The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald

Set high on the riverbank above the North Saskatchewan River Valley, the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald has anchored downtown Edmonton since 1915. The building reads as a château in the city centre, its stone turrets and steep roofline unusual among the surrounding towers. Inside, corridors lead to renovated rooms finished with crystal light fixtures and illuminated headboards, and to the Fairmont Gold floors, a hotel-within-a-hotel on the top two levels with its own check-in and lounge. Gold guests get a private concierge team. The lounge serves breakfast daily, coffee and tea through the day, and canapés at an honour bar in the evening. Several named suites occupy the top floor, including two-storey layouts once used by royal and vice-regal guests; the Queen Elizabeth II Suite has a butler's pantry and a soaking tub in its upstairs bathroom. Bathrooms generally run to marble vanities, porcelain floors and rain showers. Downstairs, the Harvest Room serves Canadian dishes with regional ingredients, and the Confederation Lounge offers a quieter room for a drink. Guests can walk the gardens behind the hotel or use the Macdonald Health Club. The hotel keeps a resident dog, Smudge, as its unofficial greeter. It sits within walking distance of downtown Edmonton's main sights, river valley trails included.