Hotel Le St James - Montreal, Canada 

My husband and I recently stayed at Hotel Le Saint James over the July 4th holiday. We were looking for a place to spend a relaxing weekend that did not involve traveling a great distance. Montreal proved to be ideal. Only 57 minutes from Philadelphia, take off to touch down...and you're in France! How great is that? We have become spoiled at some pretty amazing 5 star hotels in the past. We always read the review on tripadvisor.com before we make a reservation and since this hotel got some pretty rave notices we thought we would treat ourselves to 4 nights. We paid $355 per night for a queen room. Well worth the price when you consider that renting a car in Montreal is not necessary and public transportation is inexpensive and easy to navigate. We drove up to the hotel well located in the nicest part of the old city...walking distance to everything... and were immediately taken with the lovely exterior. The door men greated us by name when we exited our taxi and we entered the warm and inviting lobby with its beautiful wood work and inviting decor. My test of a great hotel is the feeling that I'm home when I enter the building and when I get into bed in the evening. This hotel hit the mark! On our first evening we were too tired to go out and decided the stay in and order room service. When we were shown to our room we loved the cozy interior, beautiful antiques, classical music playing on the CD player and a stack of CD's to fit anyone's taste. We unpacked, crawled into bed ,,,,,,,Ioved the Frette linens...and ordered room service. Although we did not order it........ there was Caviar on the menu. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. The maid welcomed me, handed me a small bottle and wished me a good sleep. Where else do they leave sleeping spray in the room?? How did I ever live without it? The next morning the concierge directed us to Olive and Gourmando for the most delicious pastry and Cafe Ole'....and dinner later at Bonaparte....everything in old city was an easy walk...and the Victoria Station Metro station is right under the hotel....how convenient is that? We wanted to see Montreal from the top of Mount Royal and walk down to the Beaux Art Museum to see the Yves St. Laurent exhibit ( to die for!!)...it was about a 20 minute walk...but Phillipe, the helpful concierge suggested we take a cab to the top...and insisted that we take a hotel business card so that if we could not make the climb down we could call and they would send a taxi for us. Now that is service! There are many reasonable places to eat in Montreal. We avoided the hotel restaurant although it looked lovely. Being in the coffee business I could not imagine what would make a cup of coffee worth $8.00 .....and a hamburger worth $30.00...I never saw many people there so perhaps I was not alone in thinking that it was over priced. The hotel might want to rethink their pricing. The last thing to note was the tremendous contrast we felt between the people of Montreal..and perhaps all of Canada...compared to Americans...we found EVERYONE to be extremely helpful. From the lady who owned a very small icecream shop operated from a window...who graceously let me use her small restroom when I desperately needed one....rather than making me go to a public one.....to the warm and friendly airport personel who post a passenger bill of rights at the enterance to the security check point...and hand out the small plastic bags that they want you to put your liquids in...and offer to help you in any way they can. Most of all I wanted to transport these kind people back to the state with me.....but aha!....in 57 minutes I can return for another fabulous and romantic holiday. Visit Montreal and stay at Hotel Le Saint James....it will make you smile...and take a bottle of the sleeping spray home with you!

My husband took me to Montreal for a weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday. We chose the Hotel Le Saint James because we wanted some quiet luxery, and we wanted to be close to old Montreal. It met both needs perfectly! First, our room. We booked a deluxe room, which was the lowest category. It was surprisingly large and beautifully furnished. Because it was on a lower level, with buildings right outside the windows, it had these lovely plantation style blinds that offered just the right amount of privacy while also providing charming lighting. We really enjoyed our room and found ourselves returning early most evenings to snuggle up in the sumptuous bed and watch movies. Second, the spa. It's one of the more unique spas I've visited--it's in the hotel's basement, very dark and secluded, and it only accomodates a couple of guests at a time. I had a wonderful vichy shower treatment from an incredibly gentle and professional masseuse. Expensive, but luxurious. Third, the location. We really enjoyed being able to walk to so many places in old Montreal. There are many art galleries nearby, as well as churches and cafes. The doorman is always at the ready with a taxi if you need one, and there is a subway station within a few blocks, so it's easy to visit other parts of the city. Fourth, the service. Overall, we were very pleased with the service that we received at the Hotel Le Saint James. The doormen were gracious, as was the concierge. I'm taking off one star in this review for a little bit of pretentiousness, though. My husband and I are both vegetarians, so we asked for directions to an underground vegan restaurant that was in an admittedly unglamorous part of the city. The concierge's reaction? "Are you sure you want to go there? I could book you into a much nicer place." Grrr . . . . we felt a little judged. All in all, it was a wonderful stay, especially for a weekend trip. And if you've never been to Montreal before, you really should go. For those of you who live in the U.S., it's like going to Europe for the weekend, with a much more favorable exchange rate and no jet lag!