Charles Hays' Chateau Laurier in Ottawa

From Wikipedia. .//// Opened in 1912 and, with its 429 rooms, one of the grand hotels of the world and very impressive from the outside. It was commissioned by Grand Trunk Railway President Charles Melville Hays and built for $2 million. It was his desire to have similar hotels built all along his railroad. //// He had some problems getting this one built as it is located on land that was part of Major Hill Park, but Canadian Prime Monister Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom it was named) assisted in getting the land. //// It was built from 1909-1912, in tandem with the construction of Ottawa's Union Station for railroads. A tunnel connected the two structures. One of the reasons Hays was on the Titanic was so he could be at the hotel on its grand opening on April 25, 1912. //// The hotel is now part of the Fairmont Hotel and Resort Chain which also has the Jaspar Park Lodge (1923) in Jaspar, Alberta; the Macdonald Edmonton (1923) in Edmonton, Alberta; Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia and Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. //// A Man With a Vision. --DaCoot