The Antonopoulos family operates three of the city's coolest design
hotels, all of them within walking distance of one another in Vieux-Montreal,
and all with superb restaurants. The 135-room Place d'Armes Hotel opened
in 2000 and received a major restoration in 2005, but it's fashioned out
of three meticulously restored vintage buildings. Many of the spacious,
smartly furnished rooms reveal ornate original woodwork and have Jacuzzi
tubs or huge walk-in showers with "rain" showerheads. The hotel's AIX
Cuisine du Terrior specializes in Canadian game and produce, such as
honey-glazed Quebec duck breast with parsnip puree, lemon confit, and
cranberries, and Nunavut caribou tartare with mustard and raisins and a
port-wine reduction. In the hotel's Rainspa, schedule a Dead Sea-salt
exfoliation or soak in a traditional hammam (a Middle Eastern bath). And
in the swank lounge, Suite 701, you can enjoy cocktails while mingling
with the sexy crowd.
The same family runs the highly romantic Auberge du Vieux-Port, set inside
a beautiful 1882 warehouse, whose 27 rooms have stone and brick walls,
hardwood floors, soaring windows, and brass beds. On warm days, relax on
the hotel's rooftop terrace, with its sweeping views of the St. Lawrence
River. Here, you can dine on superb seasonal French fare and sip wines
from the impressive wine list at Les Ramparts, a cozy space in the hotel's
basement. The third jewel in the group is the charming Hotel Nelligan,
with its warmly decorated accommodations - try to book one of the Loft
Suites, which have fireplaces and large living areas. On the ground floor,
Verses Restaurant serves similar outstanding contemporary fare.
If an ultra-mod property is more to your liking, book a room at the W
Montreal, a high-tech retreat on the edge of Vieux-Montreal with an
electric-blue color scheme and rooms with DVD players and flat-screen TVs
and beds with 350-count linens and goose-down duvets. The restaurant,
Otto, is one of the hottest tables in town, and the four lounges at the W
are always packed with intriguing, fashionable sorts.
A wonderful value, the bargain-priced 40-room Hotel de L'Institut occupies
the top three floors of a hospitality college, where the staff, which is
made up of students and faculty, works hard and does a great job keeping
rooms clean and attractive - they have their grades to think about, after
all. The formerly hideous building was redesigned with a dashing
semi-transparent glass exterior in 2005. It overlooks Carre St-Louis, a
leafy square on the Plateau, within walking distance of the Gay Village,
and L'Institut also has a fine restaurant. Smack dab in the Gay Village,
there's the regal Alexandre Logan B&B, which occupies a grand redbrick
1870 townhouse whose airy rooms have original crown molding, polished-wood
floors, and tasteful yet unfussy furnishings. Some of the five guest rooms
have private balconies, and everyone has access to the plant-filled
outdoor terrace. It's the perfect roost if you want to get a sense of the
city's style and elegance while also enjoying easy access to all the
excitement of one of North America's liveliest gay dining and nightlife
districts. What better way to appreciate Montreal?
Andrew Collins is the
author of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and as well as numerous other
guidebooks.
The Hunk
