My family just got back from our trip to Montreal, Quebec. It may surprise some of you to hear that this was actually the first time I’ve ever been east of Alberta in Canada! For our six nights in la belle province, we stayed at Le Westin Montreal. It’s located conveniently across the street from a metro station on one side and historic Old Montreal (Vieux Montreal) on the other side.
Our time at Le Westin Montreal was mostly comparable to our stays at other Starwood properties, like the Westin Taipei and Sheraton Portland Airport. This time around, we opted for a larger “premium room” that includes a sitting room in the front that is separate from the main bedroom toward the rear.
The hotel itself did feel a little on the dated side, but that’s perfectly understandable for the area. The inclusion of a microwave was certainly handy, as were the in-room coffee maker and complimentary bottle of water. Curiously, it seems that daily housekeeping is disabled by default. In exchange for reusing your towels and such, Le Westin Montreal offers a $5 voucher for the Gazette Restaurant in the lobby. This can be traded in for 500 SPG points if you prefer.
Of course, there’s still housekeeping if you want it; you just have to tell front desk that you’d like someone to clean your room, empty your trash, and replenish your supplies. Unlike many other “premium” hotels, Le Westin Montreal does offer complimentary in-room Internet access (plus Wi-Fi in the hotel’s public areas). The catch is that the “free” high speed Internet can be very slow and you need to upgrade to the higher plan (about $12/day) to get a Netflix-worthy connection.
We were able to get a deal on our room, but a typical stay at Le Westin Montreal usually starts at over $200 a night, getting up over $400 a night during busier times. Where will we go next?
For $200 a night I expect housekeeping. For $40 a night I expect a good lock on the door and to sleep in shifts.