Rating:
Price:

The Chateau Lake Louise is one of the best-loved hotels in North America -- and one of the most expensive. If you want to splurge on only one place in the Canadian Rockies, make it this one -- you won't be sorry. This massive, formal structure is blue-roofed and turreted, furnished with Edwardian sumptuousness and alpine charm. Built in stages over the course of a century by the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the entire hotel was remodeled and upgraded in 1990, and now stays open year-round. The cavernous grand lobby, with its curious figurative chandeliers, gives way to a sitting room filled with overstuffed chairs and couches; these and other common areas overlook the Chateau's gardens and the deep blue-green lake in its glacier-hung cirque. The guest rooms' marble-tiled bathrooms, crystal barware, and comfy down duvets are indicative of the attention to detail and luxury you can expect here. With so many guests and visitors cramming into the hotel, the Chateau can sometimes feel like Grand Central Station, but the guest rooms are truly sumptuous and the service highly professional. New construction in 2003 added a conference center and additional guest rooms to the Chateau.

Facilities: 9 restaurants in high season, including the exquisite Edelweiss Room and the jolly Walliser Stube Wine Bar ; 2 bars; indoor pool; health club; exercise room; Jacuzzi; sauna; bike and canoe rental; concierge; tour desk; business center; shopping arcade; salon; 24-hr. room service; massage; babysitting; laundry service; same-day dry cleaning; concierge-level rooms.

© 2005, Wiley Publishing, Inc.