The Banff Springs Hotel was originally built in 1888 and was the largest hotel in the world at one time. Redesigned by W.S. Painter, it was expanded into the Railway Chateau that we see today. The idea of a hotel was thought of by William Cornelius Van Horne, General Manager of the CPR., to help subsidize the expense of finishing the railway. The combination of aristocratic accommodation, medicinal hot springs, and spectacular scenery was so successful that it turned the small village of Banff into a world famous desitination.