providing a more immersive natural experience. Across the river to the south is the Lodge RV Park, which is located within a short walk to the resort so that RV park guests can enjoy the pools, restaurants and other resort amenities,” shares Sharma.
The Lodge and Spruce Grove RV parks include 480 available sites with a varying amenity offering by site type to suit the needs of a variety of visitors. While the Lodge RV park is located on the resort grounds the Spruce Grove RV park is located on the banks of the river and only a short walk or drive from the resort.
The resort grounds have three golf courses for 45 holes of golf. They have been tailored to ensure golfers of varying experience and skill can enjoy a round from spring to fall. The FHSR Golf Learning Center provides guests with private or group instruction, a CPGA pro and allows them to take advantage of FHSR’s Trackman system to provide instant high-quality data on every aspect of one’s swing and impact performance.
The ski hill offers 12 trails of varying difficulty, as well as terrain and tube parks with a lift capacity to service 1,800 skiers per hour. It allows guests to avoid the crowds and costs of larger ski hills in the region and is a great fit for families with young children and multigenerational families.
There are four hot springs pools on the resort – two soaking pools, one swimming pool and one dive pool.
Other activities at the resort include kayak, bike, river float tube, tennis, GPS and snowshoe rentals; volleyball, basketball, archery, bocce, crafts, bingo, scavenger hunts, yoga and ziplining. They also provide guided hikes, snowmobile tours, river rafting, canoe and kayak tours and horseback trail rides. Full-day and half-day camps are available for children.
“FHSR is one of Canada’s most all-encompassing experiences where guests enjoy exceptional service, all the benefits of our legendary natural hot springs pools and a year-round Rocky Mountain Resort at a great value.”
These experiences speak well to their demographic as their core geographic markets are within driving distance and include BC, Alberta and the nearby states Montana and Idaho.
“FHSR thinks about their leisure guests in terms of life stage and psychographics. As families, whether they are young with children or at an older stage in life they have an interest in participating in a variety of activities where they can make memories together.”
They also have a group and agency market segment that is a mix of corporate and association business, sports, SMERFE (social, military, educational, religious, fraternal and entertainment), as well as tour operators and travel agencies serving the independent traveller.
As to the future, FHSR is looking at the impact that the pandemic has had on the industry.
“Just like any business in the tourism and hospitality industry at this time we have been impacted through the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by a strong group of shareholders, FHSR is reimaging its business model and getting to be in the ‘Demand Interruption Business… not the Demand Creation Business’. These are extremely challenging times for any tourism and hospitality business and we are no different. However, we are fortunate to have a very loyal base of guests and committed group of team members which has poised us perfectly for a rebound when the pandemic is over.”
By Nicole Sherwood - Eastern + Western Hotelier