In the late 19th century, the hotel was built as an ideal stopover for Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway passengers. Drawing on the styles of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, architect Bruce Price immortalized the history of the two great powers that had occupied Quebec City's highest promontory. A new expansion phase was completed in 1993 with the inauguration of the Claude-Pratte Wing, which offers guests a superb indoor pool, a physical fitness center and a magnificent outdoor terrace. There is also a spa with masseur and steam bath.

History casts a long architectural line at the Chateau: a 300-year-old stone bearing the Cross of Malta emblem is among the interior stones of the hotel's vaulted lobby. Countless personalities have graced Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac with their presence, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Princess Grace of Monaco, Charles de Gaulle, Ronald Reagan, Francois Mitterrand, Charles Lindberg and Alfred Hitchcock. In 1944, Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac became the action center of the Quebec Conferences of World War II, which involved U. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The chateau's 618 guest rooms are styled with chateau furnishings and regal decor and feature air-conditioning with individual climate control, an alarm clock-radio, cable television with in-room pay movies and video games, coffee/tea maker, hairdryer, iron and ironing board, mini-bar, telephone equipped with voice-mail and windows that open to the outside.