To the west, the property is bounded by Quebec Route 323, a provincial highway that connects Montebello to Mont Tremblant.

The Château Montebello is a year-round resort situated within old-growth forests, and past outcroppings of the Canadian shield.

[5] The resort also operates rental and support facilities for dogsledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, biking, fishing, horseback riding, and kayaking.

[6][5] The resort also contains a 263 square kilometres (65,000 acres) game reserve, known as the Fairmont Kenauk at Le Château Montebello.

[1] West of the resort's main buildings, is Manoir Papineau, a National Historic Site of Canada.

[6] As work on the building began before the hotel's final design plans were completed, Nymark's construction crew occasionally proceeded without blueprints to guide them.

[6] The three resort buildings erected in 1930 were built using 10,000 western red cedar logs shipped from British Columbia.

The completed structure saw a large log-building housing 211 guest rooms, and suites, with four wings extending outward from the central lobby in a star formation.

[8] The rotunda-shaped lobby serves as the centre of the hotel, featuring a three-storey atrium, built around a massive stone fireplace.

[5] The hotel also features a 371.6 square metres (4,000 sq ft) spa, with eight treatment rooms, and a couples suite.

[5] François de Laval, the first Bishop of Quebec, purchased the property in 1674 from the French East India Company.

[7][2] In the late 1920s, Harold M. Saddlemire, a Swiss-American entrepreneur, acquired a site along the Ottawa River, on land that formerly formed part of the seigneurial system of New France.

A special spur from the nearby CPR line had to be built to allow for the transport of red cedar logs and other supplies to the site.

Prominent Canadian club members during this period included Lester B. Pearson, the Prime Minister of Canada.

Other non-Canadian members included Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco.

[12] Other prominent guests at resort include Crown Prince Akihito of Japan, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Harry S.

[13] The President of the United States Harry Truman's visit to Canada in June 1947 included a trip to the Seigniory Club retreat.

[17] In 1995, the American National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded a special membership to the Château Montebello, one of only two Canadian hotels so honoured.

In 2007 the resort hosted the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America conference, a North American Leaders' Summit between the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón, and President of the United States George W. Bush.