Officially discovered in 1884, one year after railway workers stumbled on what is known as the Cave and Basin on the lower slopes of Sulphur Mountain, The Upper Hot Springs were developed as early as 1886, when a log bathhouse and the Grand View Villa were established
In 1895, Francis “Frank” Beattie opened a two-storey, six-room hotel, near the hot springs. In 1898, The Beattie Hotel was destroyed by fire and within a few years, Jock and Robert Thomson had built the Hot Springs Hotel on the Site. That same year, the government opened a bathhouse beside the Hot Springs Hotel. It featured two concrete-lined plunge pools, several bathtubs, and a 50-square-metre pool. Access was by horseback or carriage until 1915, when a road was opened.
In 1911, Dr. Bevan Ashton acquired the lease from Robert Thomson. As a published Doctor of Osteopathy, Dr. Ashton distributed his book, “The Banff Cure, A Cure by Water” compliments of the hotel, to all guests.
In 1931, The Grand View Villa burnt to the ground, allowing the Federal Government to take over the lease and begin construction of a bathhouse and large outdoor pool that remains open to this day, on the steep slope just above the Rimrock Resort Hotel.
In 1940, Dr. Ashton passed and his son, Phillip, took over the hotel, changing the name to The Upper Hot Springs Hotel. Phillip and his wife Edith ran the hotel until the mid-1940’s. When Phillip moved to British Columbia in 1946, Edith remained in Banff, operating the hotel with John Jaeggi, whom she later married.
In 1959, John And Jane Pawluk purchased the leasehold for The Upper Hot Springs Hotel. They moved the original building to the south and began construction on what was to become the Rimrock Hotel and later the Rimrock Inn. The new hotel included 60 guest rooms, a lunch counter, a restaurant, a boardroom, a cocktail lounge and a rooftop fine dining room. In 1979, the Pawluk’s began the expansion of the Rimrock Inn, adding a spa, lobby bar, conference facility and 110 additional rooms to the property.
In 1988, The Rimrock Resort Hotel Corporation purchased the Rimrock Inn and began to make way for the new Rimrock Resort Hotel. This resulted in a unique architectural hotel, comprising of 333 luxurious guestrooms, including 21 suites, 2 restaurants, a lobby lounge and bar, over 18,000 square-feet of meeting space, and stunning views.
The new Rimrock Resort Hotel opened on August 1, 1993, and was awarded its first AAA/CAA Four Diamond rating in 1996, which it has held ever since.