Delta Bessborough Hotel viewed from the Broadway Bridge over the South Saskatchewan River.

Whether you’re looking at Saskatoon’s downtown across the river, from one of the bridges, or on the street, there’s one building that reigns over the area like a queen — the Delta Bessborough Hotel.

Indeed, the “Bess” has been a focal point of downtown Saskatoon since it opened on December 10, in 1935.

The first registered guest was Horace N. Stovin, who was at the time the Western Program Director for the recently formed CRBC (Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission). In 2000, to celebrate the hotel’s 65th birthday, management created Stovin’s Lounge, which is still a great place to sit back and visit with friends.

On a recent visit to Saskatoon with my husband to watch the NASCAR races, I had my second stay at the Delta Bessborough–my first had been a number of years ago when I was writing for Road & Travel.

The Bessborough is the closest we come in Saskatchewan to having a castle with its stunning architecture of gargoyles, grotesques and heraldic emblems. And I’m all about history and old world charm and beautiful buildings!

Delta Bessborough in Saskatoon at night.

Of course, traveling with your significant other is different than being on your own, so I saw the Bess through another set of eyes on this stay. We had a Signature Club room, which was great–spacious enough for two of us to spread out our luggage and relax, plus a king sized, very comfortable bed.

Signature Club guest rooms are on the sixth floor and have a number of perks along with the best view! We enjoyed the free breakfast, served by friendly hotel staff in the Signature Club lounge. While there are also complimentary appetizers in the evening, we missed out as we were out at the racetrack.

Downtown Saskatoon is like the proverbial bee-hive, so having the five acres of beautiful gardens to enjoy, as well as the South Saskatchewan River, makes the Bess an oasis for relaxation.

But traveling with my hubby usually leaves very little time for relaxin’. Instead, we were out and about, even taking a walk across the Broadway Bridge to have lunch at Calories, an International Restaurant with a cozy atmosphere. We can recommend both the steak frites (5 oz striploin with red wine shallot sauce) and grilled cheese (Canadian cheddar on their own brioche) as tasty options (The beer list was great too!).

Explore Saskatoon’s Castle on the River with this YouTube video from Steve Wolfson–at 28 minutes long there are interviews and lots of history:

 
 
We packed a lot of activities into our three days in Saskatoon and both agreed that the Delta Bessborough was an excellent central point for everything. Plus, of course, we enjoyed that feel of being pampered royalty on our stay at the castle on the river.

Our thanks to Tourism Saskatoon for their assistance during our stay in their beautiful city.