
Château Frontenac at sunset
The 'Château Frontenac'
grand hotel is one of the most popular attractions in
Quebec City,
Quebec,
Canada.
Designed by architect
Bruce Price, the Château Frontenac was one of a long series of
"château" style hotels built for the
Canadian Pacific Railway company at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th century. It opened in
1893, five years after its sister-hotel the
Banff Springs. The railway company sought to encourage luxury tourism and bring wealthy travelers to its trains.
The Château Frontenac was named in honour of
Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, who was governor of the colony of
New France from
1672 to
1682 and
1689 to
1698. The Château was built not too far from the historic
Citadelle, whose construction Frontenac had begun at the end of the 17th century. The
Quebec Conference of
1943, in which
Winston Churchill and
Franklin D. Roosevelt discussed strategy for
World War II, was held at the Citadelle while much of the staff stayed nearby in the Château Frontenac. (
William Lyon Mackenzie King was invited to some meetings as a courtesy to
Canada.)
The hotel is perched on a tall cape overlooking the
Saint Lawrence River, thus giving a spectacular view for several kilometres. The building is the most prominent feature of the Quebec City skyline as seen from across the St. Lawrence, and is a symbol of the city. The hotel is built near the
Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French in
1759 during the
Seven Years' War (also called the
French and Indian War), to annex Quebec.
The hotel is managed and operated by
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts of Toronto. The hotel was sold by Fairmont on October 31, 2000 to the Legacy Hotels REIT for CAD $185 million. However, Fairmont has a long-term management agreement with Legacy Hotels, and as of August 2005, held an 11.14% ownership in the
REIT.
External links
★
Official site