"The Most Photographed Hotel In The World" - The Château Frontenac

On the last day of my Quebec City trip, I was supposed to go for a tour of the Morrin Centre, which was formerly a prison, but now turned into a library and cultural centre. Unfortunately, the facility cancelled the tour for that day due to a private event, so I had to find something to do before I flew back home. As a backup, I signed up for a tour of the Château Frontenac. The Château Frontenac has the claim of being the most photographed hotel in the world due to its imposing, grand, castle-like (Châteauesque) design. The Château Frontenac stands out in the Quebec City skyline and it is a defining landmark for the city and the province.

We meet our tour guide on the boardwalk at the foot of the hotel, who had the stylings of someone from the 1930s. He tells us about the history of the hotel as a grand railway hotel as well as the changes and expansions the hotel went through in its history.

When we were outside the front doors of the hotel, our tour guide made sure to point out the ornate iron railings that make up the balconies of the hotel. The Château Frontenac in general feels like a fort inside the walls of the old city.

We walk through the revolving doors and inside the lobby of the Château Frontenac, and the furnishings on the inside feel like a product of its time with its wood walls and gold accents. There are some modern touches, including some screens and seating areas. Now, this was not the first time I stayed in a grand railway hotel, as I stayed at the Lord Nelson hotel in Halifax last year. There were also some nice chandeliers worth checking out.

Our tour guide takes us to the restaurants and the bar. I got a good picture of the hotel bar, which had this classy, sitting-room look. It was not too different to the Library Bar at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.

We get to see one of the restaurants at the Château Frontenac, and on the ceiling is a sculpture of the path of the St. Lawrence River. There was also no shortage of wine and spirits bottles, including some expensive bottles of The Macallan Rare Cask from 2022, and a Remy Martin Louis XIII (over $5000).

While checking out the restaurant, our tour guide was telling us about how the Château Frontenac was the host of the planning of the Normandy landings (D-Day) in World War II. The Prime Ministers of Canada and the UK, as well as the President of the USA, would discuss strategy within these very walls.

Our tour guide takes us up a few floors to talk about the hallways of the Château Frontenac, and there were two things he pointed out to us. The Château Frontenac had separate stairways for staff so back in the olden days, the guests would not have to see staff clean or perform regular maintenance, for example. The second thing is that some of the hallways are not straight at all. I think this is due to the multiple expansions to the hotel interfering with the original design.

The tour itself was fine, but I wished I got to see more rooms such as event spaces and ballrooms. I did not get to see them, which was a bit disappointing. There were a couple of artifacts on display, including an original Château Frontenac guestbook from the late 19th century.

After the tour, I was checking out some of the shops in the lobby, and one of the shops had some tartan merchandise for sale. A tartan blanket was $225, but this was the real thing with the Merino wool. No, I did not purchase it.