Today we’re looking at the old Hotel Alexandra in Drumheller Alberta. In the comparison, it’s seen first in the 1930s, and again in 2025. While it still looks much the same today, it’s not a hotel anymore. You can still stop in for a cool refreshment and a nice meal at the bars located here, however. The hotel is made up from a three story brick structure and a single level annex to its right.
Our Now photo was captured while on a break from shooting an episode of the Beer Parlour Project at the Waldorf Hotel next door. We shot a few Then & Nows there as well, and we should get to them in a bit. Just like all the other BP events, it was crazy busy, but we always find time to step out and catch our breath. Grab some outside shots, enjoy the evening and prep for the next round of photos or interviews inside.
Hotel Alexandra Drumheller Alberta: Then & Now Time! Fun, historical comparisons with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
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The Hotel Alexandra first shows up in local phone and business directories about 1925. The current owners of the structure state a build date that’s later by over a decade and we’re not sure the origins of this. The city when asked, didn’t seen to know for sure. There’s no solid photo evidence either, but directories are pretty reliable sources.
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A 1927 Henderson’s ad reads: “Alexandra Hotel, European Plan $1.50 and up. Fire Proof Hotel. With or without private bath.” Hotels in the old days seemed to go up in flames with alarming regularity, so that one point was good to mention. That usually meant the building was of brick, as is the case here. Shared bathrooms were common in those days and having you’re own was a luxury.
Old photos from the 1910s show these same lots were occupied by other buildings or were vacant depending on the year. Drumheller dates to the early 1910s, by the way.
In one early phone book entry they misspelled the name Alexander. For some entries it’s the Hotel Alexandra and in others the Alexandra Hotel. Van Swelm and Guterson were the proprietors in the early days and for many decades to come.
It’s not said who the hotel was named for, but it may have been Alexandra of Denmark, wife of King Edward VII. It was common practise to give hotels royal names in that era. Alexandra, who seemed well enough liked, incidentally, passed on about the same time the Hotel Alexandra first shows up. We know of several Alexandra Hotels who followed this naming convention, but it’s only a guess here.
The lower annex on the right side of the building was always part of the hotel. It might even be older than the hotel, but we can’t say for sure. This section burned in 1940 (Drumheller history book, Hills of Home) and was replaced by what we see today. Old photos show it as a two story structure in the old days. In photos from the late 1940s, it had a Art Moderne exterior with that streamlined look so popular at the time.
In earlier photos of the previous incarnation, there was various billboard advertisements up on the second level. One was for Turret Cigarettes. In the Then photo we used, we see a standing billboard above the east end of the building. The image is too small to make out, but in another photo from about the same era, it’s for Coca Cola.
In earlier times, this annex housed a number of business, with what appears to be rooms on the second floor. 1940s photos show a diner here at one point, and it’s said this was the location of the Hotel Alexandra Beer Parlour too.
In the 1940s and 1950s period, the hotel used the motto “Where the guest is King” in ads.
By the 1990s, the Alexandra Hotel ceased to offer traditional accommodations and went hostel style. They functioned as the Alexandra International Hostel for some years. Hostels offered basic accommodations – remember the shared bathrooms here – small rooms too – and catered to budget-minded travelers, rather than business people or families.
Around this time, the Hotel Alexandra bar became the “Zoo”. It sounds unabashedly rough and rowdy in nature…so a Beer Parlour Project kind of place.
In more recent times the east (single-level) section of the old Hotel Alexandra became the Vintage Tap House Pub & Grill and the main floor of the west (brick) section, the Vintage Kitchen and Bar. They’re owned by the same folks and the latter is family friendly. It appears they are (or were) making the upper floor of the old hotel section into the Alexandra Apartments, although how far along they are is not known. Nothing comes up in recent searches so they many have shelved the idea for now.
The Hotel Alexandra is in close company today with the still operating Waldorf Hotel just to the west. In years past, the White House Hotel once operated just a bit to the east. The three hotels were all grouped around the train station, which was a short distance away. This was a prime spot to have a hotel, back when everyone travelled by rail.
The Then photo was captured from the train station grounds, but today this spot is a parking lot. The tracks were behind the original photographer’s position and the station to their right, but out of view. Trains are a memory and the railway pulled out about 2010, but passenger service ended decades earlier.
This old image is thanks to the University of Calgary archives (Alberta Liquor Control Board fonds) and they’ve dated it ca1935. Based on the cars seen, which appear to be early 1930s models, that should be about right. Note a good number of people are seen on the right side of the photo, but the image is too small to clearly see their form of dress. It does seem consistent with the era stated.
We captured a few people ourselves by the the Vintage Tap House entrance and some are close in location to folks in the old photo.
“The Alberta Liquor Control Board was an agency of the Alberta Government that regulated the liquor industry in the province for over 70 years, including the sale of liquor in hotels. The fonds consists of photographs of hotels in Alberta.” – UofC.
The bottom right corner of the main building housed a barber shop in the old photo and you can see the striped spiral pole clearly.
The only really noticeable change to the larger brick section of the hotel is the windows. They’re smaller now. The sign up at the parapet has changed, but on the west wall there’s some painted signage that might be original. Or very old at the least.
The Waldorf calls and it’s time to get back to work. Be sure and check out the Beer Parlour Project webpage (new tab), and watch for the Waldorf appearing soon.
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Date of adventure: Ca1935 and June 2025. Location: Drumheller, Alberta. Article references and thanks: University of Calgary Archives, Vintage Tap House/Vintage Kitchen & Bar, various Henderson directories, Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society (vintage phone books) and the book “Hills of Home – Drumheller Valley”.
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