The iconic Fairmont Chateau Laurier looks like a European castle and is just a short walk from the Parliament. The Chateau Laurier opened on June of 1912. The opening was originally scheduled for April but the General Manager, Charles Hayes, was returning from Europe with some additional furnishings for the hotel on the ill-fated Titanic. His wife and daughter survived but he did not. When it opened the hotel had separate sleeping quarters for men and women, as well as a separate entrance for female guests. The rooms were priced at $2.00 a night. Since then the hotel has host the world’s rich and famous.
The Fairmont Chateau Laurier has an iPad tours, one of the first of its kind. We didn’t have an iPad so we signed out one of theirs and followed the tour which was one of the easiest self-guided tours we have ever followed. The tour points out the Tiffany windows, the portraits of prominent people by Yousuf Karsh grace the Reading Lounge. It continues through the public parts of the hotel including Peacock Alley with historic pictures of the hotel down to the saltwater swimming pool. 