Ritz Carlton Montreal
 

Introduction We recently stayed two nights at this hotel following a Seabourn Expedition Cruise from Iceland to Montreal via Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Quebec City and ending in Montreal. We thought the hotel was terrific and I would highly recommend. Check In We arrived at the hotel at 10:30 in the morning and did not expect the room to be ready given it had shown fully booked the previous evening. They did tell us they had a room reserved for us that met our requirements - high floor, quiet, nice view, but the guest had not checked out yet. They offered us to have coffee or tea but said the wait might be longish. They did say they would put our room on high priority to be ready earlier than the standard 3:00 check in and they would text us when it was ready. Having already expected this we proceeded to the Picasso exhibit at a nearby museum and arrived at 12:30 at Toque for our lunch reservation. About 1:30 they texted me to let us know our room was ready but we did not arrive back to the hotel til about 3:30 anyway as we did a walk around the old city after lunch. Room We loved our room. We were on the 10th floor in a jr suite (no upgrade was available). It was a very quiet location but still had a nice partial view of the city.(full view would have been in the front of the hotel vs the side and they had told me that would potentially have some noise). The room was filled with light and was very spacious. I can honestly say the room had every amenity and feature I would have requested in a nice hotel room. A large comfortable king size bed, a large closet, a nice well designed sitting room, and a nice bathroom with two sinks, separate tub and good sized walk in shower. It had high ceilings and was very tastefully decorated with no signs of wear and tear. We were extremely happy with the room and I would imagine that even the lower category rooms would be very nice as well. Service The service was excellent. The hotel was completely full, but when I called down for an ice bucket at 5:00 (we had a lovely bottle of champagne we had bought when walking around), it was in our room in 5 minutes which often can take time at hotels like this one. When I asked for extra towels and pillows ( I had forgotten to request in my reservation), again they arrived in 5 minutes. The hotel service itself was excellent. Concierge was great as well. When I had checked in and mentioned we were going to the museum to see the Picasso exhibit they said stop by the concierge as they can issue your tickets here to avoid standing in a line at the museum. When I emailed them in advance regarding restaurant reservations and transfers they responded very promptly and when I arrived I was given an itenerary without asking. These things may seem trivial but having stayed in numerous luxury hotels around the world they do not always work this way especially when they are extremely busy which was the case here. Dining We had dinner at their restaurant - Maison Boulud one evening and it was lovely. Yes, it is the Daniel Boulud from NYC - I am sometimes reluctant to visit celebrity chefs' expansion restaurants as sometimes they work and often times I have been disappointed. We were pleasantly surprised that this was a winner. However, it was a lovely evening and we sat outside in on the edge of the hotel garden which was perfect. They also have an atrium space which looked very nice if you want to feel that you are outside but it is too cold to enjoy. I did not particuarly like the interior part of the restaurant so if we had been seated there I don't think the atmosphere part of the evening would have worked well.We had room service both mornings for breakfast and it was delivered promptly, perfectly and everything was still nice and hot. It was also very nicely set up. In summary we were happy with the dining experiences there but would suggest if you eat in the main restaurant you make sure to request outside in the garden if the weather is nice or in the atrium. Location The location was good for us. It is a bit far from the old town but you can take an uber or taxi there in about 15 min depending on traffic. It was close to one of the city's main museums, good shopping. etc. We liked the location as we were doing restaurants and things all around the city and the location was central. If you plan on spending all of your time in old town you might prefer to stay there. Overall We really did not have any high or low expectations about the hotel but were pleasantly surprised at just how good it was in so many ways. I would highly recommend this hotel should your travels take you to Montreal. It was recently renovated and they clearly did an excellent job. We did not sample the spa or the gym/pool so I cannot comment on those things but everything we did experience was very positive. I did not take photos of the hotel but my husband did on his iphone so I will try to add them to this review later.

I agree about this hotel - it is reall well managed, probably because it is not really a Ritz-Carlton (they just help with marketing) but is owned and managed by the Torriani family (Marco Torriani was long-time GM at Geneva's Hôtel du Rhône and his son is GM at the Ritz).

You make me want to go back! Thanks for the review.

Any rooms at "the front of the hotel" would have a view up towards Mount Royal mountain and less of the skyline of the city.
I don't think views at The Ritz are especially amazing from anywhere, except at ground level into the gardens.
The Montreal skyline is not that impressive

I know this property has been managed differently than other Ritz-Carlton properties. But it is now a fully participating member of the new Marriott Loyalty Program, FWIW.

Thanks for the review, @Larkin! Looking forward to whatever photos you can add.

Yes, it does indeed participate in the new Marriott Loyalty Program, but it remains a family-run hotel.

Last but not leat this hotel also has great Toto Japanese toilets!

Just booked a two-night stay here for this weekend largely because of this thread - thank you Larkin!

Nice!

If you need recommendation for anything you can ask me, I'm from Montreal I know the city well!

Thanks! In town for a rehearsal dinner Saturday and then a wedding Sunday evening. Maybe a fun brunch or lunch place for Sunday/Monday in the area? Also, a solo dinner on Monday before heading to airport (wife is leaving earlier on Monday)?

For brunch, I'm not an expert since I usually eat breakfast at home ;)
Maison Boulud (in the Ritz) offers a nice breakfast from what I remember.

For lunch, I like Cafe Ferreira a lot. Great portuguese food with good service. We went there for lunch once and we wanted to stay for dinner!!

For a solo dinner, my favorite restaurant in town is Chasse & Pêche. It's a bit further (Old Montreal), but the food is phenomenal (good hearthy portions) and it won't take 3 hours for a meal (which is important as a solo dinner I think).

I'd suggest Arthur's for lunch/brunch callmedtop

We are halfway through our stay and it is a refreshingly good one. This is a meticulously-run property and I am already thinking about when we can return.

We had an issue with our shower temperature as well as a couple of relatively minor service mishaps during breakfast. Service recovery was above and beyond - I have received much worse responses for much more serious issues at other properties. There is nothing nicer than having a manager approach you about an issue and resolve the problem before you even bring it up with anyone.

We are only here for two nights yet the staff knows our name, what we are doing in town, and genuinely seem to care about our well-being. This is all during a time where they are near full occupancy.

Despite RC not promising Platinum upgrades and the fact that it is my wife who is Platinum (and my name is on the reservation), they offered an upgrade to a Junior Suite if we were able to wait until 5pm to check-in. We could not wait, so we stuck with our Superior room (larger guest room) which is perfectly adaquate. The rooms are a little bare but I am enjoying it nonetheless. We will probably book a Junior Suite next time as the floor plan looks a bit nicer than what we have now.