The hotel is located on the southern side of Place d’Armes in Old Quebec, in the Upper Town neighbourhood of the historic area. The Canadian Pacific Railway corporation constructed the Château Frontenac, which was designed by Bruce Price. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts oversees the operation of the hotel.
The Châteauesque-styled building, which was completed in 1893, has 18 stories and a height of 79.9 metres (262 feet), which is increased by the elevation it occupies at 54 metres (177 feet).
It was recognised as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981 and is one of the earliest magnificent railway hotels to be finished. The hotel had three expansions, with the most recent significant extension occurring in 1993.
Built on the promontory of Quebec, a high outcropping of land that projects into the Saint Lawrence River, the Château Frontenac is located on 1, rue des Carrières, at the eastern extremity of Old Quebec’s Upper Town. The hotel’s grounds are bordered to the north by street Saint Louis and to the south by rue Mont Carmel. The hotel’s terrace, Terrasse Dufferin, arcs around it from northeast to southeast and offers views of the Saint Lawrence River. The hotel is bounded by the streets rue du Trésor and rue des Carrières. The Château Frontenac National Historic Site of Canada, which houses the hotel, was established as a National Historic Site of Canada. In January 1981, the region was named a National Historic Landmark.
The Château Frontenac is positioned next to a number of significant historic sites in the Upper Town of Old Quebec, close to the edge of the province’s peninsula. The Ursulines Monastery of Quebec, another National Historic Site of Canada, is a 17th-century monastery established by a missionary community of Ursuline nuns. It is located to the northeast of the hotel. The Plains of Abraham, a historic region inside The Battlefields Park, is located south of the hotel and is where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham took place. The Citadelle of Quebec, which is located on Cap Diamant, an elevated portion of the promontory, is another significant site to be found south of the hotel. The Citadelle houses the Governor General of Canada and the Canadian Queen in addition to being a secondary official residence for the Canadian Armed Forces. The Terrasse Dufferin, which is just below Old Quebec’s Lower Town, is located east of the hotel.
Not the first hotel to be constructed there was the Château Frontenac. The first inn was established in the 1780s and was called the Château Haldimand after the governor of Quebec who gave the order for its construction. Afterwards, it hotel was destroyed to make room for the current hotel.