Montreal Wednesday

(Sorry... This was written and - I thought - posted, yesterday. Not sure why it didn't go up online.)

It's strange. Since I got back from Montreal last week, I've found out that two different people I work with are both going to Montreal this summer. Independent of each other. And neither one has been there, before. This means, of course, that I've been getting to talk about Montreal a lot - which is good. And at work - which is even better.

As I've done this, I've realized more and more the things that stick out about my trip, so you'll get to benefit from this "distilling." For today, I thought I'd talk about our hotels. (Yes, I'm saving "restaurants" for later in the week to keep you all coming back.)

Over the course of our week in Montreal, Christopher and I stayed in 5 hotel rooms in 3 different hotels. No, not because we kept moving around but because... well... we kept moving.

When we got to Montreal, we checked in at the Quality Hotel (aka "Quality Inn" in the States) that is within just a minute or so of my aunt's residence. We took advantage of the Choice Brand's membership program, so we got an "executive" room (with a small couch and a mini-fridge) for less than a standard room would have cost. Checking in was great. The front desk staff were wonderful - speaking equally in French and English (since they knew we were coming from the States) - and we had a great view toward downtown and the actual "Mount Royal" from our almost-corner room on the 8th floor.

On Friday, we checked out of the Quality Hotel and headed downtown to the Le Meridien Versailles in the "Museum Quarter." The hotel was small, but we had been upgraded to a junior suite on the 12th floor, and Christopher is a member of the Starwood Preferred Guest program, so we had gotten a slight break on the price. It was a corner room, wallpapered in a kind of muted dark grey-blue herringbone pattern (which I loved), with a sort-of foyer which led into the main room, lots of windows on both sides, a small wetbar and mini-fridge (separate from the mini-bar), and a whirlpool tub in the marble bathroom. There were two "best things" about it: 1) We had a great view both of downtown AND of the Mount - even in the drizzle; 2) It was within walking distance of Ste Catherine Street (via Crescent Street) for shopping and dining - even in the drizzle. One drawback - the "included" morning breakfast buffet. It would have been fine, but the overseer was pretty much rude. And don't even get me started on the overly-loud way-too-American gay club couple seated a table away from us who obviously assumed no one else in the room spoke English as they kvetched and bitched all through breakfast. We just laughed it off and went back for seconds to get our money's worth of the cold buffet.

Saturday we were back at the Quality Hotel. Same side of the building as before (so same general view), but lower. We saw some of the same staff on the way in, so it started to feel kind of "homey."

Sunday we checked out of the Quality Hotel, picked up my aunt, and headed up into the Laurentians (the mountains just north of Montreal) for a day away. (I can't tell you about food or shopping, yet, but you'll definitely want to come back to find out about the food...) In the Mont-Tremblant ski area, there are a ton of hotels. Christopher and I had taken a long time debating on where to stay, and landed on the Chateau Beauvallon. We found that we could get a 2-bedroom, 2-bath suite (with a patio and fireplace) for about the same price as two standard rooms elsewhere. So we chose that. The Chateau Beauvallon is kind of set off from other places, and has been around for years but our room looked like it had just been re-done. The living area (with a miniature "kitchen" of cooktop, microwave, fridge, dishwasher, etc), also had a dining table, seating area, and - yes - a gas fireplace. Since it was *almost* chilly out on Sunday, we had a nice fire in the evening... with the air conditioning on. Breakfast in the morning was amazing. A full complimentary hot-and-cold buffet with the greatest guy taking care of all of the guests. You could get an omelette or eggs made to order, or pancakes (with bacon, sausage, or ham) and "fresh" maple syrup. There were croissants and cereals. Since I don't drink coffee, I was presented with a massive bowl of hot chocolate. Yeah. Amazing. Christopher got us a late check-out, so we didn't even have to rush to leave. SO nice.

Monday we were back to pseudo-reality at the Quality Hotel for our final two nights. We were on the other side of the building this time, but back on the 8th floor. So we had a different view... not probably as pretty, but at least different. And we ran into some of our favorite staff, again. Which made it that much nicer. Okay... so the fact that the city of Montreal was doing some repair work and so they had to shut off the water by 9am on our last day there was not so great. But, no question about it, we'd definitely go back if the need arises.

I have to admit that one of my favorite things about travel is staying in hotels. I've been known to go "away" for a night here in the Cities just to stay in a hotel. All things considered, though, I have to admit that getting home last Wednesday and collapsing into our own bed - in our own house - was amazing.