Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

The Canadian Pacific Railway began building on the shore of Lake Louise in the 1890s to lure travellers into the Rockies, and the chateau that evolved from those beginnings now commands one of the most photographed views on earth: turquoise glacial water framed by pine walls and the hanging ice of the Victoria Glacier. No other hotel sits on the lakeshore, which means guests have the water to themselves at dawn and dusk, before and after the day-trip crowds.

Inside, the scale is alpine-baronial — arched picture windows the size of cinema screens, painted ceilings and long galleries — while rooms range from cosy classics to lakefront suites where the glacier fills the glass. Fairmont's operation is polished and unashamedly busy; this is a large, all-season resort hotel rather than an intimate lodge, with the bustle that implies in July and August.

The compensations are extraordinary in every season: canoeing on the lake and tea-house hikes in summer, larch-gold valleys in autumn, and in winter skating on the frozen lake, snowshoeing and skiing at the Lake Louise resort nearby. Dining runs from fondue-driven alpine rooms to lake-view fine dining, and the indoor pool looks onto the mountains. For a first encounter with the Canadian Rockies, no address carries more romance.