Superior Rooms, Views, Service, at Thunderbay (Canada) Prince Arthur Hotel

>Waterfront Hotel and Suites has invested over 2.5
million Canadian dollars for renovations and
Every year Outside Magazine runs a feature onupgrades to the property, including wireless high
the top 50 best small towns to live in the USA. Ifspeed internet access to all it guest rooms and
they did the same survey for Canada, Thunderconference rooms, according to Brandi Burns,
Bay, Ontario, on the western end of Lakehotel manager.
Superior, would get my vote for one of the topThe hotel is still a sentinel for business
ten best Canadian places to live.conferences and banquets because of its prime
Although Thunder Bay is no longer the main grainlocation. I stayed in one of the Superior Lakeside
shipping port for the interior hinterlands of Ontariorooms with a Jacuzzi and a superior view of
and the prairie provinces, the world’sMarina Park in the foreground and Sleeping Giant
largest grain elevators still stand as testament toProvincial Park in the distance. Sun streams
the power of agriculture, with wheat, oats, andthrough the clouds reflecting off the largest of
barley freighted across Lake Superior bythe Great Lakes, and with such a breezy day I
mammoth ships and around the world.should have been out on the water sailing. I walk
Thunder Bay is a relatively new city in Canada,along the boardwalk circumnavigating the marina
built on the namesake of Port Arthur and Portand I vow to return for the summer regatta
William, merging together as one cosmopolitan unitracing season.
in the 1970s. The city now is a tourism draw andLegend of the Sleeping Giant —
a center for small business and light industry.Looking East across the shores of Lake Superior
They even have their own Casino, a charityit requires little imagination to see the form of a
casino with the profits shifted to the nationalsleeping body — a giant, arms folded across a
government. The Casino offers slots and tablemassive chest as if in a deep sleep. Outside
games of Blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Let ItThunder Bay, on Isle Royal , a tribe of Ojibway
Ride, Spanish 21, Texas Hold 'Em, and Roulette.natives kept a loyalty to their Gods and
The most historic place to hang your hat while inindustrious mode of living. Nanabijou, the spirit of
town is the Prince Arthur Hotel, which wasthe deep sea water, rewarded them with silver
originally conceived in a 1908 poker game. Whilemines, but if the mines were ever revealed to
traveling to Winnipeg and back, John Jamesthe white man then the Nanabijou would be
Carrick, the mayor of Port Arthur, and Sir Williamturned to stone and cover the silver mines. The
Mackenzie, the president of the Canadian NorthernOjibway became famous for their beautiful silver
Railway, together with Sir Donald Mann, wereornaments, and when upon seeing them, the
playing poker in Sir William’s and SirSioux strove to wrest the secret from them.
Donald’s private rail car. In the small hoursThe Ojibway never divulged the secret of the
of the morning J. J. told Sir William that Portmines, so their Sioux enemies devised a cunning
Arthur needed a good hotel and that the C.N.R.plan. When a scout entered an Ojibway powwow
should build one. Without any authority from thedisguised as one of them, he succeeded in learning
city council, J.J. added that the town had an idealthe secret of the silver. The scout found the
location for the hotel (the existing site overlookingsilver and stopped at a white settlement to trade
the waterfront) and was prepared to turn it oversilver for food, and the word was out to the
to the C.N.R. When Sir William showed an interestwhite man. The Great Spirit lay down across
J. J. said that the hotel would cost about a quarterwhat was once a bay and the Sleeping Giant has
of a million dollars to build. Sir William agreed.been guarding the Ojibway silver mines ever since.
The following year (after the city council hadA warning fulfilled.
agreed to the proposal and passed the necessaryThe Prince Arthur hotel is nearby the original train
by-law), construction began on a four story hotelstation that serves as the HQ now for fine dining
under the architectural supervision of Warren andrestaurants that were unfortunately closed the
Wetmore of New York City. To quote from Mr. J.day I was visiting. But the city is a melting pot of
D. Matheson of the firm, “The probability is thatItalian, Chinese, Greek and French cuisine, and
the entire exterior of the magnificent building willeven Finnish fine food. Of course there are the
be of Simpson Isle or Isle Royal sandstone.”steakhouses, because this is after all an agricultural
The hotel was open for travelers on March 14,center filled with mom and pop hometown
1911, and was one of the best furnished andcafés. One of the more popular lunch crowd
appointed hotels on the North American continent.pleasers near the hotel is Gargoyles, filled with
The hotel even had hot and cold running water!grotesque statues, begging for a bite of my salad
(Rates were $1.50 without bath and $2.00 withand my hosts' sandwiches. A blues bar is located
bath per day.) In April 1912, an addition wasjust across the street from the hotel, and in fact,
started and completed in 1914. The hotel costone of the most vibrant blues festivals is held at
more than the original estimate envisioned by J. J.,the Marina Park every July. The town even has a
coming in at about $850,000. The two storyfringe theater festival where performance art
rotunda still exists. The original bedrooms wererules and I am certain Prince Arthur Hotel is one
twenty feet long with an outside living room. Theof the venues. There is no better spot to watch
first three floors still are decked with the originalthe Canada Day fireworks blasted off at Marina
mahogany, with the upper floors hewn weatheredPark than a lakeside room.
oak. The original dining room wass approachedOther services that prop up the local economy
from the rotunda by way of a marble staircase.are antique shops, photography and art galleries
Now the Portside Restaurant is the hotel's majorand studios, computer services, and a large health
dining area.care hospital complex. The hotel touts itself as
Located in the "Heart of the Heart" of downtown“The Heart of the Heart,” and it is certainly
Thunder Bay, on the corner of Red River Roadtrue, because I met a computer programmer
and Cumberland Street, the Prince Arthur Hotel iswho was staying in the hotel while installing a new
the only full service waterfront hotel in town.system at the regional hospital a few blocks
Over the last two years the Prince Arthuraway.