The Ritz-Carlton Montreal

Each spring a brood of ducklings appears on the pond in the garden behind the Ritz-Carlton Montreal, a summer ritual guests have watched for generations. The hotel itself opened on Sherbrooke Street West on 31 December 1912, when the Golden Square Mile on the slopes below Mount Royal held a remarkable share of the wealth of Canada.

History

The neighbourhood was home to the families who controlled the country's railways, banks and shipping, and they wanted a hotel to match their mansions. A group of Montreal financiers backed the project and obtained the right to use the Ritz-Carlton name, then attached to the hotels associated with César Ritz in Europe. The Montreal house thus predates by decades the American company that later turned Ritz-Carlton into a global brand, and it is the oldest hotel of the name still operating in North America.

Its most quoted night came on 15 March 1964, when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married in a suite upstairs, the first of their two weddings. Over the following decades the hotel received politicians, film stars, musicians and visiting royalty, and it stayed the address where Montreal families held their dinners and debutante balls.

In 2008 the hotel closed for a full reconstruction. It reopened in 2012, in time for its centenary, with rebuilt rooms, private residences in a new addition above the historic floors, and a restaurant run by Daniel Boulud.

Architecture and design

The New York firm Warren and Wetmore, which also designed Grand Central Terminal, drew the building. Its stone front on Sherbrooke Street is restrained, in the Beaux-Arts manner of the period, with the entrance sheltered by a canopy at street level. The reconstruction kept the façade and the main historic rooms while renewing almost everything behind them. The Palm Court and the Oval Room, the hotel's best-known reception rooms, kept their original proportions and ornament.

Rooms and suites

The rooms were rebuilt from the frame during the works of 2008 to 2012, so the house joins its 1912 shell to modern bathrooms, wiring and heating, which counts for a great deal in a Montreal February. The larger suites sit on the upper historic floors, several with views over Sherbrooke Street towards the river or up towards the mountain. The residences in the addition above are privately owned and served by the hotel.

Dining

Maison Boulud, the restaurant of the French chef Daniel Boulud, opened with the 2012 reopening. Its dining room looks onto the garden and the duck pond, and in summer tables move out to the terrace around the water. The Palm Court, under its glass ceiling, serves afternoon tea, a custom the hotel has kept through most of its history, and drinks in the evening.

Weddings and events

The Taylor and Burton wedding set a precedent that Montreal families have followed for decades. The Oval Room, named for its shape, is the setting for ceremonies, dinners and dances, and a ballroom handles larger receptions. Smaller salons take board meetings, private dinners and launches. Garden receptions use the terrace around the pond in the warmer months.

Location

The hotel stands at the corner of Sherbrooke Street West and Drummond Street, at the heart of the Golden Square Mile. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts lies a block to the west, McGill University a few blocks east, and the paths of Mount Royal park climb the hill behind. The shops of Sainte-Catherine Street are two streets south. Peel metro station is a short walk away, and from there the Underground City and Gare Centrale, for Via Rail trains to Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto, are a few stops off. Montréal-Trudeau International Airport lies about 20 kilometres west. For a luxury hotel in Montreal, few addresses carry as much of the city's history.