Delta Bessborough
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Delta Bessborough | |
 The Delta Bessborough |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Opening date | December 10, 1935 |
| Developer | Canadian National Railway |
| Architect | Archibald Schofield |
| Owner | Legacy Hotels REIT |
| No. of restaurants | 1 |
| No. of rooms | 225 |
| Website | deltahotels.ca |
The Delta Bessborough hotel is a four star ten-story hotel located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
The Delta Hotel Bessborough has 225 guest rooms, meeting facilities, and five acres of private waterfront gardens in downtown Saskatoon. It is named for Sir Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough and 14th Governor General of Canada and was known until acquired by Delta Hotels formally as "The Bessborough Hotel", and still often in short-form, The Bess (said 'bez').
It was built by Canadian National Railway from 1928 to 1932 and is designed in the same Château-style as many of Canada's other railway hotels. Canadian Pacific Hotels purchased Canadian National Hotels in 1982. The Bessborough was placed under CP Hotels' subsidiary Delta Hotels during the 1990s. In 1999, CP Hotels and Delta Hotels were placed under Fairmont Hotel and Resorts.
[edit] History
After the Canadian Pacific Railway built a railway hotel in Regina in 1926, the Saskatoon business community lobbied Canadian National Railway to build one in Saskatoon.
On December 31, 1928 Sir Henry Thorton, President of the Canadian National Railway, announced that they would build a similar hotel in Saskatoon. The hotel was designed by Archibald-Schofield of Montreal. In February, 1930, the excavation of the site began utilizing a steam thawer and gasoline excavator.
Materials used in construction were of Canadian origin including Tyndall stone from Manitoba, brick from Claybank, Saskatchewan, and tiles from Estevan, Saskatchewan
On May 30, 1931, Walter Pratt, General Manager of Hotels, Sleeping and Dining Cars of the Canadian National Railway announced that Sir Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough and Governor General of Canada had given consent for the hotel to be formally named “The Bessborough”, the hotel was under construction from 1928 to 1932. The Earl and Countess visited the hotel under construction in 1932.
Construction was completed in 1932 but due to difficult financial times the hotel failed to open until Horace N. Stovin became the first official registered guest on December 10, 1935.
In 1972, Donald, Dick, and Marc Baltzan purchased the Bessborough. It came under the control of Canadian Pacific Hotels during the 1980s and part of the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts during the 1990s.
It was acquired by the Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust in 1998, and in 1999, a $9,000,000 restoration of the Bessborough Hotel was completed, returning many of its historical features.
[edit] Photos
 The south side of the Bessborough Hotel from Spadina Avenue |
 From across Spadina Avenue looking east. |
[edit] External links
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