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Ice Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Snow Village / Opus Hotels / → All Tags

Don't Lick the Ice Sculptures and Other Tips for Staying at Montreal's Snow Village

Where: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Yesterday we told you about Montreal’s new Snow Village, the first North American outpost of the chain with structures in Finland and Norway. Today, we're about to tell you what it's like on the inside. Yes, despite arched eyebrows from our pals, we spent the night in the "ice hotel". We’re troopers like that. Or so we thought.

First thing—we were prepared for things to be a bit wonky the first few nights as this is new territory for Montreal. It’s not like Quebec City’s Ice Hotel—a well run operation in effect for years. But, things did go a bit haywire during our visit.

The registration process in the welcome center involved a seemingly normal contract—no smoking, lock your valuables, we’re not responsible if you slip—until the last paragraph, advising guests “not to lick any of the ice structures.” Visions of Flick’s tongue sticking to the pole in “A Christmas Story” danced in our head.

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Ice Hotels / Winter Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Snow Village Montreal / → All Tags

Montreal is Cold Chillin' with its Snow Village

Where: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Last winter we proved we don’t wuss out when it comes to the cold, so when we heard about Montreal’s new Snow Village, we strapped on our snowshoes (ok, not really), and headed to the Great White North.

Montreal’s latest attraction is a five minute ride from the downtown area on Sainte-Hélène island. This area hosts an annual winter festival in its Parc Jean-Drapeau, but this year it goes over the top with the addition of the Snow Village, three giant igloos forming a ice hotel complete with restaurant, bar, conference center, and chapel to rival Quebec City’s famous seasonal structure. It opens this evening and is set (hopefully!) to remain in place until it’s deconstructed on March 31st.

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Cool Hotel Uniforms / Montreal Hotels / Fashion Hotels / → All Tags

Does That Concierge Know There's A Zipper On His Vest?

Where: 55 ST JACQUES STREET, Montreal, QC, Canada, H2Y2X6

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Le Place D'Armes, the Montreal hotel kindly asked fashion designer Dennis Gagnon to whip up some snazzy new staff uniforms. And on Tuesday night, those uniforms—scarves, zippers, Aldo shoes and all—were debuted to a small crowd inside Suite 701 (the hotel's billowy, high-ceilinged bar).

A far cry from the super-casual duds we saw last month at the Hotel Williamsburg! What do Americans know, anyway? For a look at more of the black-and-white collection, click below.

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Hotel Video Tours / Photo Gallery / Montreal Hotels / Free WiFi / Peekaboo Bathrooms / → All Tags

Swan-ing Around Montreal’s Hotel Chez Swann

Where: 1444 rue Drummond, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3G 1V9

We recently experienced a remembrance of things past while flipping through our photos of a recent trip to Montreal (did you catch the Proust joke in there?), and wanted to tell you about the hotel we stayed in during our visit, the new Hotel Chez Swann. Named after the main character in Marcel Proust’s magnum opus, In Search of Lost Time, this 23-room property is part boutique hotel, part art gallery.

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Opus Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel Cocktails / Lady Gaga / → All Tags

Ou Est Les Beautiful People? At Opus Hotel Montreal

Where: 10 Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC, Canada, H2X

How’s this for priorities? Opus Hotel Montreal chose its location because of proximity to the city’s party zone – the Plateau and club-crammed Boulevard St-Laurent. If you’ve come to Montreal for some bilingual flirting, this is the place.

The Opus is also a prime example of a hotel trend that shows no signs of abating: Nightlife that rivals the rooms. Here, it’s the model-magnet lounge, Koko Bar, which has the whiff of a Miami pool party: Gauzy white curtains, servers in short sleeves, and the kind of designer oddities meant to convey "personality" – in this case, a lime-green runway and...frog statues. And seating is on banquettes (of course it is).

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Montreal Hotels / Boutique Hotels / Design Hotels / Canada Hotels / → All Tags

Size Matters: Smaller is… More Intimate at Le Petit Hotel in Montreal

Where: 168 rue Saint-Paul Ouest, Montreal, Canada

Montreal’s buzziest new hotels have two things in common: Resurrected antique architecture and chill lounges.

le petit hôtel is l’example parfait. The 24-room boutique hotel lives in a lovely 19th-century building in Vieux-Montreal. Ease into the evening with a glass of Quebecois ice wine at the low-lit lounge and, as the hotel folks put it, "mingle, munch, and unwind."

As for the design? Also parfait. We’ve researched lots of boutique hotels, and some can seem forced in their “boutiquey-ness” – too cute, and conventionally unconventional. Here, though, we love the mischievous and inviting interior. Tang-orange color accents play against old stone throughout the hotel. A monochrome suite with a grey-slate wall is offset by, say, a single orange chair or vase. (It reminded us of the film Red Balloon where there’s just one pop of color in the muted black-and-white landscape.)

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Hotel Packages / Montreal Hotels / Loews Hotels / → All Tags

Montreal's Hotel Vogue Will Pack a French Picnic For You

Where: 1425 Rue De La Montagne, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3G1Z3

Oh, Montréal, ever the cultured temptress: Culture hounds forgoing their Parisian jaunts this summer can get their French art fix in our northernly neighbor. To help them out, Loews Hôtel Vogue is offering a package called “Culture and Nature à la Montréal Style,” which helps guests “experience the beauty of Montreal both indoors and outside.”

In other words, that means overnight lodgings, two museum passes to the renowned Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and an oh-so-French picnic lunch for two packed in a keepsake backpack. (Think sandwiches, baguette with local cheeses, mixed salad, pita chips, fresh fruit, cookies, and bottle water.)

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Hotel Openings / Canada Hotels / Westin Hotels / → All Tags

Montreal's New Westin Opens In Old Newspaper Headquarters

Where: 270 Saint-Antoine Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H270A3

You know you're in Montreal when a newly-opened Westin sticks a "Le" in front of its name. Please welcome to the Canadian hotel scene the Le Westin Montreal, a 454-room property housed in the historical building once belonging to The Montréal Gazette.

In homage to the former tenants, the hotel has named its restaurant "Gazette" and its bar "Le Reporter." As far as the rest of the hotel goes, it's a standard Westin with Heavenly beds in every room, a WestinWORKOUT fitness center, and even an indoor pool. Special attention has however been placed on the work spaces within the rooms, since Montreal is just as popular a destination for business as it is for leisure, and the Westin happens to be centrally located in the downtown district.

Rates for such a fresh and well-situated property are excellently low to start off; this summer is looking at rooms from $150 per night. For once we may be freed from the expensive appeal of Le Saint Sulpice, but for how long?

[Image: Le Westin Montreal]

Hotel Video Tours / Famous Hotels / John Lennon / Yoko Ono / Bed-Ins / Fairmont Hotels / Montreal Hotels / → All Tags

Inside the Famous Bed-In Suite Used by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Where: 900 Rene Levesque Blvd. W , Montreal, QC, Canada, H3B4A5

Montreal is in full gear celebrating the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-In For Peace which happened in 1969 at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in rooms 1738 and 1742.

Jaunted's own Shira Lazar was there at the hotel this week and she got an exclusive tour of the suite with Richard York, a journalist who visited with the couple during their week-long stay.

Here's a look inside the famous bed-in suite.

Lists / Montreal Hotels / → All Tags

The Five Best Hotels to Experience La Vie a Montreal

When you were in college, Montreal was a veritable fantasy land for the adventurous 20-year-old American: a lowered drinking age, a different culture with no expensive flight required, a lowered drinking age, interesting people, and a lowered drinking age. Plus: lots of cheap hostels!

Now that you're a bit older and your priorities have changed, it's time to hit up Canada's cultural capital again — and this time around, you can afford to (and you probably want to) stay in a real hotel while you get the most out of what the city has to offer. Also, they say French is the language of love (don't they?) so why not take your honey there for Valentine's Day? Or, you know, just take yourself there for a vacay. After the jump, we've rounded up the Five Best Hotels to Experience La Vie a Montreal.

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Jock Jam Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Montreal Hotels / → All Tags

Fairmont Montreal Will Host Toothless But Hot Men This Weekend

Where: 900 Rene Levesque Blvd. W , Montreal, QC, Canada, H3B4A5

[Update: Fairmont has let us know some players are starting to arrive today! Eeek!]

The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal has scored the cushiest gig of them all, sure to make fellow Canadian hotels very jealous--it's the official hotel of the NHL All-Star Game happening this weekend.

Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth decked to the NHL nines as it prepares for this weekend’s NHL All-Star game in Montreal. As the official hotel, the Fairmont will host a series of exciting events throughout the weekend.

No word on what those exciting events are just yet but for any serious action, you'll have to hit the ice. Or if you have a thing for brutish, toothless yet somehow still attractive men, staking out this hotel is a good start to get cross-checked without any penalty time. Wink, wink.

Surprisingly, room rates are very affordable here starting at $289CAD this weekend for a Fairmont Gold room.

[Photo: TwitPic/Fairmont]

Aloft Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Airport Hotels / NYT Reviews / → All Tags

The First-Ever Aloft Hotel Gets Sized Up By The New York Times

Where: 500 McMillan Blvd, Montreal, QC, Canada, H9P 0A2

This is actually the bed at Aloft Rancho Cucamonga. But they are pretty much all alike.

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."