I recently treated my family to a weekend staycation in Montreal. We chose the Westin hotel for two nights. Here is my review of our wonderful experience at this property.
The cost to stay at the Westin Montreal at the time was 49,000 points Marriott Bonvoy.
I secured an average CAA rate of $225+tax per night for a traditional room with two queen beds, so I chose to do this instead of using points. The cash rate provided a far better value; I earned 75% bonus points on the rate by being a Titanium Elite Bonvoy member, 5X the points per dollar spent by using my Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card, and earned double elite nights due to the Marriott Status Promotion ongoing at the time.
The Westin Montreal is located at 270 Rue Saint-Antoine Ouest. This is an enviable location straddling the downtown and the old cities.
The port area is within easy walking distance to the northeast, including attractions such as the Montreal Science Center (including an IMAX theatre), the Circle De Soleil Grand Chapiteau, with Notre Dame Basilica right on the way.
The Montreal convention center is direct across the street. The Centre Bell and Montreal’s golden square mile is also a short walk away to the southwest.
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The greatest thing about arriving at the Westin Montreal is that the entry is off the street and enclosed in a private valet area. This makes for a stress-free arrival experience compared with some other downtown hotels where the hotel’s main entrance is right on the busy street.
At the Westin, you arrive and park, a valet unloads your luggage and takes it to the lobby, then they park your car for you.
Valet parking is $30/night, with no option for self-parking unless you want to choose another parking option not affiliated with the hotel. This might seem expensive; however, it’s a decent value for the downtown Montreal area. The Embassy Suites next door, for example, had self-park only for $40/night.
The Westin has a warm, inviting lobby featuring several check-in desks, a valet station, a concierge desk, and escalators going up to the Mezzanine where the conference rooms are located.
As a Titanium Elite Bonvoy member, I was hoping for a suite upgrade for this stay. I had confirmed a premium room upgrade several days beforehand by emailing the hotel. It was pretty good since these rooms offer a separate bedroom and living area with a pull-out sofa.
However, not quite satisfied yet, I began an online chat with the hotel on the Marriott app the morning of check-in. Suite’s availability is hard to judge since they don’t allow any booking via their website; the hotel needs to be contacted directly for this. After a bit of suite-talking, I got another confirmed upgrade to a vast executive suite, which provides a whopping 135 square meters of space, including a large hospitality area.
Needless to say, I was happy to accept this offer. I could not be sure what the exact cash price would be to rent the room since they aren’t listed, but judging by the costs of hospitality suites at nearby hotels, I would put it at a minimum of $700+tax per night.
At the check-in desk, our twice-upgraded suite was confirmed. In addition to our keys, we were also given vouchers for free tapas and wine at the bar, put on the list for complimentary breakfast for the whole family, and awarded bonus Bonvoy points as a welcome amenity. With that, we headed towards the elevators and the hotel’s upper levels.
Upon reaching the 21st floor of the Westin, we headed down the hallway to room 2114/2116.
Once you enter the executive suite, the first room is a foyer which includes a chair, a wall mirror and a full closet for coats and shoes.
Turning to the right, this is followed by a living room with an L-shaped couch, coffee table, work desk and chair, coffee station, dresser drawers with a mini-fridge and a big-screen TV.
The bedroom consisted of a very comfortable king-sized Westin Heavenly bed. Each side of the bed had a night table with a lamp, and facing the bed was a set of drawers with another big-screen TV. Power and USB outlets were readily available.
Turning left after the foyer, you reach the room’s pièce de résistance: A combination hospitality area and dining room for six people.
Also included are a stylish leather couch, several sitting chairs, a cabinet featuring drawers and a mini-fridge, another coffee station, another big-screen TV, and a small kitchenette area with yet another mini-fridge. For those counting, that is two coffee stations, three mini-fridges, and three large TVs!
Outside the window is a nice view of downtown Montreal. Straight down is Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle in front of the Montreal convention center.
Another major highlight of the room was the two complete bathrooms. The first was off the living room and featured a sink area, toilet, shower, and another tub/shower combination. The second bathroom was off the dining/hospitably room and featured a vanity area with a large mirror, a toilet in a separate small room, a sink area, and another shower.
All mirrors in both bathrooms were lit, and the finishes included a combination of wallpaper, marble tiles, and granite around the sink areas. You would be hard-pressed not to have enough bathroom facilities!
The bathrooms included the usual vanity amenities and The Westin-branded toiletry products.
The Westin hotel features a nice bar/restaurant called gaZette. It is open for breakfast, lunch, and supper.
Thanks to my Bonvoy status, we received complimentary tapas and wine during happy hour, and our entire family got a free à -la-carte, all-you-can-eat breakfast. Pre-Covid, this hotel offered a lovely breakfast buffet; it’s to be seen if they bring that back someday.
Our breakfasts were delicious and included salmon/avocado bagels, viennoiseries baskets (muffins, croissants, chocolatines, and strudels), banana crêpes, and traditional eggs/sausage/toast/fruit platters.
It’s tough to find really spectacular indoor hotel pools in Montreal, but the Westin’s I would rate as one of the city’s best. It has a nice heated pool with a lounging area, a jacuzzi, a dry sauna, and even a cold plunge pool. A lifeguard is on duty and provides towels to all the guests. They also have life jackets/kicking boards/pool noodles that kids can use, which is a nice touch.
But the best part of the pool has to be its glass bottom. It faces straight down to the hotel’s main entrance, so you can watch guests arriving and departing as you swim. I find it very hard for this novelty to wear off. 😉
True to the Westin brand, the hotel has a large and well-stocked gymnasium; this includes cardio equipment, weights for strength training, and a total TRX workout station. The gym also featured a scale, water dispenser, and fresh towels for guests.
The services available at the hotel right now are limited. Like the rest of the post-pandemic world, the hotel grapples with staffing issues. There is currently no room service, daily housekeeping, or valets available to assist with luggage to your room, and they have limited staff in the restaurant.
That isn’t a significant issue, though, as you can call down to the restaurant and pick up your food. The housekeepers are happy to replenish your room supplies on demand. There are plenty of valet carts to help with luggage, and we never had to wait long for restaurant service.
I expect in the future the service level will increase back to pre-pandemic levels. Having said all this, every staff member we dealt with was extremely friendly, professional, and helpful. So we didn’t actually feel like we were missing out on anything. The room’s manager on duty during our arrival even inspected our room before we went up to it to ensure that everything was in order.
Overall this would be a great hotel whether your stay is for business or leisure. The Westin Montreal location is hard to beat if you want to see a little bit of everything the city offers. While the service is currently on the light side, the friendly staff are ready to help with anything you need. Between the high-quality room amenities, large pool and gym complex, good on-site dining, and terrific Bonvoy Elite perks, the Westin is an all-around solid choice for a stay in downtown Montreal.
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