The Lord Elgin Hotel is a prominent hotel in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. With 355 guest rooms, it is located at 100 Elgin Street at

Laurier Avenue Laurier Avenue ''(French: Avenue Laurier)'' (Ottawa Road #48) is a central east west street running through Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as "Maria Street" (west of Waller) and "Theodore Street" (east of Waller), it was renamed in ...

, across from

Confederation Park Confederation Park ''(French: Parc de la Confédération)'' is a public park and National Historic Site of Canada, located in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the south by Laurier Avenue and Ottawa City Hall; on the ...

Downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the ea ...

. The twelve-storey

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

structure was named after

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...

, the first

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of the united Canadas.

About

The Lord Elgin Hotel has 355 guestrooms and four suites, all of them refurbished since 2001.

History and architecture

The hotel was designed by the firm of

Ross and MacDonald Ross and Macdonald was one of Canada's most notable architecture firms in the early 20th century. Based in Montreal, Quebec, the firm originally operated as a partnership between George Allen Ross and David MacFarlane (known as Ross and MacFar ...

, which were the successors of Ross and MacFarlane, who designed the Chateau Laurier.Kalman, 46. It was opened in July 1941 by the Ford Hotel Company to compete with the

Château Laurier The Fairmont Château Laurier is a hotel with 429 guest rooms in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive and designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to complem ...

. Unlike the Château, however, the Lord Elgin was built to primarily serve short-stay guests, particularly those who were in

on government and military business during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, especially after the recent loss of the nearby Russell Hotel. As a result, the hotel did not originally contain any ballrooms or elegant restaurants, as would have been expected in a large hotel at that time, and the guest rooms were relatively small. The building features stone walls which are complete with broken courses and are finished by flattened

oriel windows An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found projecting from an upper f ...

and modernistic

chevrons Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock l ...

. The building is topped by a steep copper chateauesque roof, which,

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

apparently urged the architects to include to reflect the Parliament buildings copper roof. In the 1970s and 1980s, the hotel's impressive facade hid the decline in its fortunes due to changes in the economy, increased competition from international hotel chains also located in the downtown core, and new demands from an ever-evolving younger traveling business class. Significant renovations in the 1990s and 2000s resulted in the construction of large additions to the north and south of the building, the refurbishment and enlargement of existing rooms, and the addition of 60 new guestrooms, new meeting rooms and a new fitness facility which was finished in 2002.Fletcher, 156. The interior showcases busts of James Bruce and his wife, Maria Louisa. Contemporary renovations have significantly altered the original streamlined art-deco inspired lobby.

Notes

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References

*Fletcher, Katharine. ''Capital Walks: Walking Tours of Ottawa'', Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004. *Kalman, Harold and John Roaf. ''Exploring Ottawa: An Architectural Guide to the Nation's Capital.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983. Hotels in Ottawa Hotel buildings completed in 1941 Ross and Macdonald buildings Châteauesque architecture in Canada Hotels established in 1941 1941 establishments in Ontario