Montreal definitely has more of a traditional European sensibility than most other North American metros, given it is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris. But that doesn’t mean that the city isn’t welcoming change.
A number of new hotel offerings and emerging neighborhoods make it worth a fresh look for meetings.
“Bringing back the Westin name is bringing new excitement to Montreal,” says Kevin Perrin, senior sales manager for Le Westin Montreal. “There hasn’t been a Westin here for 10 years.”
The 454-room hotel was developed in the former Gazette newspaper building, located between downtown Montreal and Old Montreal. The area that housed the paper’s massive printing presses is now Le Westin’s main entrance.
The property includes 32,000 square feet of meeting space, an indoor pool and a 17,000-square-foot spa that also includes outdoor terraces.
“Les terrasses are all the rage in Montreal,” says Patrick Guidote, assistant director of international media relations for Tourisme Montreal.
Like several of the city’s hotels, Le Westin is linked to Montreal’s Underground City (officially RESO, or La Ville Souterraine in French), a 20-mile labyrinth of heated tunnels, subway stations and shopping malls. It’s the largest underground complex in the world.
Another development making headlines in Montreal is the $100 million renovation of The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal. Work on the property was scheduled to begin in the winter of 2008 and is expected to take about 15 months. The historic hotel was where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton celebrated their first marriage in 1964.
Other venerable hotels in Montreal are also transforming. Hilton Montreal Bonaventure embarked on a $16.5 million renovation project that touched all aspects of the hotel. The most notable additions include an extra 7,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a room added to the restaurant for private functions. Additionally, 388 guest rooms were updated to include new furnishings and fixtures, and the lobby and bar were refurbished and enhanced with the installation of a new sound system. The property is expected to add three more meeting rooms.
The 357-room, 23-suite InterContinental Montreal is completing a renovation in May. The property includes 18 meeting rooms, and the largest room accommodates 700 people reception style.
A number of Montreal environs are undergoing little renaissances. Little Burgundy is one of them. Located on the Lachine Canal, where the old and new are converging, the terraced houses here were once home to Irish dockworkers. Alongside established antique shops in the area’s main avenue, rue Notre-Dame, new boutiques, delis and restaurants are popping up.
Quarter des Spectacles, Montreal’s downtown district where most of the city’s many festivals take place, is undergoing an approximately $98 million redevelopment. A project is under way to illuminate the frontages of 30 arts venues here by 2012.
The new happenings only serve to enhance Montreal’s must-sees: Mont Royal, the mountain around which the city is centered; Atwater Market, the 1930s covered market where visitors can sample ground cherries and cabbages of many colors; and the Gothic Revival architecture of Notre Dame Basilica that forms shadows along the cobbled streets of Old Montreal.
Change may be in the sparkling clean air of Montreal, but some things don’t change. When the weather is nice, there’s an informal gathering of drummers and merrymaking every Saturday. Just tell the taxi driver you want to go to the “tom-tom.” He’ll know where to take you.
