rev:text
| - Up till now, my experience at ES has been spotty - few and far between, as well as "not that great". Their ersatz 'decor' at a couple of properties especially turned me off. It is easily among the 1 or 2 brands in the Hilton family that we frequent the least.
But this place in Montreal is pretty jaw-to-the-floor gorgeous. (Where are my pictures?) As a suite, it is palatial by the standard of any large-city hotel in the downtown area. The granite top may or may not be real, but coupled with a low-key but classy look in the entire suite, accentuated by romantic halogen hanging lights, it's a great place to call home the first couple of days we spent in Montreal skiing. The bed was comfortable, and the bathroom appointments classy. Ours had a jacuzzi tub that we did not hesitate to use, carbon footprint be damned.
The breakfast, while not stocked with smoked salmon or eggs Benedict, was a cut above even the best Homewood Suite, let alone Hampton. They have an evening reception, with some snacks like potato chips, chips and salsa, and plenty of fresh veg as crudite (which I LOVE, since I often don't get to "veg out" when I travel). They give you drink coupons, and it's table-service for drinks with a self help snack buffet. I'm not sure if everyone gets 4 tix or we get extras because I'm HHonors Gold, but even at 2, it's pretty generous, since it includes a few choices of mixed drinks in addition to wine a few beer choices (none terribly exciting despite the claim to IPA-dom). One night, we just decided to eat dinner as well, seeing how wine is gratis!
The workout room is on the small side, but it worked well. The morning we checked out, the lifts were not working. We had to walk up to the 10th floor. Thankfully, it got fixed after about 2 hours, and we didn't have to lug our luggage down in the stairwell. I would recommend this hotel highly if you're able to get in at a reasonable rate. We moved to the Bonaventure, but I would gladly have moved back here after just one night there, but the rate had ballooned by 95% on those nights.
|