Montreal, Canada

Hotel St Paul

Price per night from$207.57

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (CAD282.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Modern art and soul

Setting

Stylish streets of Vieux Montréal

Occupying an old, bold Beaux Arts building in Montreal’s coolest quarter – the old town – Hotel St Paul is something of a trailblazer in a city swimming with bland business hotels. A warm and welcoming minimalism dominates the decor, enhanced by dramatic touches such as the fire-lit alabaster cube that lords it over the lobby, and the ethereal muslin drapes that feature in many of the rooms. 

Smith Extra

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Late check-out until 4pm

Facilities

Photos Hotel St Paul facilities

Need to know

Rooms

119, including 19 suites.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability.

Prices

Double rooms from £195.64 (CA$336), including tax at 19 per cent.

More details

Rates exclude the buffet breakfast, but it can be purchased on the property for CA$30 per adult (free for under-12s).

At the hotel

Gym, massage service, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: LCD TV, Nespresso machine, free bottled water, sound system, minibar.

Our favourite rooms

Hotel St Paul is justifiably proud of its Black Suite on the penthouse floor (where all rooms boast 13-foot vaulted ceilings). Floor-to-ceiling muslin curtains lend a dreaminess to the atmosphere around the bed, and tall, white, folding shutters let in plenty of light to counterbalance the charcoal tones of the walls and floors. Junior Suite 1002 also grabbed our attention – we loved the burnt orange velvety sofa and the huge shuttered windows. At very least, try to get a room looking out over old Montreal or one high up the building with a view towards the St Lawrence river.

Packing tips

Montreal’s winters can be bone-chafingly frigid, so dress up warm twice over.

Pet‐friendly

Two small-to-medium dogs or cats can join you for CA$75 a night; they’ll get a toy and food and water bowls. See more pet-friendly hotels in Montreal.

Children

Under-17s stay free.

Food and Drink

Photos Hotel St Paul food and drink

Top Table

Greet the day from a seat overlooking the streets of old Montreal.

Dress Code

Suave and stylish – moody monochrome ensembles to match the decor.

Hotel restaurant

The hotel may not have a formal restaurant, but on the ground floor you'll find Bar @ Pol, which serves an array of snacks and light bites including salted cod croquettes, marinated mackeral, a New York-style steak or chocolate churros for the sweet tooths.

Hotel bar

The bar serves apéritifs, cocktails, wine and champagne. There is also a menu of light fare to accompany cocktails.

Last orders

Bar @ Pol is open daily from 4pm.

Room service

The hotel can deliver breakfast to your room. At other times, the staff will happily call in orders to nearby eateries.

Location

Photos Hotel St Paul location
Address
Hotel St Paul
355 McGill, Montreal (CITQ #160311)
Montreal
H2Y 2E8
Canada

Planes

Fly direct to Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport from the UK and US. Our Smith24 team are on hand at all times to book your flights. Taxi transfers to the hotel cost around CA$40, or, for CA$10, hop aboard the L’Aerobus shuttle service for the 45-minute ride to Montreal Central Bus station and take a cab from there.

Trains

VIA Rail Canada operates speedy services to Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto, as well as a direct train service to New York City (leafy and pretty, but a leg-numbing eight hours). All services arrive at Montreal’s Gare Centrale, where there is a taxi rank.

Automobiles

Cars aren’t necessary for navigating Montreal’s compact and easily traffic-clogged centre. If you decide to drive from the airport, follow signs for Montreal Downtown/Centre-Ville onto Autoroute Ville-Marie 720 and take the fourth exit, signposted De La Montagne/St Jacques Sud. There's valet parking at the hotel for CA$40 a day.

Worth getting out of bed for

St Paul sits in the historic European-accented Old Montreal neighbourhood, where there are cobbled streets and repurposed factories. Architecture buffs will find the latter down by the Old Port, plus some striking modernist monoliths in Downtown. A short walk from the hotel lies Habitat 67, a Brutalist building-blocks-gone-wild complex by Moshe Safdie; Mies Van Der Rohe’s Westmount Square office blocks; and whimsical 19th-century folly Château Ramezay, now a museum. Wander up to heritage site Bonsecours Market then amble over to the Musée d'Art Contemporain and stroll along the Old Port before treating yourself to a massage and eucalyptus steam bath aboard floating spa Bota Bota.

Place des Arts is a multi-discipline arts space for plays, dance recitals and art shows, DHC / Arts hosts big names and major exhibitions and the Darling Foundry champions new talent. Shop-till-you-droppers should head to Maison Pepin for tasteful souvenirs across the board, Ssense for cutting-edge fashions, concept store Want Apothecary and À Table Tout le Monde (361 rue Saint-Paul Ouest) for chic homewares. When the day’s wanderings are done, seek out Gibeau Orange Julep (7700 Decarie Boulevard) – a huge orange-shaped sphere you really can’t miss – to try their mysterious namesake drink (essentially a creamy orange juice with powdered egg) with a carton of poutine.

Local restaurants

Unsigned, hidden down an old-town side-street, and cunningly disguised as a fishing lodge, Le Club Chasse et Pêche on rue St Claude is making waves with its innovative Qubecois cuisine. Expect new twists on old favourites (such as surf 'n' turf pairing lobster with Wagyu beef, sweetbreads or suckling pig), and a young, animated atmosphere. Also within walking distance of St Paul, Holder, on rue McGill, serves European brasserie-style cuisine, complemented with an impressive wine selection. Meat-lovers should flock to Da Emma (+1514 392 1568), on rue de la Commune Ouest, an excellent Italian set in what was once a women's prison.

Reviews

Photos Hotel St Paul reviews
Mark Bigault

Anonymous review

By Mark Bigault, Passport-bashing penman

Seeing Mrs Smith outside the Hotel St Paul, fanning her burning cheeks, confirms the weather reports for the weekend. For the next few days Montreal will be hotter than the sun. Funny – I always associated the city with weather cold enough to make a moose shiver. But here we are, baking in the heart of Old Montreal with a suite at a stylish hotel and the annual Jazz Festival swinging outside. As excited as I am about romantic strolls past the Beaux-Arts architecture and softly lit dinners at the endless world-class restaurants, I can’t help thinking, ‘If only I’d packed some shorts.’

Mrs Smith walks back in, realising that the allure of jazz isn’t enough to convince me that the sticky night air is preferable to martini number two in the seductively air-conditioned bar. Especially sans shorts. The extra olives are enough to swing it in my favour and she settles back into the welcoming leather sofas that frame the lobby. After all, this is our first night and while the many attractions of downtown Montreal are calling, so is the hotel.

At first glance the lobby area looks a bit bereft. The clean, simple geometric finish is swish enough but the blank, plastered wall behind reception leaves me a little cold. But as I stand there practising my pidgin French on the bewildered bellhop, I clock the vast marble fireplace that lends the space a welcoming touch. Luckily for me and the bewildered bellboy, Mrs French-Canadian Smith overhears me murdering her mother tongue and steps in, ushering us up to our suite on the sixth floor.

Stepping into our bedroom it’s clear that we have one of the ‘sky’ rooms, the others being styled with an ‘earth’ theme. This translates as high ceilings and a bright white decor, making it the perfect refuge from the searing street heat. After a quick visit from a housekeeper with a contagious laugh, we’re off to enjoy our first meal in Vauvert, the hotel’s sleek and prestigious restaurant.

When it comes to dinnertime, Montreal’s menu is broader than my French accent. Perhaps the locals’ love of food stems from the French influence. Or perhaps they just have good taste. Either way, it means three superb square meals a day for me and Mrs Smith. Settling at the table in Vauvert, Mrs Smith loves the design and the charming, bearded waiter. Conversing in French she orders, making my lemon and saffron risotto and her baby arugula salad with strawberries and hazelnuts sound even more delicious. The restaurant, much like the rest of Hotel St Paul, benefits from being understated, with matt black walls and a long galley bar in the unfussy space. The dining is a treat, especially washed down with a glass of Ontario white. A nice surprise, who knew Canadian wine was so good?

Sated, we finally drag ourselves away from the hotel, strolling a few streets to the Jazz Festival. With the hotel centrally located on the corner of McGill, it takes just 10 minutes to reach the music, which floats out from the many stages. It’s free to wander in, but we contribute by nobly buying a couple of drinks and planting ourselves in front of the main stage. During the summer months, Montreal is full of such surprises, with free events almost every night.

With plenty of unique French-Canadian attractions to see we pack even more into day two. Hungry, we visit Marche Jean-Talon, ogling the produce and devouring more samples than we should. Armed with enough cheese and pate to give Gillian McKeith gout, we settle in the nearby Parc La Fontaine for a picnic.

Sun-kissed and smiling, it’s a short cab ride back to the hotel for a refreshing shower in the bright, spacious bathroom. Happily we’re not yet full-up so drop into Holder, a French bistro just a couple of doors down from the hotel. From here it’s a short walk to the terrace at Jardin Nelson where we sit outside under the strobing stars, sipping two chilled whites to break the heat. The city’s terrasses are big in summer, with locals making every effort to enjoy the few months when Montreal doesn’t resemble Bing Crosby’s favourite Christmas.

Refreshed, our final stop is on the Pont Cartier, which is pedestrianised every Saturday throughout summer for the fireworks festival. Countries take it in turns to put on a fireworks display and tonight it’s Portugal’s chance to light up the night sky, patriotically and pyrotechnically filling the black canvas with explosive reds and greens. In the cab ride home we fulfil one more recommendation, stopping at La Banquise, a 24-hour eatery that specialises in poutine. In the mood for a slightly dirty treat, we order Quebec’s speciality guilty-pleasure combo of fries, gravy and cheese curds. It’s hardly haute cuisine, but Canada’s kebab substitute is a late-night Montreal institution.

Check-out comes all too soon after our final complimentary breakfast in Cube, the second-floor dining room with caffeinated city views. En route to the airport we squeeze in one more Montreal must – a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz, on Rue St Laurent. It’s simple but excellent, which in spirit is somehow similar to the hotel. That’s right, you can draw parallels between four-star hotels and salt-beef sandwiches. I just did. But only because the Hotel St Paul is so different. With its modern flavour and old town locale it’s unique. And, thank Dieu, it’s air-conditioned.

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Price per night from $207.57