When "La Grande Dame de la Rue Sherbrooke" first opened its doors on New Year’s Eve in 1912, it was the first hotel in North America to bear the name Ritz-Carlton, an undisputed jewel of a first class residential hotel, and the epitome of style and elegance. Heads of state, movie stars, and royals stayed here. It was a favorite of President Taft’s. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton married in the royal suite in 1964. After a four year and $200 million renovation project, the Ritz-Carlton Montréal reopened in 2012 for its centennial celebration, refreshed and ready for its next hundred years.
Everywhere you look in Montréal, you'll find exquisitely preserved 17th century edifices beside sleek modern buildings, an entrancing juxtaposition of past and future, and the renovated Ritz-Carlton seems to fit in perfectly with both eras. Echoes from 1912 abound: the building's original façade was restored, the lobby's original grand curved staircase was preserved, as were the marble fireplaces in the hotel's suites, and you can still see the lovely carved mail chutes on each floor. At the same time, the hotel is wholly 21st century: Motion sensors in each room activate lights when a guest enters, and the thermostats remember your preferred temperature settings. Shades are raised and lowered with a brush of a finger on a touchscreen panel. Heat sensors tell the staff if a room is occupied or vacant so they can freshen rooms without disturbing guests.
During my stay, my room is a marvel of modern luxury, with rich, dark hardwood floors and lavish white bedding, and a flat screen television above an antique fireplace—either of which can be activated with the push of a button. An embossed card notifies me of the available pillow selection for the bed (eight different kinds). There are heated marble floors in the bathroom, a rainfall shower head, and an impossibly deep lounging tub. I would never want to leave this room, but it's soon time for dinner, and the siren call of Maison Boulud is too tempting to resist.
As part of the extensive renovation, accomplished chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud has taken over the hotel's restaurant, and the dining experience is appropriately flawless. A clever layout has the restaurant partitioned but still spacious, sleek but still cozy. A glass wall keeps the kitchen visually open-concept, but mutes the sound. The fireplace is modern and angular, but with a warm copper base. Private dining alcoves are stylish and chic, with handmade touches like patchwork fabric walls and chandeliers made of cocktail glasses.
And the food, mon dieu, the food. Chef de Cuisine Riccardo Bertolino runs the kitchen with a masterful touch, and the courses are a symphony of expert talent. I'm treated to an eye-opening three-part amuse-bouche of porcini and baby arugula in walnut oil, a crisp fried artichoke heart in garlic, and a delicate arancini with mint. This is the essence of cuisine classique; the food is brilliant in its subtlety, with deftly blended flavors complementing each other in a quiet and elegant poetry. Tender raviolini filled with rich egg yolk, topped with earthy morels and an airy ail-des-bois foam are a revelation. Seared bay scallops with confit tomatoes and a potato puree are a simple bliss. My main course is a kind of deconstructed paella, with black cod, octopus, chorizo-stuffed baby squid, mussels and spot prawn (all sourced from British Columbia) atop a bed of savory herbed fregula, so artfully presented it seems a pity to disturb it. My boyfriend's superb duo de Boeuf, with braised short ribs, grilled tenderloin, mushrooms and bordelaise sauce is, we're told, "classic Boulud."
Our desserts arrive—a decadent chocolate coulant with caramelized milk ice cream and fleur de sel, and a crisp limoncello sorbet paired with a layered hazelnut tart and praline wafer. The Cesaria Evora song playing in the background intertwines with the sounds of soft English and French conversation around us. The food, the wine, the company and the dancing copper light of the fireplace have me completely under their spell. I float up to our room satisfied, entranced, and head over heels in love. —Sarah Becan
Everywhere you look in Montréal, you'll find exquisitely preserved 17th century edifices beside sleek modern buildings, an entrancing juxtaposition of past and future, and the renovated Ritz-Carlton seems to fit in perfectly with both eras. Echoes from 1912 abound: the building's original façade was restored, the lobby's original grand curved staircase was preserved, as were the marble fireplaces in the hotel's suites, and you can still see the lovely carved mail chutes on each floor. At the same time, the hotel is wholly 21st century: Motion sensors in each room activate lights when a guest enters, and the thermostats remember your preferred temperature settings. Shades are raised and lowered with a brush of a finger on a touchscreen panel. Heat sensors tell the staff if a room is occupied or vacant so they can freshen rooms without disturbing guests.
During my stay, my room is a marvel of modern luxury, with rich, dark hardwood floors and lavish white bedding, and a flat screen television above an antique fireplace—either of which can be activated with the push of a button. An embossed card notifies me of the available pillow selection for the bed (eight different kinds). There are heated marble floors in the bathroom, a rainfall shower head, and an impossibly deep lounging tub. I would never want to leave this room, but it's soon time for dinner, and the siren call of Maison Boulud is too tempting to resist.
As part of the extensive renovation, accomplished chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud has taken over the hotel's restaurant, and the dining experience is appropriately flawless. A clever layout has the restaurant partitioned but still spacious, sleek but still cozy. A glass wall keeps the kitchen visually open-concept, but mutes the sound. The fireplace is modern and angular, but with a warm copper base. Private dining alcoves are stylish and chic, with handmade touches like patchwork fabric walls and chandeliers made of cocktail glasses.
And the food, mon dieu, the food. Chef de Cuisine Riccardo Bertolino runs the kitchen with a masterful touch, and the courses are a symphony of expert talent. I'm treated to an eye-opening three-part amuse-bouche of porcini and baby arugula in walnut oil, a crisp fried artichoke heart in garlic, and a delicate arancini with mint. This is the essence of cuisine classique; the food is brilliant in its subtlety, with deftly blended flavors complementing each other in a quiet and elegant poetry. Tender raviolini filled with rich egg yolk, topped with earthy morels and an airy ail-des-bois foam are a revelation. Seared bay scallops with confit tomatoes and a potato puree are a simple bliss. My main course is a kind of deconstructed paella, with black cod, octopus, chorizo-stuffed baby squid, mussels and spot prawn (all sourced from British Columbia) atop a bed of savory herbed fregula, so artfully presented it seems a pity to disturb it. My boyfriend's superb duo de Boeuf, with braised short ribs, grilled tenderloin, mushrooms and bordelaise sauce is, we're told, "classic Boulud."
Our desserts arrive—a decadent chocolate coulant with caramelized milk ice cream and fleur de sel, and a crisp limoncello sorbet paired with a layered hazelnut tart and praline wafer. The Cesaria Evora song playing in the background intertwines with the sounds of soft English and French conversation around us. The food, the wine, the company and the dancing copper light of the fireplace have me completely under their spell. I float up to our room satisfied, entranced, and head over heels in love. —Sarah Becan
IN THE AREA
- Parc du Mont-Royal: The "mountain" that gives Montréal its name is just a few blocks from the Ritz-Carlton, and the green space that surrounds it is a beautiful and expansive city park. Interconnected walking paths wind through the trees, and transport you to a small lake, a sculpture garden, and a number of overlooks with stunning views of the surrounding city. The park offers skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing in the winter, and sports and festivals in the summer. If the weather's nice, check out the George-Étienne Cartier Monument on the eastern side of the park - a group of talented hand-drummers has been gathering here every Sunday to improvise together since the late 70's. It's always free, and there are dancers, and street vendors, and the atmosphere is exciting and infectious. lemontroyal.qc.ca
- Rue Sainte-Catherine: If you're here to shop, Saint Catherine Street is an immense and eclectic shopping corridor, with large malls and department stores on every block. You'll find high-end designer shops as well as small boutiques, and there are plenty of cafes and taverns if you need a rest. If you follow it further northeast from the Ritz-Carlton, it takes you to a brilliant pedestrian plaza and the museums, theaters and concert halls of Montréal's Place des Arts.
- RÉSO: There are a number of places on the neighboring streets of Maisonneuve and Sainte-Catherine to access the RÉSO, Montréal's vast underground network of tunnels that connect hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, apartment complexes, universities, the Palais des Congrès, and several metro stations. You can explore almost five miles of downtown Montréal without ever leaving its climate-controlled corridors, which is a definite plus on a frigid winter day - or a sticky summer one.
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