I was there one night before our Qatar Airways Qsuites left Montreal for the Maldives. Hotel St. Paul In the city center
Having been to several of the Montreal’s Marriott Forest Fear properties so far, this was one of the next ones I haven’t tried yet. Plus, I recently had a good impression on the property of my first design hotel in Malaysia, so I was looking forward to visiting the design hotel again.
Hotel St. Paul Montreal – Booking
At the time of my visit in early May, the cash rates for hotels in Montreal were quite high, falling into the $ 300-400 area for an overnight stay. Thus, I chose to redeem the forest fear point instead.
This was going for special property 34,000 forest fear points At the time, and sitting on our partner Jesse’s account, I received a Free Night Award worth 35,000 forestweed points. The Free Night Prize was also set to expire at the end of June, so we needed to use it before then.
Therefore, it was a wonderful opportunity to burn the certificate and have a free night stay at the Hotel St. Paul.
I did not object to the 1,000-point difference between the 35,000-point face value and the 34,000-point moving rate; Instead, I was satisfied enough to redeem a prize that was soon overdue and save myself a good chunk of cash.
Book the Marriott Hotel with the Prince of Travel
Hotel St. Paul Montreal – Location
Hotel St. Paul McGill is located in the heart of Old Montreal. In terms of location, the hotel is very central to city visitors.
There are numerous boutiques, art galleries and cafes in the vicinity, just a five-minute walk from many hotels. When the Old Port is near the northeast corner St. Catherine St. West is accessible on foot in about 15 minutes.
The location is also ideal for those who rely on public transit. The McGill / William bus stop is just down the road, while the Square Victoria Metro station on the Orange Line is a five-minute walk away.
Lastly, take a 20-minute drive from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Hotel in Montreal, or take the 747 bus to the public transit, a 40-minute journey to Lionel-Grolux station and then take the subway.
Hotel St. Paul Montreal – check in
We arrived late at night from our flight to Vancouver and picked up an Uber at the hotel, which was very light stuffed upon our arrival.
I intended to “suite-talk” with the hotel and ask for an upgrade before arrival; Interestingly, however, the hotel does not participate in the Marriott Bonavoy chat function through their app.
Fortunately, I was still able to reach the hotel via email, and because of the Platinum Elite status they were happy to upgrade to our junior suite. On Jesse’s account.
In the meantime, since I also inquired about the top-level deluxe suite, the hotel offered it to us with a $ 25 upgrade fee. I thought it was rather funny, because I had never been offered an upgrade for such a low fee before.
Still, since we were only one night, I decided that a complimentary junior suit upgrade was enough.
Upon entering the lobby, you will notice lots of colors, textures and patterns, setting the mood of the hotel as a whole.
There was plenty of seating around the lobby. On the left was a velvet green couch and armchair, while on the right was a more urban-chic atmosphere with abstract purple seating.
It turned out that the staff members were only working night shifts and were not very familiar with the hotel’s offerings, including whether breakfast was included for the forest members.
(Under the terms, the design hotel features aren’t obligated to provide breakfast to elite members, but I still wanted to double check.)
At the very least, the staff members were able to process our check-in and hand over our room keys, which I think is what we can ask for at this last minute.
Hotel St. Paul Montreal – Junior Suite
As we went upstairs with our keys, we noticed many bizarre design elements in the hotel. The walls of the elevator featured a spooky deer head, while the hallways were illuminated with neon lights placed above each door.
In keeping with the brand of the hotel, there was a clear attempt to push the boundaries in terms of design, but I think the hotel has failed to create any kind of integrated identity as a result.
Entering the suite, those initial impressions only got stronger. We found ourselves in a high place that seemed empty because of the empty walls. The discrepancy was a distinctive lack of furniture collection and visual identity.
The living area has a deep purple velvet couch opposite the left wall, which was not comfortable at all. The big gold home decor ottoman came straight out of the W Hotel collection – I was almost certain I had seen this exact piece somewhere in the W before.
There was also a single red velvet-lined burg chair, which, again, did not seem to fit the rest of the furniture in any obvious way.
On the right wall hangs a desk, wooden chairs and some contemporary wall art. Outlets and plugs were made on the wall above the desk.
On the second day I have to finish the work from here. Alas, after sitting here for a long time, the chair became quite uncomfortable.
To the left of the desk, the TV sits in a small hut, and to the right is a large full-length mirror.
After all, there was a small table in the far corner of the room with a few glasses of water.
Once in the bedroom, the atmosphere changes to a modular white environment. The only pop of the color can be seen on the queen-size bed throw blanket.
The queen’s bed is decorated with irregular-shaped lamps on the side table and in a mere draperies hanging on the back wall.
Although the bed was advertised as queen size, it seemed a bit smaller than that. I certainly expected a king-size bed in a junior suite on a mid-range town property, and unfortunately not found here.
The bathroom was probably the most eye-catching part of the suite, but it was still somewhat inspiring. A double vanity sink has been cut into the marble counter and a large mirror smashed through the built-in LED lights.
Small brown tiles back wall and shower / bathtub combo, to the right of the vanity.
The bathtub had a very high edge, which made it harder to enter than necessary, when the toilet was completely blocked by the door when it was opened.
Such little detail made me wonder how much thought was really given to the design of this design hotel property.
Room did not offer a Nespresso machine; However, only three coffee pods were available (one of which was Decaf), subject to a higher $ 4 charge for requesting additional pods.
This is the first time I’ve come across such a charge for extra Nespresso pods, and it felt unnecessarily stingy on the part of the hotel. Usually, housekeeping gives you the ability to request more Nespresso pods, so it certainly doesn’t set a good tune for the rest.
Finally, the carpet was a very thin layer on top of a hard floor board, so walking around the suite was not very comfortable. Also, the walls felt paper-thin and the soundproofing of the house was quite poor.
Our overall impression of Hotel St. Paul’s Junior Suite here was quite negative. I was very disappointed to see a hotel room, but sadly, this is what happened here at Hotel St. Paul.
Hotel St. Paul Montreal – Other facilities
The fitness center is located in the basement of the hotel and is open 24 hours a day. The place is small and dimly lit, although it is fairly common throughout Montreal hotels.
Each exercise was a kind of equipment, as well as a set of free weights. A hotel guest can do a good workout here at once, but soon it will get a crowd of two or more people.
The hotel has a small lounge area on the second floor. The seating has velvet magentas and metallic gold chairs that create a delicate Art Deco atmosphere.
This area also leads to the place where breakfast is organized. However, since the design hotel property Marriott does not offer breakfast to elite members, we decided to skip breakfast and have coffee somewhere else in town instead.
One advantage that the hotel gratefully honored was the late checkout at 4pm, as I packed up as much work as possible and stayed in the room so I could enjoy our upcoming trip to the Maldives.
Conclusion
I was quite curious to try Hotel St. Paul at first, but to be honest, being around was frustrating. I will not return, nor would I recommend Montreal visitors to stay here, be it cash or point bookings.
The strange, bizarre decor, which began in the lobby and continued into the room, never matched any kind of intelligent visual identity. After a strong display of design hotels on my recent trip to Malaysia, this location proved that the brand can be quite a hit-or-miss.
Also, in terms of hotel prices, the absence of a king-size bed in the junior suite, the extra charge for Nespresso pods and the lack of functionality in the design elements were quite unpleasant.
The only silver lining in this position was that I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket because I had redeemed a Free Night Prize. Yet, overall, there are definitely many good hotels to choose from in Montreal, and Hotel St. Paul is one to avoid.
