Prince of Wales Hotel: Part 1

Constructed between 1926-1927, the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta is one of the great Canadian railway hotels. The interesting thing is that it was actually built by an American railway company, the Great Northern Railway, and it became the sole Canadian link in their U.S. chain of resort hotels. Fittingly, the Prince of Wales Hotel was used as an attraction for affluent tourists visiting from Glacier National Park in Montana.

Today the hotel is still a big draw, if not for the structure itself, because of the unbelievable view. Unlike so many other historic properties in the Rockies, the exterior of the Prince of Wales Hotel appears almost unchanged from how it looked back when it was built. The architecture echoes that of an alpine chalet one might expect to see in Europe, and the original timber-framed interior still remains. Appropriately, the Prince of Wales Hotel was designated a National Historic Site in 1995.

Prince of Wales Hotel - Vintage Postcard ca. 1930s

Prince of Wales Hotel Lobby - Vintage Postcard ca. 1930s