qsh

Photo/Review of Air Canada Montreal Maple Leaf International Lounge

The lounge is very nice, exceeding all expectations I have for AC. The interior design is similar to SQ, luxury and warm. Great use of dividers, plants and marbles. They even have solo sections with sunbed for pax (Did not took photos of them as they were occupied.) Miles ahead of YYZ and YVR. IMO even better than the SQ SilverKris in Hong Kong! Food and beverage selection is weak as usual. But hey, they got a CHEF serving you!
(The chef reheats paninis and cooks asian stir frys for you.)

injian

the decor does look a lot better. thanks for sharing.

offerendum

Indeed a nice decor!

lionelhutzskis

It is a huge step-up from the older MLL. The real bar is a huge plus, though I had to teach the bartender what a boulevardier was.

SFO777

Thanks for posting the pics qsh but... "wow"?? LOL.
SQ at HKG is a weak out-station lounge.
The new MLL may be better than the old MLL but it's still AC.

And is this IKEA-like furniture really your idea of wow?

lionelhutzskis

Wow is contextual I assume.

zebranz

Yes, a nice improvement in brightness and new economy furniture. Better than the southern neighbors lounges but OP should get out more.

qsh

I have been to much nicer lounges FYI, all the CX ones at HKG and all the BR ones at TPE to name a few.
But this is the nicest I have been to in Canada. The Wow is per Canadian standards. (Porter one in YTZ is not bad though lol)

On par with a weak outstation SQ lounge probably tells you that this MLL lounge is nice, but not in anyways amazing in a global standard.

Btw go visit the international lounge at YYZ or YVR some time, and you will get the wow factor of this YUL lounge. At least the shower room in YUL is fancy, the one in YYZ feels like an XL dorm toilet.


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Eugeniusz Bodo

Vancouver flights arrive and depart from this "international section" of the terminal. The second and actually "domestic" MLL is over 1 km away. AC used to allow Vancouver passengers access to "international" lounge. I was there at least half a dozen times being on my way to Vancouver. Sometime at the end of November 2017 the new dragon consulted with the supervisor on walkie talkie and denied me entry. Does anybody have a current status update? Domestic MLL is exactly at the opposite end of the airport and using "international" MLL for Vancouver departures was a good practice on part of AC!

worldtraveller73

You had me until that photo of the Air Canada plated food.

qsh

The last time I was there, the actual lounge was under renovation
So I was directed to a mini international lounge
Not enough seats and bumped into shoulders everywhere I went...

qsh

well it was prepared by a staff, so that makes up for its unglamorous looks. And I went in during the afternoons so they removed the main dishes. (Unless their main dish were nachos...)
Having said, I tried some of their soup and it taste worse than Campbell....

SKYEG

Stumbled through here accidently the last time I flew out of YUL on the way to YYZ(no idea why they let me in and didn't redirect me to the Domestic MLL but I'm suspecting it was because my gate was right beside the lounge and on an INTL J ticket). Was shocked as I only have ever used the domestic YUL MLL which is a DUMP(worst in system imo). Wondered what was going on until I saw the flight boards inside the lounge had only INTL flights.

If you're comparing this to all other lounges in Canada(INTL/Domestic/Transboarder), this is by far the nicest. Actually has some edible food options. It's pretty sad how bad the MLL's are nowadays so it was a pleasant surprise. It was squeaky clean and had a ton of places to sit, even during the evening rush.

I've been in nicer lounges in Asia/Europe even in US, but for an MLL, it did "wow" me as well.

dafonz

Wow and MLL in the same sentence? That's new :P

Definitely looks nicer than your standard tired MLL in YYZ and YVR... nice to see the food still sucks. Go air canada

qsh