Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel Montreal

Then try the Hotel Le Germain or the Hotel Nelligan. You won't be just another one of the thousand guests in the huge hotel. They are new and quite luxurious. The service is excellent. And they are in great parts of town.
Nelligan is in Vieux Port, Le Germain is right off of Sherbrook.
Much more elegant than the QE.IMHO.

Queen Elisabeth hotel is one of the oldest grand hotel in Montreal. Lots of history there. Although I have never stayed there, it is the place where all the great people were staying back some 20 years ago. Only the very rich people could afford to stay there.

I had my graduation there some 26 years ago and I remember that it was the most expensive hotel in Montreal at the time.

The facade has not changed since the beginning but I don't know what it looks like inside anymore. It used to be very sophisticated. The location is excellent for shopping and visiting. The central station & metro is right underneath it.

But there are so many newer, younger hotels with younger clientel. And the hotels recommended here are not cheap! The Ritz used to be the best there was, now it is faded and tired, old and old fashioned.

I have looked at the websites for many of the newer "boutique" hotels including Nelligan and they all look wonderful. My only concern is that it could be noisy due to street noise at night. I am a very light sleeper, or more likely, I am not used to city noises, just hearing the bears howl at night. I understand that the rooms at the Queen Elizabeth have been recently renovated. I agree that the Ritz Carlton is very "tired" and has a stuffy feel to it, almost like mildew.
All suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks.

Hi
I have stayed in the Omni on rue Sherbrook, facing Sherbrook and Mt Royal in a Jr Suite. It was great.
But we got tired of the large hotel atmosphere and tried the Germain. It is right around the corner from rue Sherbrook. We love it and will be back there this Oct. There is absolutely no sound from the streets. Most hotels in Montreal are on busy streets. The Le Germain is luxurious, large rooms, outstanding staff, and they remember your name and take great care of you.
Have fun, whichever you choose!

I stayed at the Queen Elizabeth on 2 occations in the past couple of years and found it to be an excellent hotel beside the accessibility to trains shopping. I stayed at the Omni mid June and was not at all impressed by it. Breakfast buffet is great at Queen Elizabeth and so isn't the Beaver Club. A friend of mine stayed in the Junior Suite and loved it at the Queen E.

Anncat, thanks so much for the information about the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Are the bathrooms anything special in the renovated deluxe rooms? Did your friend mention any details about the Jr.suites? I have also stayed at the Omni and the room was OK, but the bathrooms were low end quality and very small. Thanks again.

I have never stayed in a regular room at the Omni, but the Jr Suites are spacious and have large bathrooms.

Wherever you go in Montreal, there will be a busy city street outside the door. I think cheap old hotels and motels might be noisy, but the class of hotels you seem to be interested in won't have noise problems.

Actually my friend told me the junior suites were recently renovated and she loved them. They have been to Montreal 4 times and stayed always at the QE.

Does anyone have any recent comments to add to this post? I am seriously considering this hotel for a trip in November. Seems to be an excellent location.

For AnnaLaura: We visit Montreal often throughout the year. Our hotel of choice has always been Hotel de la Montagne, but the rates have risen over the years to $185/night. In October, we're booked into the Hilton Bonaventure (lux enough for us) at the ridiculously low price of $82 USD/night. This past New Year's, we stayed at the (also quite lux) brand new Sofitel via Hotwire for something in the $80's USD/night.

With Priceline and Hotwire, if you stick to Downtown and 4* or above, you can hardly go wrong, and you'll save a bundle on your accomodations (to be spent on shopping and dining!).

Because the Queen E was built before the other big downtown hotels, they got the best location, especially for cold months, as you have direct indoor access to shopping at Place Ville Marie, which is connected to the whole "underground city". No hotel is more convenient or in the heart of things. The only problem with the lovely boutique properties in Old Montreal is that there is no metro station right there (subway line couldn't be built into the historic area), so you are a bit off the beaten path for a lot of the action in Montreal. The area is very atmospheric, though. As a very large convention hotel, the Queen E could not be expected to have the charm of one of the small boutique hotels. It was built in the '50's, so bathrooms are definitely on the small side, though renovated and very smart-looking. Discount rates tend to be better than the Hilton Bonaventure, which I never understand bcs the Queen E has nicer rooms. Make sure you insist on a high floor (better rooms, in general) with a nice view of the mountain! Concierge floor(s) have distinctly more spacious rooms, with duvets, always a big mark of quality in my mind. Traffic noise is not a problem.