Ritz-Carlton Montreal

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The Ritz-Carlton Montréal is a

The original builders referred to themselves as the Carlton Hotel Company of Montreal, with the concept of naming the hotel after London's celebrated Carlton Hotel. However, one of the investors, Charles Hosmer, was a personal friend of César Ritz, and persuaded his colleagues to incorporate the Ritz name associated with the success of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, which opened in 1898.

For a fee of C$25,000, César Ritz agreed to lend his name, but stipulated that by the "Ritz standards," every room was to have its own bathroom, there was to be a kitchen on every floor so room-service meals could be served course by course, and around-the-clock valet and concierge service were to be made available to the guests for, amongst other duties, tracking lost luggage or ordering theatre tickets.^[2] Finally, the lobby was to be small and intimate, with a curved grand staircase for ladies to show off their ball gowns on their descent.^[3]

Early years

Around 1820,

On Valentine's Day, 1916, the first transcontinental telephone call was made from the hotel. An audience of two hundred businessmen was said to have listened as the Chairman of the Bell Telephone Company enquired: "Hello. Is this Vancouver?" The clear reply—"Yes"—was met with approval and toasted with champagne.^[7]

In 1918,

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was followed by the Great Depression and then World War II. The Swiss General Manager, Émile Charles des Baillets, had been with the hotel since 1924. In 1929, he lamented that before, guests had come to stay for several weeks accompanied by trains of luggage, but during this time, when they did come, they came for a night or two with only a single bag.^[12]

Many of its in-house residents were not as badly affected as their American counterparts following 1929; they stayed loyal to the hotel. In the 1930s, when the widows and residents of the Golden Square Mile began to downsize from their mansions, many prominent people took rooms in the hotel, such as Lady Shaughnessy and founder Charles Hosmer's son, Elwood, who, between him and his sister, had inherited $20 million from their father in 1927.^[9] The hotel had guests such as Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Marlene Dietrich, Liberace, Tyrone Power and Maurice Chevalier. However, as the last of the loyal Square Milers were dying off, the hotel began to fall into debt.

The Ritz-Carlton Montreal closed in 2008 for renovation and reopened after a $200 million restoration.[15] Today, the hotel is part of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC., owned by Marriott International. Unlike other Ritz-Carlton hotels, the hotel is still using a lion emblem.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has 96 rooms and 33 suites, including the Royal Suite, which consists of 4,700 square feet and 3 bedrooms. When the hotel completed its renovations in 2012, the Royal Suite was the largest hotel room in Canada, renting for $7,000 to $10,000 per night.^[16]

Restaurants

Since 2012, the hotel's main restaurant is Maison Boulud, named for the celebrity chef Daniel Boulud.^[17] The hotel also offers afternoon tea in the refurbished Palm Court.^[18]

Pool and spa

The rooftop is equipped with a saltwater infinity pool.^[15]

In 2015, the hotel added a spa for the first time, as the Spa St. James moved into the hotel from its prior location in a historic building on Crescent Street.^[19]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ritz-Carlton, Montreal.

• Biography of François Dupré
• Photograph:Ritz Carleton Hotel, 1915 - McCord Museum
• Photograph:Ritz Carleton Hotel, 1924 - McCord Museum
• Photograph:Ritz Carleton Hotel, about 1938 - McCord Museum