As promised, a review of the St. James, as well as the Place d'Armes. I"m going to write in a more casual fashion, as opposed to a traditional review.
Hotel Le St. James, Montreal QC
The Good:
- The room. We were shown 906 and 802, settling on the latter. Both were junior suites. 802 is in a corner position, and although it's about the smallest room you could get away with calling a junior suite (485-490sf), the four large windows made it acceptable. Beautiful sleigh bed with impeccable linens, a large wooden desk to the left, and a sitting area with two leather chairs and a round dining/vanity table by the windows. The decor was unique and interesting in and of itself.
- The bathroom. Simply the best shower I've ever experienced in a hotel, outside of the Dolder Grand in Zurch. Molton Brown products and a lovely port window off the tub. Only complaint is that the tub could have been a tad bit deeper and wider.
- The concierge. Simon was absolutely fabulous. He seamlessly handled my restaurant and car bookings, recommended a great local place I was indecisive, and arranged for VIP access to a jazz club. As an example, the front desk screwed up my request for a morning NYT, and when questioned in the afternoon, told me that none were left and gave me the name of a newsstand a few blocks away. I ran into Simon upon walking out of the hotel in a bit of a huff and relayed my concern. A NYT was outside my door in ten minutes.
The 'eh:'
- Arrival experience. I had prebooked a hotel car for a transfer from YUL. Perhaps this was a simple miscommunication, but my impression of a 'meet-and-greet' service is that the driver meets me outside baggage and takes me directly to a waiting car. Having to wait for him to pull the car around defeats the purpose of this service. Then again, it could just be how it's done in New York and some other places I've utilized it. Anyway, this was a bit annoying. Furthermore, the hotel was totally unaware of my arrival, with no doorman to open the door, no one greeting me by name, and not having a room available despite not being sold out the night before. No offer to have drinks in the bar or utilize the spa was made, and our drinks were never comped despite waiting until 4:30pm. For a hotel with ~60 rooms, this is really poor. If the Boston Ritz Carlton can recognize my personal SUV and have every single employee greet me by name, why can't the St. James track their own car? Regardless, after some pushing with the manager on duty, I was shown a (newly available) room, but declined it and ended up waiting for the corner junior suite (802).
- Restaurant service. Just slow and a little lethargic. I was only of three tables in the restaurant at 8am, and had to wait 10 minutes for a waiter to come over. After waiting 15 more for my check, I simply left. On a similar note, I called down for some desert and coffee at 10:15pm and was told the particular desert, off the restaurant menu, couldn't be made as it closed at 10. I had just had a nightcap downstairs and was told it would be no problem by the restaurant staff. They ended up making it, but the general attitude was to just say "no" unless pressed.
- Spa. The St. James is a small hotel, but it does have a spa room in its basement (formerly the bank vault). It further advertises the use of sauna and steam facilities for guests on its website. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention that these services are upon request, only when spa guests are not using them. I called at 5pm one evening to inquire about this, and was told it would be possible at 9:30pm, or at 2pm the next day. It's not an issue per se, but it is a clearly advertised service, and a bit of a let down.
The really poor:
- One evening, I heard a knock on my door while the DND sign was on, and, before either my partner or I could dress ourselves, a hotel employee entered the room. Obviously it was a disconcerting thing, and would have been a lot more serious if it was just her in the room. When I dressed and went down to the front desk to discuss it, I ran into the same employee, who began verbally accosting me. The front desk agent's response (this was the manager on duty) was 'sorry, we will talk to our manager in the morning.' When I pressed further to speak to the rooms manager (the same gentleman who made a room appear, so to speak), I was told he had left for the night. Naturally, ten minutes later, I saw this same gentleman walking around the lobby. The hotel had no response to this. I took it upon myself to appraise American Express (as my travel agent) of the events. The manager on duty still had nothing to say beyond 'we apologize' and that I could speak with the manager who had 'left' in the morning. I asked about moving to a room with a more comprehensive security apparatus (perhaps a chain-lock?) and was told this would not be possible. As it would have been very unrelaxing to wait around until 9am to speak with a manager about a very disconcerting issue, we decided to leave and haul ourselves to the Place d'Armes. I settled up the bill, and this same agent actually had the audacity to not simply charge me the full rate, but gave me attitude when I requested my breakfast (as an FHR perk) be removed.
Overall, I have some good things to say about the hotel. The property itself is downright beautiful, with the best rooms I've found in North America. Unfortunately, the service is reminiscent of certain 'grand' hotels in Europe. I will give due credit to the hotel GM for contacting me Monday afternoon refunding my full bill per my request, as well as offering a two night stay in a suite with breakfast on them. I will take them up on it at some point, as all the issues I referenced were simply ones of training, rather than fundamental flaws.
I've written a lot--the Place D'Armes review to follow shortly.