When staying at Montreal airport, I normally stay at Sheraton and occasionally at Aloft but I wanted to try Fairfield Inn this time because I wanted to compare particularly since my previous stays at another recently opened Fairfield Inn in Canada (near Ottawa airport) were pretty solid.  My takeaway after staying at FI YUL is that it is noticeably inferior to FI YOW, I would much rather pay a premium to continue staying at Sheraton YUL, and in a lower price range I prefer Aloft YUL rather than FI YUL.

Location

The location of FI is nearly the same as Sheraton/Aloft which are across the street from each other, but a fit farther away from the airport such that it’s not the same convenient shuttle bus as Sheraton/Aloft.  Instead the shuttle for FI is shared with the new DoubleTree hotel which was recently built in front of FI.  The FI/DT shuttle is every 30 minutes while the Sheraton/Aloft shuttle is every 15 minutes.  The FI hotel is near a train track; while the noise was not the most disturbing, you can hear it from the room so in terms of location there is a small edge that goes to Sheraton/Aloft over FI.

Room

I booked the entry level room and this is the room I got so no upgrade as Ambassador Elite, although they gave me a room at the end of a hallway so it was quiet and no foot traffic outside the room.  The room is about the same size as what you get at Aloft; I much prefer to have the extra space at Sheraton where I frequently get suite upgrades.  At FI there are higher room categories and perhaps I could get upgrades if I became a regular but the higher room types are barely bigger than the basic room and the price is not significantly different so I don’t think upgrades at this property matter much and it cannot be compared to suite upgrades at Sheraton.  Also I would note that rooms at FI YUL are significantly smaller than those at FI YOW, about half the size if you get an upgrade to the studio suite in YOW which is normally the room type they give me over there.  Even if you don’t get an upgrade in YOW the room is still much bigger than in YUL.

The bathroom at FI YUL is fine but it is disappointing that it has a shower in the bathtub, unlike FI YOW which has both a tub and a stand-alone shower next to it which is much better.  Also there are no power plugs and/or USB ports on either side of the bed and there is no microwave unlike FI YOW.  FI YUL simply does not compare favorably to Sheraton or Aloft in Montreal, or to FI YOW.

Dining

Breakfast 6-9:30am was one aspect of our stay which was better than expectations.  It might not be as good as the breakfast at Sheraton, but at least it was better than breakfast at FI YOW; they had omelets with spinach leaves and salsa in addition to other standard breakfast items such as bacon and potatoes.   Fruits were basic but they had a couple kinds of yogurts including Yokos.  I appreciated that they put some pastries, bananas, and apples on a desk near reception at 4am which can be convenient for people who have a very early flight.

Wifi

Wifi was fine although not the fastest I have seen with speed of 10 Mbps.

Overall

Overall for me FI is not a very impressive option and will only be useful if the price is unusually low for my dates and if I just need a bed for the night.  I would rather return to Sheraton or Aloft rather than book at FI again unless savings are material and in fact many times FI is more expensive than Aloft, and even more expensive than Sheraton which is a head scratcher.  The Sheraton specifically simply offers the better value proposition for elites due to room upgrades and the Club Lounge.