This piqued his interest in establishing one, thereby purchasing a hard granite hilltop called Bacon Hill as the site for his new Raymond Hotel. The dynamiting and grading off of  of the hilltop came to more than twice Raymond's estimates, and he turned to his father Emmons Raymond for assistance.
In 1883, Walter Raymond had ventured west to the young community of Pasadena, California, described as a sleepy village of 1,500 people. Seeking to excite business in the transcontinental tour market, he noticed that the yet unincorporated town had no hotels for visitors.