MONTREAL HOTELS
Where to stay and which rooms to book
Ah, the difference a decade makes. In the late 1990s, with Quebec Province in the economic doldrums, your main hotel choices were limited to a smattering of American-chain towers scattered around the vacant lots of Downtown, and the fading attractions of The Ritz-Carlton (1228 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, T 514 842 4212) or Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (900 boulevard Rene-Levesque Ouest, T 514861 35II). Now, old buildings, dating from the 17th century to the 1970s, have been reborn as chic designer destinations and sumptuous hideaways.
The key development has been the reorientating of the city's pleasure zones towards Old Montreal, which is newly reunited with Downtown by the International Quarter development that bridges a major freeway. The grand bank and trading buildings that once surveyed eerily quiet canyons of a dead financial district have, in their hotel reincarnations, been the leading forces in reinvigorating the whole neighbourhood. Many house destination bars and restaurants for Montreal's beautiful people and, in so doing, make you feel like you are part of the city, not a disembodied visitor in an anonymous pod. Best of all, virtually every hotel will seem like great value for those used to stumping up for cramped rooms in less friendly cities such as London or New York.
Sofitel
1155 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest,
T 5142859000, www.sofitel.com
When developer David J Azrieli bulldozed the art deco Van Horne mansion in 1973 to build a dull office tower, he attracted the ire of the public and local conservationists. With his redevelopment of the block into this hotel for the French Sofitel chain, some forgiveness may be due. working with architects Michelange Panzini and GSM Design, Azrieli's Sofitel dishes up
art in the lobby, such as the stained-glass
window, designed by local artists Isaac Alt and Titu Dragotesco, 3m-high ceilings and high-quality accommodation for the corporate captain. Only 16 of the 255 rooms are suites, but they have a solid, robber-baron feel. The location at the foot of Mont-Royal is hard to beat for those with both culture and capitalism in mind.
HotelSt-Paul
355 rue McGiII, T 5143802222, www.hotelstpaul.com
When it opened in 2001, this boutique hotel was the first major business to show how Old Montreal could be rescued from decay and tourist tack. The 120-room hotel was given a warm but minima list look by the owner's wife, designer Ana Borrallo, who included a large, alabaster-covered fireplace in the main lobby, high quantities of leather and suede, and a very Canadian sprinkling of furs. The feeling is high design without being so rarefied as to give you hotel-room alienation, thanks to the earthy palette used. Book a Deluxe Suite or the Penthouse Junior Suite 1005 (right) and indulge your royal fantasies in a bed surrounded by yards of creamy, uplit fabric. The Vauvert restaurant (T 514 876 2823) is a hot spot for both foodies and poseurs and was given a new, dark look in 2007 by Jean-Guy Chabauty of Moderno.
Arriving in September 2004, after Montreal had already become the Canadian capital of hotel chic, the W had its work cut out to impress with its own brand of high-fashion design. It succeeds in the rooms probably more than in the public spaces, though the glitterkittens in the Wunderbar late on in the evening probably don't notice. Ask for one of the irritatingly named Extreme Wow Suites, which have huge
chaises longues/daybeds; deep, deep rectangular baths; lofty rainfall shower stalls; and faux-fur throws on the bed.
It all just manages to stay on the good side of the Austin Powers shagpad aesthetic. The Whatever/Whenever button on the telephone brings you better-than-usual room and concierge service.
|
