Home

Ads
   Introduction
   1880s-1910s
   1920s
   1930s
   1940s
   1950s

Postcards
   Hotels
   Train Stations
   Offices, Docks

Other Ephemera
   Trains
   Ships
   Hotels
  
Logos

Lists
   Hotels
   Ships
  
Books

HOTELS

  The story of the major hotels can be found in Castles of the North: Canada's Grand Hotels published in 2001 by Lynx Images.  In addition, there is a series of books dedicated to selected individual hotels that are available in Fairmont gift stores.  This site does not intend to repeat all the information already available in these books but rather to provide what is missing from them.  Namely, a comprehensive overview of the history of the hotel division as a whole, vintage colour images to better bring the history of these venues to life and details of the lesser properties which are mostly ignored by these publications.

MAJOR HOTELS & RESORTS

Legend:
gray border = postcards from our collection
black border = postcard scans downloaded from the web

(The) Algonquin Hotel aka The Algonquin
1889-1907 (CPR purchased in 1905; 4 storeys when opened)	1908-1911 (addition)	1912-1913 (Casino building added)	1915- present (rebuilt after fire in 1914; 6 storeys)
Banff Springs Hotel
1888-1913 (5-storey wooden structure; hotel was expanded piecemeal over time)	(roof is likely coloured incorrectly in postcard)		1914-1925 (11-storey stone central tower added; likely that roof colour in postcard is incorrect)
1926-28 (-present) (fire destroyed north wing, north wing rebuilt and "south wing added")
Chateau Frontenac
1893-1897	1898-1908 (Citadel Wing & Citadel Pavilion)	1909-1914 (Mount Carmel wing)	1915-1919 (Archway wing)	1920-1924 (St. Louis Wing, Service Wing, Central Tower Block; no further changes until 1993)
Chateau Lake Louise aka Chalet Lake Louise / Lake Louise Chalet 1890-1925)
1890-1893 (small chalet)	1894-c1896 (rebuilt after fire in 1893)	c1896-1899 (addition)	1900-1912 (additions including mock Tudor extension)	1912-1923 (addition of concrete wing)
1925-2003 (new 9 storey concrete hotel after the 1900 and 1912 additions burned in 1924)
Chateau Montebello
open 1930, owned by CPR and Lucerne-in-Quebec Community Association; operated as the private Seigniory Club until 1970 when bought by CP Hotels & Resorts and renamed Chateau Montebello
Digby Pines Hotel aka The Digby Pines aka The Pines
first hotel built around turn of century; DAR - a CPR subsidiary - acquired around 1925 (confirm) and renovated it but demolished it in 1928; new 100-room fireproof hotel opened in 1929; CP Hotels owned property from 1931-1965; still operating
Empress Hotel
1908-1909	1910-1911 (addition of  very small north wing (left side of bldg))	1912 (addition of south wing) - 1928	1929-1987 (large Humboldt Wing on north side of bldg)	CPR steamships & hotel
veranda		dining room	conservatory
Hotel Palliser
1914-1928 (8 storeys)	1929-present (12 storeys)
Hotel Saskatchewan
1927 (to present)
Hotel Vancouver (old)
1888-1893 (5 storey centre block)	1893-1902 (addition of wing to left of centre block in 1893)	1903-1911 (addition of Italianate wing on right of photo)	1912-1915 (addition)	1916-1939 (15 storeys by 1916; closed in 1939)
conceptual drawing?
Hotel Vancouver (new)
1939-present (opened); co-managed with CNR
Place Viger Hotel (and Train Station) aka The Place Viger
1898-1951 (hotel closed in 1935; station closed in 1951)
Royal Alexandra
note: pictures dated from 1906  up to 1958 all show the hotel with 7 stories.  Therefore,  Castles of the North's reference to the addition of 2 storeys in 1910 is a complete mystery.   1906-1910 (7 (1/2) storeys)	1910 - 1967 (2 stories added)	lobby (circa 1910)	cafe	CPR station and hotel c1906
Royal York Hotel aka The Royal York
1929-1958

LESSER PROPERTIES: LODGES & CHALETS, DINING STATIONS, TEA HOUSES
(legend follows chart)

Cameron Lake Chalet Cameron Lake, BC (built ?, in existence in 1912 (timberwest.com), 1930, 1935, closed?)

Castle Mountain Camp Castle Mountain, AB (built ?,1930, 1935)

Cornwallis Inn Kentville N.S. (built ?, 1930, 1935, 1947, closed?, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure)

Devil's Gap Lodge aka Devil's Gap Camp Kenora, ON (built ?,1930, 1935, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure, 1947, closed?)

Emerald Lake Chalet Field, BC (built in 1902 (NWSource.com, GLCR),1930, 1926, 1947, closed during WWII, still operating as Emerald Lake Lodge)

Fraser Canyon House dining station 1887-1896 (Swiss chalet)1897 (expanded), early 1900s (burned, rebuilt; close date unknown)

Glacier House dining station 1887-1891 (3-storey chalet) 1892-1897 (addition of 32 bedroom 1st annex) 1898-c1900 (addition of billiard & recreational building) c1900-1903 (addition of bowling alley & observation tower) 1904-1925 (addition of 54 bedroom 2nd annex)   c1900

Kooteney Lake Hotel, Balfour, BC - opened 1911, closed during part of WWI, converted to convalescent home for soldiers 1917, closed in 1920s; see crowsnest.bc.ca for info and pics

Lake Agnes Teahouse near Lake Louise, AB (built around 1900 (Canadian Geographic article); closed during WWII, still operating)

Lake O'Hara Lodge / Lake O'Hara Bungalow Camp Hector, BC (built in 1913 (NWSource.com)- 1926 (Canadian Geographic article) (see GLCR for complete details), 1930, 1935, 1947, closed during WWII, still operating; see my 1930 Lake O'Hara brochure for pictures)

Lake Wapta Lodge Hector, BC (built in 1921 (NWSource.com), 1930, 1935, 1947, closed during WWII, closed?; picture in 1930 Lake O'Hara brochure)

Lakeside Inn Yarmouth, N.S. (built ?, 1935, 1947, closed during WWII, closed ?)

McAdam Hotel McAdam N.B. (opened Dec 5, 1904 (rootsweb.com),1926, 1930, 1947, closed?)

Moraine Lake Lodge near Lake Louise, AB (built 1908-1912 (morainelake.com), 1930, 1935, 1947, closed during WWII, still operating)

Mount Stephen House dining station1886-1901 (515 rooms)1902-1953 (increased to 100 rooms)

Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House near Lake Louise, AB (built in 1927 (Canadian Geographic article) closed during WWII, still operating)

Shadow Lake Lodge built in 1928 as a rest stop (Canadian Geographic article, GLCR); still operating

Twin Falls Teahouse near Field, BC (built between 1908 and 1923 (Canadian Geographic article, GLCR) closed during WWII, still operating

Wapta Lodge Bungalow Camp - see Lake Wapta Lodge

Yoho Valley Lodge near Field, BC (built ?,1930, 1935, 1947, closed during WWII; picture in 1930 Lake O'Hara brochure)

ASSOCIATED PROPERTIES

The Admiral Beatty Hotel (owned and operated by the Admiral Beatty Hotel Co. Ltd.) Saint John, NB (built 1924-45, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure, 1947, restored as Rotary Admiral Beatty (seniors) Complex in 1985)

Columbia Icefield Chalet near Lake Louise, AB (1947, closed?)

French River Chalet-Bungalow Camp French River, ON (built ?, 1930, 1935, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure, 1947, closed?)

Harrison Hot Springs Hotel Agassiz, BC (built ?, 1930, 1935, 1947, closed?)

Hotel Incola aka Incola Hotel (operated by Kettle Valley Railway although 1923 borchure says operated by the Okanagan Hotel Company) Penticton, BC (built ?, picture from 1916 and 1923 brochures available at crowsnest.bc.ca, 1930, 1935, closed?)

Hotel Sicamous - see Sicamous Hotel

Lord Nelson Hotel (operated by the Lord Nelson Hotel Co. Ltd.) Halifax, NS (built ?, found 1929 reference, 1944, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure; still operating)

Mount Assiniboine Lodge Banff, AB opened 1928 (built ?,GLCR), (1930, 1935, 1947, closed?)

Nipigon River Camp Nipigon, ON (built ?, 1930, closed?)

Radium Hot Springs (Lodge) Radium, BC (1930, 1935, B&W picture in 1944 hotel brochure, 1947, closed?)

Sicamous Hotel Sicamous, BC (built ?, picture from 1916 brochure available at crowsnest.bc.ca, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1947, closed?)

Sunshine Lodge Banff, AB (built ?, 1947, closed?)

"1947" = listed in 1947 railway timetable
"1944" = 1944 Canadian Pacific Hotels booklet (same source for "closed during WWII"); differentiates between owned & associated properties
"1935" = 1935 railway map
"1930" = Resorts in the Canadian Rockies brochure
"1926" = listed on back of 1926 Chateau Lake Louise menu
GLCR = Great Lodges of the Canadian Rockies
 

HOTEL CHRONOLOGY

*see detailed history for details of this property ownership
**new Hotel Vancouver replaced old one in 1939

HOTEL LEGACY

As of 2004, all major hotels remain in operation under the Fairmont banner (which also acquired many historic CN hotels) except for Digby Pines which is independently owned.  A complete listing of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts' current properties can be found at their web site.  The other properties that remain open are all independently owned and operated and all have their own web sites in case you would like to find out how you can visit them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OTHER RAILWAY HOTELS

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY
Queen Elizabeth, Montreal - opened 1958
Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper Park, AB - bungalows open 1922, main lodge opens 1923, CP Hotels & Resorts buys in 1988
Keltic Lodge, Ingonish, N.S.
Minaki Lodge, Minaki, ON - opened in 1914 by GTR and closed during war; reopened by CNR in 1927
The Nova Scotian, Halifax, N.S. - 1930
Hotel Newfoundland, St. John's NF - purchased by CNR in 1949, new hotel built in 1982, old hotel demolished 1983; CP Hotels buys property in 1988
The Charlottetown, Charlottetown, PEI - built 1931, sold 1964
Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon - opened 1935
Hotel Vancouver (New) - opened 1939 (co-managed with CPR)

GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY (later CNR when GTR went bankrupt near end of WWI)
Chateau Laurier, Ottawa - opened 1912
The Fort Garry, Winnipeg - opened 1913

GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY
Hotel Macdonald, Edmonton, AB - opened 1915

GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY
Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton Lakes national Park, AB

CANADIAN NORTHERN RAILWAY
Prince Edward Hotel, Brandon, MB - opened 1912, demolished 1980