From Banffshire to Alberta: The Scottish Soul of the Banff Springs Hotel

Set like a fairytale among the peaks of Banff National Park, the Banff Springs Hotel stands as a proud sentinel of history, hospitality, and—unexpectedly—a deep Scottish heritage. With its baronial turrets and stone façade echoing the castles and Manors of Scotland, the hotel is more than a luxury destination; it is a monument to the enduring legacy of Scots in North America. Indeed, it links North America and the North-East Corner of Scotland known as Buchan together.

 To understand how the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel came int existence is to understand the deep connection between Canada and Scotland in the late 1800s. With the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, politics began to broil. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, himself born in Glasgow, and members of his cabinet were accused in an election scandal.  Sir Hugh Allan, a Scottish-Canadian shipping magnate born in North Ayrshire, was implicated in donating election funds in exchange for the federal contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Today, this "scandal" may seem quite normal by today's standards, but at the time it forced Macdonald to resign as prime minister in November 1873, but the CPR was launched. (Five years later, Macdonald led his Conservatives back to power.)

Banff springs Holt

🏰 A Castle in the Rockies

The CPR was key to uniting Canada. It named George Stephen as its first president. Stephen, borne in obscurity and poverty near Banff. He named the town as the railroad was built in remembrance of Banff in Buchan. During his attempt to develop the railroad, he hired an American, Cornelius Van Horne, as his Vice President and the pair began their efforts to connect Canada and develop Banff in Alberta. For his efforts, George Stephen became the first Canadian raised to the peerage as George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen. Van Horne brought an American architect named Bruce Price. Together, they created an new aesthetic that would symbolize Canada, an amalgamation of French Loire Valley Renaissance and Scottish Baronial elements. Its ballrooms appeared to come directly from the halls of Edinburgh Castle.

Ballroom in the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

🌲 A Scottish Spirit in Canadian Soil

Today, the Fairmont Banff Springs remains one of North America’s most beautiful tributes to Scottish architecture and ethos. Guests sip afternoon tea in tartan lounges, descend grand staircases beneath crested ceilings, and stroll past suits of armor that would feel more at home near Edinburgh than Alberta.

For those with Baird ancestry—or simply an affection for Scotland’s rugged romance—the hotel stands not just as a resort, but as a pilgrimage site. It is a place where stone speaks of both ambition and origin, where the Canadian Rockies echo faintly with Buchan winds.