Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth

This world-class hotel that has hosted royalty and heads of state throughout its illustrious past closed for over a year while renovations took place across 2016 and the first half of 2017. When it reopened, the regality and pomp were long gone. The look now is polished, artistic, and urbane, like Montreal’s own spirit. The ground floor, with its row of impressive white tiled columns and caramel-veined marble walls, has been completely opened up so that Roselys restaurant, Nacarat cocktail lounge, Krema cafe, and the Artisans market are all visible from the reception area. At the Krema cafe, well-dressed business people from nearby downtown offices conduct informal meetings over cappuccinos at the bar overlooking Rene-Levesque Boulevard, or work away at their devices at the circular bar lined with USB ports and plugs. In the winter, people gather around its central freestanding fireplace. As with the other facilities here, Krema seems designed to attract not just travelers but also Montrealers keen on soaking up its refined, yet welcoming, atmosphere.

The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth is located on Rene-Levesque Boulevard, a traffic-ridden thoroughfare that slices through Montreal’s financial and business core. It is across the street from Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral, whose cupola is a replica of the one designed by Michelangelo for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and one street away from Place du Canada and Dorchester Square, two rare and beautiful green spaces amidst all the downtown concrete. The hotel is one street south of the shops along Sainte-Catherine Street, which is five minutes away on foot. The Bell Centre is also a five-minute walk. Many museums are within 15 minutes on foot such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Contemporary Arts Museum, and McCord Museum. The Old Port and its attractions are 20 minutes away by public transit, while the Biodome, and Botanical Gardens can be reached in 30 to 40 minutes by public transit. Plan on 45 minutes to an hour to reach Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport via public transit.

With 950 rooms, all levels of posh comfort are on offer with plenty of mid-century pizzazz. The attention to detail is staggering. Dark textured wallpaper, curved corners of teak desks, mustard upholstered armchairs, and the soothing watercolor blotches of blue, green, and yellow in the impressionist wallpaper behind the beds are all a tribute to Montreal’s past. Much of the furniture was designed in Canada. Some suites have breathtaking views of the adjacent Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral. Bathrooms are equally design conscious, with small circular white tiles, teak vanities with black granite tops, and the Fairmont’s signature Le Labo toiletries. Rooms that host four people often come with a tub. There are brass pop-out reading lights, outlets, and USB ports by the bedside. All rooms feature air-conditioning, flat-screen TVs, safes, ironing boards, Nespresso coffeemakers and a kettle with complimentary coffee and tea, and minibars. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel upon free enrollment in the Fairmont President’s Club. For a truly unique stay, Room 1742, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-In for Peace took place in 1969, can be booked. Guests can relive their momentous Bed-In thanks to features like a cabinet filled with period photographs and a vinyl recording of Give Peace a Chance, which was composed and recorded in this suite, as well as virtual reality headsets that allow guests to overhear conversations that occurred in that room between John and Yoko in 1969.

Nothing about the Queen Elizabeth’s facilities feels like they were designed for a hotel. Their objective throughout the renovations was to offer restaurants, cafes, and services that would transcend the usual hotel limitations and contend with other local favorites to attract not just travelers, but Montrealers – and they seem to have succeeded. The name of its bistro Roselys, a portmanteau combining the English rose with the French fleur de lys (lily), is outfitted with dark wood, warm leather seating, and chevron flooring. The Krema cafe, Nacarat cocktail lounge, and Artisans market at the lobby level are equally welcoming and appealing, and on par with the city’s latest hip new openings. The fitness center is spacious and offers fresh fruit and vegetable infused water, a nice touch, while the eight-room spa offers a full range of massage, beauty, and wellness services. The dimly lit indoor pool lined with large lounge chairs feels like Turkish hamam meets Ziggy Stardust. There are mid-century chic lounges (the Square Victoria), elegant halls (the Parc Mont-Royal), and a glass-walled rooftop space (C2) fit for all manner of corporate and festive functions. The hotel’s most remarkable feature, however, is arguably the CoLab 3 business campus designed to stimulate creativity in business, with rooms like Ping, where meetings happen at a ping-pong table and Eureka -- a somber circular boardroom with a 180-degree wraparound display and tall roller chairs. Gold Floor guests enjoy exclusive access to the Gold Lounge, where the breakfast buffet, cocktails, and canapes are free and guests serve themselves from the honor-system bar. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel upon free enrollment in the Fairmont President’s Club and indoor parking with optional valet service is available for a fee.