It's "cleverly designed." The lobby is "a hoot." Rooms are "subdued." We'll give you one guess where The New York Times stayed recently...Aloft!
Specifically, Aloft Montreal Airport. The review is more about the brand than the property itself, and it's spot on about the elements of Aloft that do and do not work. For instance, the hotel earns points for having guest rooms with a "refreshing lack of clutter," but loses out with "corporate chirpiness" like when desk clerks say "Aloha" instead of hello.
(We don't quite get all that aloha business either. We're not in Hawaii, a place of sun and fun. We're in Montreal, or Lexington, or Chicago, or Philadelphia, likely on business. So thanks, Aloft, for reminding us that we're not in Hawaii on vacation.)
In all, the Times sums up Aloft so well, we're a little miffed we didn't think of this analogy ourselves: "If the design-savvy retailer Target opened a hotel, this is what it would look like."
The hotel strike in Montreal shows no sign of slowing down. We got a tip yesterday from a reader who said that attendees for the upcoming UFCW convention on August 17th--that's the United Food and Commercial Workers union--have ditched their planned accommodations at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel and are instead shacking up at the Loews.
The reason why? As you can guess, Fairmont's workers have just walked off the job. From the Montreal Gazette:
Workers at the largest hotel in Quebec, Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel, have joined forces with other locked out or striking hotel employees in a labour conflict that now affects four major Montreal-area hotels.
The Queen Elizabeth workers walked off the job Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in a temporary strike that can last a maximum of 72 hours.
Yikes. Considering that the QE is Quebec's largest hotel, this cannot bode well. Although the 72 hours are almost up, guests headed there this weekend should probably expect a little drama. The Hyatt Regency is also affected as is the Hôtel des Gouverneurs Place Dupuis and the Holiday Inn in Longueuil.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
We expect more from a pretty city like Montreal. So getting this anti-view of train lines, highways and car parks out of the Delta Centre Ville Hotel is not quite good enough.
Not every room in this hotel has an anti-view though--last year we got a tip that the hotel's Tour de Ville revolving restaurant is a great spot. The other side of the hotel obviously has the better views over the river and beyond so perhaps that's what makes the hotel's restaurant work.
Guests planning a stay at the Hyatt Regency in Montreal should probably lower their expectations on hotel service.
Approximately 280 hotel workers walked off the job over the weekend as contract negotiations failed. Most of the striking workers were housekeepers and kitchen staff who are seeking better wages, better retirement packages and less work loads. The housekeeper have once again cited oversized beds and pillows as to blame for making their workload harder.
The demand to reduce the number of rooms a housekeeper must clean is not "so we can spend time relaxing," [union president Myriam] Pacheco said.
"Most of the rooms used to have only one bed. But after renovations, they almost all have two double beds, more pillows, heavier blankets and more products in the washrooms to replace," she said.
Guests at the hotel have been alerted to the strike by a letter from the general manager which is placed in every room. In it, he tells guests that room service and the swimming pool are closed and housekeeping services are limited.
For now, there is no note or update on the hotel's website, so if you have a reservation for this hotel and want to know more of what's going on when you are scheduled to stay there, call the hotel in person.
The workers are demanding higher wages, better pension plans and -- most of all -- fewer rooms for the housekeepers to clean per shift.
More hotel workers are expected to go on strike this week, too -- so prepare yourself for the possibility of (heaven forbid) making your own bed in your Montreal hotel room.
The Ritz-Carlton Montreal is undergoing a bigtime makeover (to the tune of $100 million) and the historic hotel is auctioning off contents of the old rooms.
Now before anyone gets too excited with visions of beautiful antique pieces dancing in their heads, allow us to clarify: that stuff isn't going anywhere.
While a good portion of the old decor will be put on the auction block, the Canadian Press reports "the real antiques and art objects will be integrated into the new decor."
O Canada! The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, by Hilton Hotels, announced today their first hotel in Canada--The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal.
With 32 floors, 250 hotel rooms, 76 residences (that are sure to cost a fortune), ballroom space, "signature" restaurants, bars, a spa, and a fitness center, the Waldorf will make sure its presence is felt in "Our Home and Native Land!"
Hey, stupid Americans: the French-Canadian folks are so sick of you traipsing around Montreal with your silly English language (and worthless U.S. dollars and ugly Abercrombie outfits) that they are offering to teach you how to speak French.
No, seriously:
A pair of Montreal hotels have partnered with Berlitz Canada to offer French lessons to guests. Hotel Nelligan and Le Place d'Armes Hotel & Suites - part of the Antonopoulos Group of boutique hotels and restaurants - are offering a package that includes five nights' accommodation and 18 hours of private French lessons designed for tourists.
Yeah, what's up now, Aloft Montreal? Let's see you give us a nice bed to sleep in AND teach us French. Yeah, we thought so.
The package starts at $3,494 CAD for two people; reservations can be made here.
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by jennm
The hotel strike in Montreal shows no sign of slowing down. We got a tip yesterday from a reader who said that attendees for the upcoming UFCW convention on August 17th--that's the United Food and Commercial Workers union--have ditched their planned accommodations at the 
