Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth hotel, in Montreal, Canada.
Maureen Marriner stays at Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth, Montreal.
Location: Close to the St Lawrence River and in the heart of the shopping district.
Getting there: We arrive by car from the cruise boat port in less than half an hour. The hotel is also linked to the railway system via Central Station, beneath the hotel. It is 22km from Montreal-Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau international airport.
Check-in experience: Normal check-in is 4pm, check-out is noon. We arrive about mid-morning having requested an early check-in and hoping to get it by maybe 2pm. Staff stow our luggage and say we will be texted when the room is ready. We are in just after midday, which is a nice surprise.
What's so good about this place? Location and facilities.
And the bad? Unusual room fridge arrangements. Inventory is by Big Brother, i.e. You move a soft drink can or a bottle of champagne and you are charged for it, even if you replace it.
Room: Large double. Browns and creams with a bright retro feature wall, a scandi desk chair and arm chair and a corner sofa that's large for one but impossible for two.
Fabulous blue and grey carpeting in the hallways.
Free Wi-Fi: No. CAD$15 (NZ$17) per day. When we check out, however, the fee is waived when we join the Fairmont family at no charge. Nice one.
Bed: King size and extremely comfortable
View: One frontage of the L-shaped building overlooks the Cathedral of Marie Reine du Monde, a third-the-size copy of St Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Price Building, where the British crown jewels were kept for safe-keeping during World War II. The other frontage faces Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) — four office buildings over 47 floors connected to Montreal's underground city of about 70 stores, services and eateries, which take the bite out of a -9C January. There's also a carpark for 900 vehicles, open 24 hours a day.
Facilities: 950 rooms over 21 floors above street level and two terraces. There is also one guest level underground, which includes the gym, a spa with eight treatment rooms and a pool. After a CAD$140m refurb last year the hotel reopened in July. Among the suites is the John Lennon and Yoko Ono suite. It was here in 1969 that the famous music couple arrived from Amsterdam for their second "Bed-in for peace". While in the hotel Lennon recorded Give Peace a Chance. One of the rooms has a replica of the couple's archive wall of filing cabinets from their New York apartment. When Fairmont guests open the "cabinets" they find journal entries from the time, photographs, and one of the famous apple-centred EPs. Business is big business for the new Queen, with two floors turned over to spaces for conferences, conventions and networking.
Bathroom: Tiled floor and shower and other walls textured brown and cream. Funky shelving and a washstand with a rather small but surprisingly deep egg-shaped basin. One large mirror and small magnifying one, each with with a ring light that gives an eerie reflection in the pupils of your eyes.
Toiletries: Rose 31, from Le Labo.
Food and drink: Roselys Restaurant aims for a bistro experience with market produce. It is open from 6.30am and it may pay to book as it is also open to the public. Bar Nacarat — the name means a dazzling orange-red — is all about a theatrical experience and gives more than a nod to the glam-rock era. Open from 4pm to 3am. Coffee and tea star at the Cafe Kreme, which has a fireplace and roomy armchairs. Another star in the Queen's crown is The Artisans Market, Canada's first urban market within a hotel.
Best for: City break or business.