With 355 guest rooms, it is located at 100 Elgin Street at Laurier Avenue, across from Confederation Park in Downtown Ottawa.

The twelve-storey limestone structure was named after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the first Governor General of the united Canadas.

Unlike the Château, however, the Lord Elgin was built to primarily serve short-stay guests, particularly those who were in Ottawa on government and military business during the Second World War, especially after the recent loss of the nearby Russell Hotel.

The building features stone walls which are complete with broken courses and are finished by flattened oriel windows and modernistic chevrons.

Contemporary renovations have significantly altered the original streamlined art-deco inspired lobby.