Our Story

Bowness has always been two places in one.

In the 1890s, Thomas Stone — who started a ranch here — named this corner of Calgary after Bowness-on-Windermere, a village in England's Lake District. Thirty years later, not far from our place, the Bowness Flying Field became Calgary's first commercial airport. From this grass strip near the river, Fred McCall — a wartime flying ace — flew sightseers out to Banff and the mountains. This was the place Calgary took off from.

Home and launchpad. A place to settle into, and a place to set out from. A century on, that's still exactly what this is — and it's the whole idea behind The Bowness Junction.

A family business, on purpose

We've run this as a family since 2018 — my mom, cousin Andrew, and I look after every guest who stays. That's a deliberate choice: the person answering your message is the person who owns the place, knows the neighbourhood, and actually cares whether your trip goes well.

We don't do corporate polish or hotel scripts. What we offer is simple: clean, comfortable, well-run space. Unpretentious hospitality. A genuine home base, run by people who treat it like one.

Built for your whole group

Most places make you choose between space and togetherness. Book a hotel and your group scatters across separate rooms and floors. We built this differently — three self-contained suites that flex to fit you. Book one, combine two into five bedrooms, or take all three as a seven-bedroom buyout for your whole group under one roof. Everyone close, everyone at ease, nobody left out. We call it Private Togetherness.

Your base for Calgary and the mountains

Bowness is a smart base for a Calgary trip — close to the city, and an easy launch toward the mountains. Bowness Park, its lagoon and river pathways, is minutes away, WinSport is six minutes from the door, and Foothills Hospital is close. Highway 1 runs straight west — the same route those early sightseers flew, now the one your group drives to Banff, Lake Louise, and Kananaskis.

A hundred years ago, this was where Calgary set off for the mountains. It still is. We'd love to be your starting point. Book direct, and you'll always get the best rate.