The division operated a series of hotels along CPR's rail lines as early as 1886.

Over the years, a collection of grand railway hotels was put together throughout Canada, both rural and urban.

CPR's rival Grand Trunk Railway and later Canadian National Railway copied Van Horne's approach by building hotels such as the Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alberta, and the Château Laurier in Ottawa.

Although heavily damaged by the subsequent fires, the hotel was renovated under the eye of architect Julia Morgan and finally opened in 1907.

Beginning in the 1960s, the Swig family developed Fairmont into a small chain of luxury hotels throughout the United States.

[11] In July 2001, Fairmont Hotels signed a joint-venture with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for a minority-stake purchase and the management of a luxury 393-room hotel in Dubai.

[13] In 2004, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. paid $70 million to take full control of the management company that runs its properties.

Then in early 2006, a cluster of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was sold for US$3.9 billion to Colony Capital, LLC.

The remaining 60% belonged to a private shares holding in Sweden, trusted in ACCOR hotels, and other investors.

[21] In the USA, Fairmont acquired the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, California in 2014.

[22] In 2015, AccorHotels, with the approval and support of the external party, announced the acquisition of FRHI, thus adding Raffles Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont and Swissôtel to its Luxury Hotel Brands portfolio.