Yes, there are other contenders. But for me, this is it: the flagship of Canada’s fleet of historical railway hotels. From our window, we can see a statue of William Cornelius Van Horne, the visionary who built both the CPR and, not incidentally, this extravagant hotel. The four black-and-white photographs that adorn the walls of our room memorialize the 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

But whole books have been written about the Fairmont Banff Springs, as it is properly called, detailing its history, its celebrities, its amenities. I will mention only the 32-metre pool, the attendant outdoor pool, which is heated, and finally the hot pool. These brought back memories that need not detain us.
However, I must put in a word for the gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. It’s pricey, $35 a head, but when you reach the top, you discover marvelous views of Banff and surrounding mountain ranges, and you get to hike a splendid boardwalk to the Eagle’s Eyrie, a stone-built weather observatory built in 1903. It’s like walking into your own IMAX movie, complete with 3D mountain goats, and you're live.