Chateau Laurier

from CA$16.00

Roman chamomile - Orange - Sandalwood - White fir

100% soy wax candle with essential oils

As you pull on your gloves, you step into the hotel’s lobby. In the morning light you are able to fully appreciate the space in a way you could not upon your late arrival the night before. The space is large and inviting, wood panels adorn the walls and a large chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling casting a warm glow around the room. As you walk across the room, you do up the last buttons of your thick coat, adjust your hat, and push open the doors as you step into the crisp morning.

Size:

Roman chamomile - Orange - Sandalwood - White fir

100% soy wax candle with essential oils

As you pull on your gloves, you step into the hotel’s lobby. In the morning light you are able to fully appreciate the space in a way you could not upon your late arrival the night before. The space is large and inviting, wood panels adorn the walls and a large chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling casting a warm glow around the room. As you walk across the room, you do up the last buttons of your thick coat, adjust your hat, and push open the doors as you step into the crisp morning.

History

Grand Trunk Railway president Charles Melville Hays commissioned the construction of Château Laurier, which took place between 1909 and 1912 alongside Ottawa's downtown Union Station, linked by an underground tunnel. It was designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to complement the adjacent Parliament buildings.

The hotel’s development sparked some controversy, as it was to be built on part of Major's Hill Park. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then Prime Minister of Canada, played a key role in securing the site, leading to the hotel being named in his honor.

Château Laurier was set to open on April 26, 1912, but Hays tragically lost his life aboard the RMS Titanic just days earlier, on April 15.

When the Grand Trunk Railway merged with Canadian National Railway in 1923, Château Laurier became one of CN's premier hotels. Beyond accommodating guests, it also housed two significant Ottawa institutions. From July 1924 to October 2004, the hotel hosted the local English- and French-language radio stations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on its seventh and eighth floors. Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh also maintained his studio and residence at Château Laurier for many years.