Our Story
A fortress with secrets, a hotel with soul
Built by Scottish engineer Malcolm Lumirath who came west chasing gold but found something better - this incredible mountain ridge. He wasn't planning on building a fortress, honestly. Started as just a sturdy lodge for the railway workers passing through. But Malcolm, well, he had this thing about doing stuff properly. Stone by stone, the place grew into what you see today.
During the Great War, the Citadel served as a retreat for officers on leave. There's still a room on the third floor - we call it the Captain's Chamber now - where you can see names carved into the window frame. Young men who stayed here before heading back overseas. Some never returned. It's heavy history, but it matters.
This is when things got interesting. A film director discovered the place while scouting locations and suddenly we're hosting movie stars who wanted privacy. They'd sneak up here between shoots, hiding from the cameras for once. The stories we could tell... but we don't. That's kind of our thing. What happens at the Citadel stays at the Citadel.
The Citadel almost became condos. Yeah, can you imagine? Some developer saw dollar signs and wanted to tear down these stone walls that'd stood for ninety years. Thankfully, a group of locals and history buffs raised hell - and enough money - to save it. Became a heritage site that same year.
We spent five years bringing the old girl back to life. But here's the thing - we kept everything that mattered. Those massive stone walls, the original timber beams, the grand staircase where Malcolm's daughter got married in 1912. We just made sure you can charge your phone and take a decent shower. Best of both worlds, really.
Now it's your turn to add to the legacy. Every guest who walks through those fortress doors becomes part of this place's ongoing story. And honestly? That's the part we're most excited about.
The toughest part of the renovation? Figuring out where history ends and modern comfort begins. You can't just slap marble counters in a 130-year-old fortress and call it a day. Every decision was a conversation - sometimes an argument - between our architects, heritage consultants, and yeah, a few ghosts probably weighing in too.
We kept the irregularities. That's important. The walls aren't perfectly straight because they weren't built to be. The floors have a slight slope in places because mountains settle over time. These aren't flaws - they're proof this place is real.
Look, we're not gonna pretend we invented luxury hospitality. But we did figure out how to make a fortress feel like home without losing what makes it special. Our suites have heated floors and rainfall showers, sure - but they're built into spaces that once housed supply stores and guard quarters.
The wine cellar? That's in the original storage vault. Still has the iron door from 1890. Our head sommelier jokes that the wines age better knowing they're surrounded by that much history. Who knows, maybe he's right.
Here's what actually matters - the people who run this place. Our concierge team includes folks who've been in Whistler for decades. They know which trails are worth the climb, which restaurants tourists don't know about yet, when to catch the mountain in perfect light.
And our housekeeping team? They treat every stone in this building like it matters, because it does. You'll see them sometimes just pausing to appreciate a particular archway or the way afternoon light hits the grand hall. That's not in any training manual - that's genuine care for this place.
Our head chef worked in Vancouver for fifteen years before we convinced him to move up here. He was skeptical at first - worried about getting quality ingredients this far from the city. Then he discovered the network of local farms, foragers, and producers who've been quietly doing incredible work in these mountains.
Now our menu changes constantly based on what's actually good right now. Wild mushrooms someone found yesterday. Trout caught this morning. Berries picked at dawn. It's not some forced farm-to-table concept - it's just common sense when you're surrounded by this much natural abundance.
We get a lot of repeat guests, and when we ask what brings them back, it's never the thread count or the fancy toiletries. It's usually something unexpected - the way sound echoes in the stone corridors, the feeling of standing in a room where history actually happened, the view from the north tower at sunset.
One guest told us she books a room here every year on her wedding anniversary because it's the only place where she can actually disconnect. Her phone works fine, by the way - she just doesn't feel the need to use it much. That's the Citadel effect.
This place isn't for everyone. If you want a resort where everything's new and identical and predictable, there are plenty of options down the mountain. We've got quirks - old buildings do. Sometimes you'll hear pipes settling at night. The WiFi's fast but the stone walls can be thick. Some doorways require tall folks to duck a little.
But if you want to stay somewhere that actually feels like somewhere, where the walls have stories and the staff knows the difference between service and hospitality, where you can touch history and sleep in comfort - well, that's kind of our specialty.
136 years of standing strong through gold rushes, world wars, and changing times
Building the next chapter with every guest who becomes part of our story