Canada's grand railway hotels
Encyclopedia
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in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...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 the country, each a local and national landmark, and most of which are icons of Canadian
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...
history and architecture. Each hotel was originally built by the Canadian railway
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
companies, or the railways acted as a catalyst for the hotel’s construction. The hotels were designed to serve the passengers of the country's then expanding rail network and they celebrated rail travel in style.
Architecture
Many of the railway hotels were built in the "châteauChâteau
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
style" (also termed the “neo-château” or "châteauesque
Châteauesque
Châteauesque is one of several terms, including Francis I style, and, in Canada, the Château Style, that refer to a revival architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental French country homes built in the Loire Valley from the late fifteenth century to the...
" style), which as a result became known as a distinctly Canadian form of architecture. The use of towers and turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s, and other Scottish baronial
Scottish baronial style
The Scottish Baronial style is part of the Gothic Revival architecture style, using stylistic elements and forms from castles, tower houses and mansions of the Gothic architecture period in Scotland, such as Craigievar Castle and Newark Castle, Port Glasgow. The revival style was popular from the...
and French château architectural elements, became a signature style of Canada’s majestic hotels. Architects also used the style for important public buildings, such as the Confederation
Confederation Building (Ottawa)
The Confederation Building is a gothic revival office building in Ottawa, Canada. Located just west of the Parliament Buildings at Bank and Wellington Streets, it is generally considered part of Parliament Hill. Originally the land where the Confederation Building, and also the Supreme Court of...
and Justice
Justice Building
The Justice Building in Ottawa was previously home to the Department of Justice , and now houses offices of Members of Parliament. It is similar in design as the Confederation Building, to which it is just west....
buildings 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...
.
In later years, the railway companies departed from the château style for some of their properties, notably with the construction of Winnipeg's Royal Alexandra Hotel in 1906; the Palliser Hotel
Fairmont Palliser Hotel
The 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...
in Calgary, built in 1914; and the elaborate second Hotel Vancouver , designed in grand Italianate style, unlike any of the previous Canadian railway hotels.
History
Windsor Hotel (Montreal)
The Windsor Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is often considered to be the first grand hotel in Canada, and for decades billed itself as "the best in all the Dominion".-Early years:...
in 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...
, opened in 1878. Although it was not owned by a railway company, it was built to serve railway visitors from nearby Windsor Station
Windsor Station (Montreal)
Windsor Station is a former train station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formerly serving as the city's Canadian Pacific Railway Station.Windsor Station was the Canadian Pacific Railway's headquarters built between 1887 and 1889. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by New York architect...
. Given its location next to Montreal's main train station, the Windsor served for years as the permanent residence of executives of both the Canadian Pacific Railway
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...
and Grand Trunk Railway
Grand 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...
.
The railways' development role in the construction and operation of large hotels was inaugurated with Canadian Pacific Railway's 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 Canadian Pacific Railway officially opened 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...
on June 1, 1888. 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
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...
for the new hotel. He envisioned a string of grand hotels across Canada that would draw visitors from abroad to his railway. Van Horne famously remarked: “If we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.” The original Banff Springs Hotel, of wooden construction, was destroyed by fire in 1926 and replaced by the present structure.
Canadian Pacific Hotels
Canadian Pacific hotels
Canadian Pacific Hotels was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway that operated a series of hotels across Canada. 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...
next built the Château Frontenac
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...
in 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...
, which quickly came to be the symbol of the city. It was designed to rival any hotel in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Its elevated location overlooking the city also made it a readily identifiable landmark as viewed from passing trains as well as ships plying the waters of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
en route to Montreal. 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...
followed in 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...
, followed by The Empress
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...
in 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...
and the Château 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...
in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta 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...
. The largest of these hotels is the Royal York
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...
in 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...
, which opened in 1929. The CPR’s main competitor, the Grand Trunk Railway, was not prepared to leave the field solely to its rival. It also determined to build a chain of luxury hotels across the country, which it did in the château style. The GTR built the Château 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 in 1912, with the Fort Garry Hotel
Fort Garry Hotel
The Fort Garry Hotel is a historic hotel in Downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and one of Canada's grand railway hotels. Built in 1913 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, it is located one block from the railway's Union Station, and was the tallest structure in the city when it was completed.Like...
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...
and the Hotel Macdonald
Hotel Macdonald
The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald is a hotel built in 1912 in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway...
in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton 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...
following in 1913 and 1915 respectively.
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"....
in 1920. During the decades that followed, the CPR and the CNR continued to expand their competing hotel chains across the country. The Queen Elizabeth Hotel
Queen Elizabeth Hotel
The 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...
in 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...
, built in 1958 over that city’s Central Station, was perhaps the last true railway hotel built in Canada. Both railways continued to open new establishments in subsequent years, although none had any connection to the railways, except through their ownership.
In 1988, Canadian Pacific acquired the CNR hotels. For the first time, many of Canada’s railway hotels were operated by the same company. In 1999, Canadian Pacific Hotels became 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...
, using the name of a company it had recently acquired. Although Fairmont continues to operate many of Canada’s landmark hotels, a number of the historic railway hotels, such as Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
's Delta Bessborough, are owned and managed by other hotel chains.