We booked here at the last minute, after some transportation issues, so did not have a lot of time to research the Vogue. Turns out it was great. It has an excellent downtown location directly across the street from the newish Four Seasons (where we stayed later due to a prior reservation) and a block south of the fading RItz-Carlton, the other two hotels we considered. It is at a price point that’s much lower, but the rooms were really high quality and very large. Not quite five stars but contenders. You won’t get great views here, but that’s true of a lot of Montreal hotels.
You are located next to a vacant parking lot (which is a bit of an eyesore at street level) but it gives this hotel’s north-facing rooms some much needed space. Other rooms look directly across the narrow street at the all-glass Four Seasons and the renovated retail space housing the deserted and extremely expensive Holt Renfrew department store.
Very elegant, very spacious rooms and a huge bathroom (which looks a little more dated than the rooms but was in great shape other than the quite small, slippery shower). Slept well... comfy beds and good soundproofing. Didn’t use the other facilities or lobby, but they look nice. Whoever did the relatively recent remodel did a really good job.
Check-in was easy and really pleasant… we got our early arrival honored and a warm greeting from Mohammed at the front desk. Very nice guy. In fact, all the staff were great… including those manning the entrance. The Four Seasons could use a little training from them as far as consistency greeting returning guests.
With our stay, we had a room credit we used at the very good restaurant in the lobby, Yama (which also does the room service). Our waiter there, Kenta, was excellent, as was the food. The room service menu seems to have fewer options than most, seeing as it’s coming from a Japanese restaurant (we didn’t end up using it), but we had two excellent meals at Yama itself (dinner and breakfast) and it worked out well.
In truth, the Carre Dore (Golden Quarter) of Montreal has seen better days… a lot of vacant retail all around you… but it’s still more vibrant than most downtowns these days. It’s very easy to get to both main streets of downtown… you’re sandwiched right between them.
Speaking of sandwiches, you can get excellent ones at the pastry shop in the lobby, Cafe Bazin. If Bazin didn’t exist, we’d go hungry because there aren’t a lot of good casual dining options nearby. The big underground malls and food courts are a few blocks walk away.
Based on price alone, I would seriously consider staying here if I visited Montreal again. The Four Seasons is definitely snazzier, but the Vogue offers a very good value. Lots of style for your dollar. And the people who work here were uniformly wonderful. Really nice experience from start to finish.
