Canadian Pacific hotels
Encyclopedia
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) that operated a series of hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s across Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Most of these resort hotels were originally built and operated by the railway's Hotel Department, while a few were acquired from Canadian National Hotels
Canadian National Hotels
Canadian National Hotels was a hotel chain under control by Canadian National Railways. In addition to their own hotels, it acquired some from rival railway companies like the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Grand Trunk Railway and Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway...
. Today, they are operated under the Fairmont
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian-based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 18 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the...
name, and remain some of Canada's most exclusive hotels.
CPR built two types of hotels:
- Urban hotels, which were located near a city's major passenger station and were intended for use by elite passengers of CPR trains. These hotels served businesspeople and visitors to the respective city, as well as passengers requiring overnight accommodation between connecting trains.
- Rural resorts, which were located in areas served by CPR which had unique scenery, allowing these properties to be marketed as destinations for passenger train travellers. Some of these also served as "stationary dining cars", where en route passengers were fed and housed, without the train having to carry heavy dining and kitchen cars over difficult terrain.
The hotels were architecturally different in appearance, but materials such as granite walls and copper roofs were common elements. Many of these structures were constructed to look somewhat similar to European castles. One of the unique CPR hotels is the Chateau Montebello
Château Montebello
The Fairmont Le Château Montebello or simply Château Montebello is a hotel and resort complex in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. The setting for the retreat is of forested wildlife sanctuary and 70 lakes on the shore of the Ottawa River, between Ottawa and Montreal.-Construction:In the late 1920s,...
which was for many years the world's largest log building. The Tudor style Algonquin
The Algonquin
The Fairmont Algonquin is a coastal resort hotel in the Tudor style, located in Canada's first seaside resort town, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was built in 1889 by the St...
in St. Andrews, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
St. Andrews is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.It is sometimes referred to in tourism marketing by its unofficial nickname "St. Andrews-by-the-sea".-Geography:St...
also stands out as it was one of the few CP hotels which was not constructed by CPR itself.
The original hotels were built in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
to attract tourists from eastern Canada, incorporating local attractions such as exceptional scenery and therapeutic mineral hot springs.
History
The CPR had constructed smaller hotels in 1886 to accommodate travellers, including: Glacier House in GlacierGlacier National Park (Canada)
Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...
in the Rogers Pass
Rogers Pass
Rogers Pass is a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. The pass is a shortcut across the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east...
, Mount Stephen Hotel in Field, B.C.
Field, British Columbia
Field is an unincorporated settlement of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia,Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park....
in the Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass
Kicking Horse Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff National Parks...
, as well as at North Bend
North Bend, British Columbia
North Bend is an unincorporated community in the Fraser Canyon region of British Columbia, Canada, located across the Fraser River from the town of Boston Bar...
in the Fraser Canyon
Fraser Canyon
The Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...
, Sicamous
Sicamous, British Columbia
Sicamous, British Columbia is a town in British Columbia located adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway at the Highway 97A junction of Mara Lake and the Shuswap Lake system. It is known as a popular all season tourist destination attracting visitors from throughout Canada and around the world...
on Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River...
and in Revelstoke
Revelstoke, British Columbia
Revelstoke is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam and near its confluence with the Illecillewaet River...
. Some of the lesser pioneer hostelries were designed primarily to provide meal service for passengers in the Rocky Mountains where railway grades were too severe to justify the operation of dining car
Dining car
A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
s (see the Big Hill
Big Hill
The Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line in British Columbia, Canada, was the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway's route. It was situated in the rugged Canadian Rockies west of the Continental Divide and Kicking Horse Pass...
), although Glacier House and the Sicamous Hotel were destination hotels in their own right. All establishments operated successfully for a number of years, but were abandoned as hotels, when through dining car service made their maintenance unprofitable. Glacier House attracted considerable alpine patronage till diversion of the railway's main passenger service to the Southern Mainline
Kettle Valley Railway
The Kettle Valley Railroad was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway that operated in the Thompson-Okanagan region of southern British Columbia....
left it considerably removed from the beaten track, and this resort too ceased to operate. Other smaller hotels were operated in the Kootenays
Kootenays
The Kootenay Region comprises the southeastern portion of British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa First Nation first encountered by explorer David Thompson.-Boundaries:The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land...
region south of the mainline, notably at Balfour
Balfour, British Columbia
Balfour, also known as Balfour Bay, is an unincorporated community in British Columbia, located about northeast of the city of Nelson and located at the juncture of Kootenay Lake with its West Arm....
where Balfour House was a lodging for ferry passengers connecting across Kootenay Lake
Kootenay Lake
Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada and is part of theKootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s-70s, has changed the ecosystem in and around the water...
, which was an integral part of service on the Southern Mainline
Kettle Valley Railway
The Kettle Valley Railroad was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway that operated in the Thompson-Okanagan region of southern British Columbia....
.
North Bend, British Columbia
North Bend is an unincorporated community in the Fraser Canyon region of British Columbia, Canada, located across the Fraser River from the town of Boston Bar...
(part of Boston Bar
Boston Bar, British Columbia
Boston Bar is an unincorporated town in the Fraser Canyon of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was not named for an organization of Massachusetts lawyers but dates from the time of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush...
), and locally called in its day the CPR Hotel. Later renamed the North Bend Hotel, the original burned down in 1927, with a second hotel built in 1929 but no longer extant.
CPR's Hotel Department for the operation of tourist accommodation began with the opening of the Hotel Vancouver on May 16, 1888, this was the first of three railway-owned hotels by that name in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. Two weeks later, the Banff Springs Hotel
Banff Springs Hotel
The Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...
was officially opened on June 1, 1888. Newly appointed CPR president William Cornelius Van Horne
William Cornelius Van Horne
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, KCMG was a pioneering Canadian railway executive.-Life and career:Born in 1843 in rural Illinois, he moved with his family to Joliet, Illinois when he was eight years old...
had personally chosen the site in the Rocky Mountains for the new hotel, and he envisioned a string of grand hotels across Canada that would draw visitors from abroad to his railway.
The original Banff Springs Hotel, though much smaller than the present hotel, became such an immediate hit among tourists of the 1880s, the CPR encouraged the federal government to establish Canada's first national park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
in the territory surrounding it; eventually leading to a network of national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
s across the nation. Hotels in major metropolitan areas served by CPR soon followed and these were intended for use by both tourists and business travellers.
The Chateau Lake Louise
Chateau Lake Louise
The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a Fairmont Hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta. The original Chateau was gradually built up at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was thus "kin" to its predecessors, the Banff...
, opened in 1890 as a single-storey building of log construction, was also popular for tourists. Subsequent additions were made to it in 1893, 1900, 1906, 1911, 1913, 1924 and reconstruction in 1925. Additions to the Banff Springs Hotel were completed in 1911, 1914, 1926 and 1928, necessitated by the growing volume of tourist traffic.
In addition to hotels, the CPR also operated five bungalow camps across the country as well. It owned, operated or leased a number of camps, tea houses and chalets in remote sections of the Rockies served by Canadian Pacific lines. These include Emerald Lake Chalet and Yoho Valley Lodge, Field; Lake O'Hara and Lake Wapta Lodges at Hector and Moraine Lake Lodge at Lake Louise. Tea houses were located at Twin Falls
Twin Falls Tea House
The Twin Falls Tea House National Historic Site of Canada, located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia as a resting place for hikers and trail riders in the park. The rustic structure is located near Twin Falls in the Little Yoho Valley. The first phase of construction took place about 1908...
, Plain of the Six Glaciers, and Lake Agnes, near Lake Louise.
Château Frontenac
The Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...
was opened at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
on December 11, 1893, while subsequent additions in 1904, 1906, 1916 and 1923, which included the great central tower, made it one of the finest hotels in eastern Canada. It was further improved in 1926.
The turreted Place Viger
Place Viger
Place Viger was both a grand hotel and railway station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, Montreal's first mayor...
Hotel, now one of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's familiar landmarks, was the city's leading hostelry for many years. Erected in 1898, the hotel and its adjacent terminals catered to a large section of the travelling public till 1935 when the hotel ceased to operate.
For the next Canadian Pacific hotel development the spotlight shifts westward again, when the small hotel at Sicamous, British Columbia
Sicamous, British Columbia
Sicamous, British Columbia is a town in British Columbia located adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway at the Highway 97A junction of Mara Lake and the Shuswap Lake system. It is known as a popular all season tourist destination attracting visitors from throughout Canada and around the world...
, was opened in 1900. Ovelooking Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake
Shuswap Lake is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River...
, the Hotel Sicamous was a great favourite with the visiting tourist. Once owned and operated by the CPR, operation in its later years, was under lease. The hotel was demolished in 1964.
In 1901 the McAdam Hotel one of the CPR's smaller hotels was opened at McAdam, New Brunswick
McAdam, New Brunswick
McAdam is a village located in the southwestern corner of York County, New Brunswick, Canada. The village covers and has a population of 1,404 as of 2006.The area was first settled in the mid-to-late 19th century as a group of small lumber camps...
, gateway to St. Andrews-by-the-Sea
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
St. Andrews is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.It is sometimes referred to in tourism marketing by its unofficial nickname "St. Andrews-by-the-sea".-Geography:St...
and other popular vacation resorts. The following year saw the opening of the Emerald Lake Chalet, near Field, British Columbia. Its proximity to Banff and Lake Louise further enhanced its popularity in the Rocky Mountain vacation picture. In 1903 The Algonquin
The Algonquin
The Fairmont Algonquin is a coastal resort hotel in the Tudor style, located in Canada's first seaside resort town, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was built in 1889 by the St...
hotel at St. Andrews was taken over by the CPR.
Next link on the CPR hotel chain appeared in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, when the Royal Alexandra Hotel was completed in 1906. Substantial additions were made in 1914 on this popular prairie hostelry, the largest CPR hotel between Toronto and Calgary. The hotel was connected directly to the railway station, and enjoyed a lavish career for many years. However, by the mid 1960s with the increasing dominance of the airlines, and the hotel's physical location, the number of guests had decreased significantly. The Royal Alexandra closed in December 1967, and was demolished in 1971.
The Empress Hotel
The Empress (Hotel)
The Fairmont Empress is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Located on Government Street facing the Inner Harbour, the Empress has become an iconic symbol for the city itself...
, the CPR's world-famous hostelry at Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, was erected two years later and officially opened on January 20, 1908. Additional wings have since been added, the latest in 1929. Like the Royal Alexandra, the Empress was also a candidate for demolition in the mid 1960s, however, this well-known Canadian landmark was instead renovated and refurbished and has since undergone further restoration to its original, pre-war elegance.
The Palliser Hotel at Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
joined the CPR hotel family in 1914 when it was opened to the public. This handsome and well-appointed hostelry near the Rocky Mountain foothills, was enlarged in 1929. In 1927, in the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, the company opened its Hotel Saskatchewan
Hotel Saskatchewan
The Hotel Saskatchewan is a grand hotel located in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, overlooking Victoria Park.One of a chain of hotels constructed and owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the railway's earlier hotels, such as the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, the Chateau Lake Louise and...
at Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, which soon became a favourite stopping-place for visitors to the Queen City of the West.
The Royal York Hotel
Fairmont Royal York
The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
, once billed as the largest hotel in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and one of the finest on the continent, opened its doors on June 11, 1929. A well known landmark on the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
skyline, one of its attractions was said to be its spectacular view overlooking the vast expanse of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
, seems to have been lost to the recent condominium development of Harbourfront
Harbourfront
Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Canada. Part of the Toronto Waterfront, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay. East of Yonge to Parliament St...
.
The tourism success of the CPR's subsidiary in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, the Dominion Atlantic Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
, led the CPR to invest in a series of Nova Scotian Hotels. The CPR was the lead investor in the Lord Nelson Hotel
Lord Nelson Hotel
The Lord Nelson Hotel is a grand hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden and South Park Streets across from the Halifax Public Gardens. It was built in 1927 by a consortium of investors led by the Canadian Pacific Railway who wanted a Halifax anchor to...
built in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
in 1927 to rival Canadian National's
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
Hotel Nova Scotian
Hotel Nova Scotian
The Westin Nova Scotian is a Canadian hotel located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It was built by the Canadian National Railways. Construction began in 1928 and it opened on 24 June 1930 as the "Nova Scotian Hotel"...
. Next came the construction in 1929 of the new, baronial style Cornwallis Inn at Kentville, Nova Scotia
Kentville, Nova Scotia
Kentville is a town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is one of the main towns in the Annapolis Valley, and it is the county seat of Kings County. As of 2006, the town of Kentville had a population of 5,815 people....
in the Annapolis Valley
Annapolis Valley
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
and the rebuilding of the Digby Pines Hotel
Digby Pines Resort
The Digby Pines Resort is a seasonal coastal resort hotel located at Digby, Nova Scotia on the shores of the Annapolis Basin. The Pines is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia and is one of the province's three "Signature Resorts," along with in Liscombe Mills and Keltic Lodge in Ingonish...
at Digby
Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
. The Nova Scotian chain was completed in June 1931 with the new rustic Lakeside Inn resort at Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...
.
Final Expansion
CPR's rival Grand Trunk RailwayGrand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
and later Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
copied Van Horne's approach by building hotels such as the Jasper Park Lodge
Jasper Park Lodge
The Jasper Park Lodge opened in 1922 in Jasper, Alberta, Canada to challenge the CPR's Banff Springs Hotel.The lodge had first been established in 1915 as a "Tent City," in association with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, but by the 1920s the property was under the management of Canadian National...
in Jasper, Alberta
Jasper, Alberta
Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. It is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the Athabasca River valley....
and the Chateau Laurier
Château Laurier
The Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive designed in the Châteauesque style.-History:...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. CPR purchased CN's hotel chain in 1988, making Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts (CP Hotels) the nation's largest hotel owner. In the 1990s, CP Hotels began to expand and purchased the Canadian Delta Hotels
Delta Hotels
Delta Hotels is a chain of 45 hotels and resorts across Canada, primarily in the 4 star range of standard. Delta once had a hotel in the United States, the Delta Court of Flags Hotel, located in Orlando, Florida, however, it was closed sometime after 1996 and has subsequently been demolished...
chain and the international Princess Hotels chain in 1998, which became wholly owned subsidiaries of CP Hotels. The following year in 1999 the company underwent a significant expansion in its international holdings when it purchased the San Francisco-based Fairmont Hotel chain, gaining control of famed hotels as The Plaza
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In 2001, parent Canadian Pacific Limited
Canadian Pacific Limited
Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
underwent a reorganization and renamed its Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts subsidiary as Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian-based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 18 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the...
, borrowing the name of the company it had purchased in 1999. The newly organized Fairmont company shuffled several properties to its Delta subsidiary, while maintaining many original "signature" resorts and hotels from Fairmont and CP Hotels under the new Fairmont banner. Later that year in October 2001, Canadian Pacific Limited spun off all of its subsidiary companies into separately traded "independent" companies, including Canadian Pacific Railway and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.
On 30 January 2006, Fairmont agreed to be acquired by a venture of Kingdom Hotels International and Colony Capital, which will combine it with the Raffles and Swissotel chains.
Surviving properties of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
- The AlgonquinThe AlgonquinThe Fairmont Algonquin is a coastal resort hotel in the Tudor style, located in Canada's first seaside resort town, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was built in 1889 by the St...
, St. Andrews, New BrunswickSt. Andrews, New BrunswickSt. Andrews is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.It is sometimes referred to in tourism marketing by its unofficial nickname "St. Andrews-by-the-sea".-Geography:St...
, opened 1889 - Château FrontenacChâteau FrontenacThe Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...
, Quebec CityQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, opened 1893 - Château MontebelloChâteau MontebelloThe Fairmont Le Château Montebello or simply Château Montebello is a hotel and resort complex in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. The setting for the retreat is of forested wildlife sanctuary and 70 lakes on the shore of the Ottawa River, between Ottawa and Montreal.-Construction:In the late 1920s,...
, Montebello, QuebecMontebello, QuebecMontebello is a municipality located in the Papineau Regional County Municipality of Western Quebec . As of the 2001 census, there were 1,039 permanent residents. The village has a total area of , and is located at the eastern edge of Canada's National Capital Region.The village is world famous for...
, opened 1930 - Royal York HotelFairmont Royal YorkThe Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, opened 1929 - Palliser HotelFairmont Palliser HotelThe Fairmont Palliser, is a hotel of the Canada-based Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain. The historic hotel is located in downtown Calgary, Alberta on 9th Avenue South adjacent to the Calgary Tower and Palliser Square...
, CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, opened in 1914 - Chateau Lake LouiseChateau Lake LouiseThe Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a Fairmont Hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta. The original Chateau was gradually built up at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was thus "kin" to its predecessors, the Banff...
, Lake Louise, AlbertaLake Louise, AlbertaLake Louise is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Improvement District No. 9 Banff . It is named for the nearby Lake Louise, which in turn was named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta , the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, and the wife of John Campbell, the 9th Duke of Argyll, who was the...
, opened in 1890 - Banff Springs HotelBanff Springs HotelThe Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...
, Banff, AlbertaBanff, AlbertaBanff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
, opened in 1888 - The Empress Hotel, Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, opened in 1908 - Hotel Vancouver, VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, opened in 1939 (the third of four Hotels Vancouver)
Surviving properties sold to other operators
- Bayshore Inn, VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, opened 1960s - now Westin Bayshore - Hotel SaskatchewanHotel SaskatchewanThe Hotel Saskatchewan is a grand hotel located in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, overlooking Victoria Park.One of a chain of hotels constructed and owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the railway's earlier hotels, such as the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, the Chateau Lake Louise and...
, Regina, SaskatchewanRegina, SaskatchewanRegina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, opened in 1927 and now owned by Radisson HotelsRadisson HotelsRadisson Hotels is one of the leading, full-service global hotel companies with more than 420 locations in 73 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named after the 17th-century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson... - Lord Nelson HotelLord Nelson HotelThe Lord Nelson Hotel is a grand hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden and South Park Streets across from the Halifax Public Gardens. It was built in 1927 by a consortium of investors led by the Canadian Pacific Railway who wanted a Halifax anchor to...
, Halifax, Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, opened 1927; now privately operated - Château Champlain, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, opened in 1967 and now owned by MarriottMarriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr... - Chateau Lacombe, EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, opened in 1966 and now operated as a Crowne Plaza Hotel. As the Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe. - Chateau Calgary Airport, CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, opened in 1978 and now owned by Delta HotelsDelta HotelsDelta Hotels is a chain of 45 hotels and resorts across Canada, primarily in the 4 star range of standard. Delta once had a hotel in the United States, the Delta Court of Flags Hotel, located in Orlando, Florida, however, it was closed sometime after 1996 and has subsequently been demolished...
. As the Delta Calgary Airport.
Surviving properties sold and converted to other uses
- Cornwallis Inn, Kentville, Nova ScotiaKentville, Nova ScotiaKentville is a town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is one of the main towns in the Annapolis Valley, and it is the county seat of Kings County. As of 2006, the town of Kentville had a population of 5,815 people....
, opened 1929; now being converted for residential use - Digby Pines ResortDigby Pines ResortThe Digby Pines Resort is a seasonal coastal resort hotel located at Digby, Nova Scotia on the shores of the Annapolis Basin. The Pines is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia and is one of the province's three "Signature Resorts," along with in Liscombe Mills and Keltic Lodge in Ingonish...
, Digby, Nova ScotiaDigby, Nova ScotiaDigby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
, opened 1917 - owned by province and operated as Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa - Place VigerPlace VigerPlace Viger was both a grand hotel and railway station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, Montreal's first mayor...
, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(1898–1935; still standing but no longer a hotel; home to École des métiers du tourisme) - Lakeside Inn, Yarmouth, Nova ScotiaYarmouth, Nova ScotiaYarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...
, opened 1930; closed and Villa St-Joseph-du-lac nursing home since 1960
Non operating properties
- Chateau Aeroport-MirabelChateau Aeroport-MirabelThe Chateau Aeroport-Mirabel was a resort themed hotel at theMirabel International Airport in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. It was located beside the airport's main terminal building, connected by an indoor passageway...
, Mirabel, QuebecMirabel, QuebecMirabel is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is an off-island suburb north-west of Montreal.Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. Its geographical code is 74.Mirabel's population was...
(opened 1977 and closed 2002 due to status of Mirabel Airport; current the hotel property is partly abandoned
Demolished or lost properties
- Glacier House, Glacier National ParkGlacier National Park (Canada)Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...
(1887–1929; demolished); built along CPR line. The abandoned remains are located next to Illecillewaet Campground - Fraser Canyon House, North BendNorth Bend, British ColumbiaNorth Bend is an unincorporated community in the Fraser Canyon region of British Columbia, Canada, located across the Fraser River from the town of Boston Bar...
, Fraser CanyonFraser CanyonThe Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...
, B.C.British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
- first hotel built in 1897 and burned down in 1927; rebuilt 1929 and since demolished - Mount Stephen House, Field, British ColumbiaField, British ColumbiaField is an unincorporated settlement of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia,Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park....
(1886–1963; demolished 1953–1963); Tudor hotel was used by YMCA from 1919 to 1953 - Hotel Sicamous, Shuswap Lake, British Columbia; Tudor style hotel was built early 1900 and demolished 1964
- Royal Alexandra Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Built between 1906 and 1911, it opened in 1911; hotel closed in 1967 and demolished by 1971; interior of the Royal Alexandre Cafe was saved and relocated to BC Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook, BC 1999
Former CN hotels purchased in 1988
- The Queen ElizabethQueen Elizabeth HotelThe Queen Elizabeth Hotel is a grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Completed in 1958, it was built by the Canadian National Railway, but was later sold to Canadian Pacific Hotels, now Fairmont Hotels and Resorts...
, MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, opened 1958 - now Fairmont The Queen ElizabethQueen Elizabeth HotelThe Queen Elizabeth Hotel is a grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Completed in 1958, it was built by the Canadian National Railway, but was later sold to Canadian Pacific Hotels, now Fairmont Hotels and Resorts... - Château LaurierChâteau LaurierThe Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive designed in the Châteauesque style.-History:...
, OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, opened 1912 - now Fairmont Château LaurierChâteau LaurierThe Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive designed in the Châteauesque style.-History:... - Hotel MacdonaldHotel MacdonaldThe Fairmont Hotel Macdonald is a hotel built in 1912 in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway...
, EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, opened in 1915 - now Fairmont Hotel MacdonaldHotel MacdonaldThe Fairmont Hotel Macdonald is a hotel built in 1912 in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway... - Newfoundland Hotel, opened by CN Hotels in 1982 and sold to Canadian Pacific Hotels in 1988. This is the second hotel to carry this name. It replaced an earlier hotel built in 1925. It was demolished in 1982. Now a Sheraton Newfoundland.
- The BessboroughHotel BessboroughThe Delta Bessborough hotel is a three star , ten-story hotel located in downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The hotel is a historical landmark in Saskatoon and is known for its castle-like appearance. The hotel was built by the Canadian National Railway from 1928 to 1932 and is designed in...
(now operated as a Delta Hotel, formerly a Fairmont-owned brand) - Hotel BeauséjourHotel BeauséjourThe 310 room Hotel Beauséjour was opened in 1972 by the Canadian National Railway in the railway hub of Moncton, New Brunswick.The first class hotel was operated by Canadian National Hotels until that chain was purchased by Canadian Pacific Hotels in 1988...
(now operated as a Delta Hotel, formerly a Fairmont-owned brand) - Jasper Park LodgeJasper Park LodgeThe Jasper Park Lodge opened in 1922 in Jasper, Alberta, Canada to challenge the CPR's Banff Springs Hotel.The lodge had first been established in 1915 as a "Tent City," in association with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, but by the 1920s the property was under the management of Canadian National...
- now Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge - Hotel Vancouver - now Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
External links
- BC Archives Photo: North Bend Hotel, North Bend BC
- BC Archives Photo: Mount Stephen House, Field BC
- BC Archives Photo: Balfour Hotel, Balfour BC
- http://www3.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca%2Fspe%2Fhistphotos%2Fphotos-search.htm&TN=PHOTOS&SN=AUTO30007&SE=1335&RN=5&MR=5&TR=2000&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=0&XP=&RF=briefweb&EF=&DF=Full+Photo&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=2&ID=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=10908&NR=0&NB=1&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1VPL Photo: CPR Hotel at Donald, B.C.]
- BC Archives Photo: Sicamous Hotel, Sicamous B.C., 1912 (note hotel is immediately adjacent to rail line and lakeshore)
- Canada's Historic Railway Hotels
Sources
- Canadian Pacific Facts and Figures, published 1946 by Canadian Pacific Railway Company