“Built in the matter of an eighteenth century French chateau,” says this booklet, the Frontenac was the epitome of a chateau-style hotel. Originally built in 1893 but expanded with construction of the central tower in 1924, it had 567 rooms in 1930, more than either the 1916 or 1939 Hotels Vancouver. This is despite the fact that Vancouver had almost twice as many residents as Quebec city in 1930. Both cities were jumping-off points for CP steamships, but Quebec had to compete with Montreal as a departure or arrival city.

Click image to view and download a 115.0-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet from the Chung collection. (Two copies of the booklet are included in the file, which is why it is so big.)

While the 18-story central tower reached an impressive height of 262 feet, the smaller round tower in front was the place to be. It had a tea room on the ground floor, a cozy dining room on the next floor, a drawing room/salon on the third floor, and three oddly shaped suites each on the next two floors. The suite in front, with its large bank of windows, would have offered incredible views of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Today, one of these is known as the Van Horne Suite and it rents for CN$3,800 a night (about US$2,800).

The hotel featured ballroom dancing six nights a week. On Sunday nights, except in the summer, it held concerts featuring the “Chateau Frontenac orchestra assisted by high class vocal talent.”