Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

The first guests at Jasper Park slept in tents. In 1915 the Grand Trunk Pacific railway pitched a tent camp on the shore of Lac Beauvert, a lake the colour of its name, and in 1922 its successor, Canadian National Railways, replaced the canvas with a lodge of logs and a scatter of cabins. Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, in the town of Jasper, Alberta, has grown from that camp into a 700-acre estate but has never abandoned the idea of it: a central lodge and cabins spread along the water, with the Rockies on every side.

History

Canadian National built the lodge to compete with the Canadian Pacific hotels at Banff and Lake Louise, and chose a low, rustic style rather than a château. The golf course opened in 1925 to a design by Stanley Thompson and is still regarded as one of his best. In 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stayed in the Outlook cabin during their royal tour of Canada; Queen Elizabeth II returned to the same cabin in 2005 for Alberta's centenary. Marilyn Monroe stayed in 1953 while filming River of No Return nearby. The main lodge burned down in July 1952 and was rebuilt within a year on the same footprint. Canadian Pacific Hotels acquired the Canadian National hotels in 1988, and the lodge took the Fairmont name after the 1999 merger that created Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

Architecture and design

The main lodge is a long, low building of stone and timber with broad roofs, a great hall with stone fireplaces and picture windows towards Lac Beauvert and the peaks of the Colin Range. The cabins range from the 1920s log originals to larger chalets built in later decades, all in cedar and stone. Paths and a road loop link them, and the lodge runs bicycles and shuttles to cover the distances. Nothing on the estate rises above the treeline of the surrounding forest.

Rooms and suites

Rooms are in the cabins, in groups of a few to several dozen keys, with lake-view and forest-view categories. The signature cabins are stand-alone houses with several bedrooms, a sitting room and a fireplace: the Outlook cabin, which hosted two royal visits, and the Point cabin on its own spit of land are the best known. Suites in the main lodge area have fireplaces and private terraces.

Dining

The lodge has several restaurants and bars in the main building, including a steakhouse, an all-day dining room with a lake terrace, and the Emerald Lounge off the great hall. The golf clubhouse serves lunch in season. Local game and Alberta beef feature across the menus.

Wellness

The spa occupies its own building with treatment rooms, a steam room and a fitness centre. The outdoor pool, heated and open year-round, looks over the lake; there is also an indoor pool. In winter the lake is cleared for skating, and the resort rents cross-country skis and snowshoes. In summer the golf course, canoes on the lake and the trails that start from the cabins fill the days.

Weddings and events

The lodge is one of the largest meeting venues in the Canadian Rockies, with a conference centre attached to the main lodge and the Beauvert and Mountain ballrooms for banquets. Weddings are held on the lawn above the lake, in the ballrooms and in the stand-alone cabins, which can be reserved for a wedding party. The golf course and the lake front are used for group activities.

Location

Jasper National Park is the largest in the Canadian Rockies and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The lodge is five kilometres from the town of Jasper on the far side of the Athabasca river. Edmonton International Airport is about 360 kilometres east, Calgary a longer drive south via the Icefields Parkway. VIA Rail's Canadian and the Rocky Mountaineer stop at Jasper station. The 2024 wildfire that destroyed part of the town spared the lodge, which reopened after the evacuation. It is the only luxury hotel in Jasper of this size and history.