This hotel began as a two bedroom log cabin in 1890

In 1890, the building on the shore of Lake Louise was a single storey log cabin with two bedrooms, commissioned by Canadian Pacific Railway general manager Cornelius Van Horne as, in his words, a hotel for the outdoor adventurer and alpinist. Only fifty guests registered that first year. What stands there now is a very different proposition.

Expansion came in stages. Architect Francis Rattenbury added a three storey Tudor Revival wing in 1900, a project that took twelve years to complete, and in 1912 a new Painter Wing brought Italianate, concrete construction to the property. That same year, Edward, Prince of Wales, spent a long vacation at the hotel.

Fire destroyed the original Rattenbury wing in 1924, and its replacement, the Barott Wing, arrived a year later. The hotel closed through the Second World War, and it was not until Canadian Pacific formed Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in 2001 that the property took its current name. A seven storey Mount Temple Wing followed in 2004, adding further rooms and dining space.

The setting has never needed much help. The hotel sits directly on the shore of Lake Louise, its turquoise water backed by the Victoria Glacier, a view that has drawn painters and photographers for well over a century.

In summer, hiking trails leave straight from the property into the surrounding peaks, and canoes go out onto the lake itself. In winter, the same trails turn to skiing terrain nearby, and afternoon tea in the lobby remains a long standing ritual regardless of season.

It suits travellers who want an unmistakably grand base for the Canadian Rockies, and anyone who would rather wake up to a glacier than a city skyline.

A log cabin that grew, wing by wing, into one of the great hotels of the Rockies.

Written by Marta Diaz · CEO & Editor-in-Chief

Avid tennis player, photographer and traveller. She curates every hotel in the collection and writes The Edit.