Lord Elgin Hotel

The Lord Elgin Hotel is a prominent hotel in downtown Ottawa, Canada with 355 guest rooms, located at 100 Elgin Street at Laurier Avenue, across from Confederation Park. The twelve-storey limestone structure was named after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the first Governor General of the united Canadas.

The hotel was designed by the prestigious firm of Ross and Macdonald, which were the successors of Ross and MacFarlane, who designed the Chateau Laurier. It was opened in 1941 by the Ford Hotel Company to compete with the Château Laurier. Unlike the Château, however, the Lord Elgin was built to primarily serve short-stay guests, particularly those who were in Ottawa on government and military business during the Second World War, 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.

Photo 967, Jun 2010