The Canadian railway hotel is a series of five star hotels across the country, each local and national landmarks, and most of Canada's historical and architectural icons. Each hotel was originally built by a Canadian railway company, or the train acted as a catalyst for the construction of the hotel. The hotels are designed to serve passengers from the country's burgeoning railway network and they celebrate train travel in style.
Video Canada's grand railway hotels
Architecture
Many railroad hotels are built in "chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau style" (also called "neo-chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau" or "chÃÆ' Â ¢ teauesque" style), which as a result is known as a typical form of Canadian architecture. The use of towers and towers, and other Scottish and French architectural elements, became the typical style of the stately hotels in Canada. Architects also use styles for important public buildings, such as Confederate and Justice buildings in Ottawa. In later years, rail companies departed from chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau style to some of their properties, especially with the construction of Winnipeg's Royal Alexandra Hotel in 1906; Palliser Hotel in Calgary, built in 1914; and an elaborate second Hotel Vancouver, designed in a magnificent Italian style, unlike other Canadian railway hotels before.
Maps Canada's grand railway hotels
History
The first major railway hotel in Canada, the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, opened in 1878. Although not owned by the railway company, the hotel was built to serve train visitors from nearby Windsor Station. Given its location next to Montreal's main railway station, Windsor served for years as the permanent residence of executives from the Canadian Pacific Railway and Great Trunk Rail.
The role of railway construction in the construction and operation of major hotels was inaugurated by the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway at the Vancouver Hotel on May 16, 1888. This is the first of three hotels owned by the railway with that name in Vancouver. Two weeks later, the Canadian Pacific Railway officially opened the Banff Springs Hotel on June 1, 1888. CPR President William Cornelius Van Horne personally selected a location in the Rocky Mountains for a new hotel. He envisioned a series of large hotels in Canada that would attract visitors from abroad to trains. Van Horne famously commented: "If we can not export the landscape, we will import the tourists." The original Banff Springs hotel, from wooden construction, was destroyed by fire in 1926 and replaced by the present structure.
Canadian Pacific Hotels subsequently built ChÃÆ' Â ¢ teau Frontenac in Quebec City, which quickly became the symbol of the city. It was designed to rival any hotel in Europe. Its high location overlooking the city also makes it an easily identifiable landmark as seen from passing trains and boats sailing in the waters of the Saint Lawrence River on their way to or from Montreal. Place Viger followed in Montreal, followed by The Empress in Victoria, British Columbia, and ChÃÆ'Â ¢ teau Lake Louise in Alberta. The largest of these hotels is the Royal York in Toronto, which opened in 1929. CPR's main competitor, Grand Trunk Railway, is not ready to leave the field just for its rivals. He is also determined to build a luxury hotel chain across the country, which is done in the style of chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau. GTR built ChÃÆ' Â ¢ teau Laurier in Ottawa in 1912, with Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg and Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton after 1913 and 1915.
The GTR merged into the Canadian National Railway in 1920. Over the next decades, CPR and CNR continued to expand their competing hotel chains across the country. The Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, built in 1958 over Central Station in the city, is probably the last true train hotel built in Canada. Both railways continue to open new companies in subsequent years, although no one has connections to the railway, except through their ownership.
In 1988, Canadian Pacific acquired the CNR hotel. For the first time, many Canadian railway hotels are operated by the same company. In 1999, Canadian Pacific Hotels became Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, using the newly acquired company name. Although Fairmont continues to operate many Canadian landmark hotels, a number of historic railroad hotels, such as the Delta Bessborough Saskatoon, are owned and managed by other hotel chains.
Inventory
See also
- Canadian Pacific Hotels
- Canadian National Hotel
References
- Knowles, Valerie, From Telegrapher to Titan: The Life of William C. Van Horne (Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2004) (ISBN: 1-55002-488-4)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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