The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal — Attraction in Montreal

Came to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday. For background, we've had high-tea in London at The Ritz, Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Kensington Gardens, Oberoi, Jumeirah, and many other places.

Called the night before and on the morning to confirm they offered gluten-free/dairy-free and vegan options. A 3rd person in the party has extremely severe diet restrictions and was only going to have hot water. They had to ask the supervisors/managers whether they would charge her or not...to have hot water. Wow.

The doorman and valet/some other colleague were busy discussing where to park a car. They saw my wife and daughter walking towards the hotel entrance and while continuing their chat, let them open the doors themselves. Nice welcome.

They were escorted to their seats. Seats were not pulled out. That's fine...but when other guests arrived, everyone of them had their seats pulled out. Hmmm.

I arrived 10 minutes later and waited to be seated. One of the managers (bald headed) walked from the restaurant and about 1/4 away from me, clapped his hand and motioned me with his right hand to "come along". This is 5 star service? Are we in a night club? Shouldn't he have come to me and welcome me and then walked me to the restaurant area? Was the extra 30 feet too far?

In any case, at least my seat was pulled for me.

The food arrived....the good....pastries were very tasty. The tea was fine even through it was tea bags and not leaves.

The sandwiches were a terrible disappointment. The Chef decided that both the vegan and gluten-free/non-dairy individuals would both have the vegan option with the gluten free bread. Why?

Vegan does not mean gluten free. And gluten-free does not mean they cannot eat meat.

It's not complicated at all. Just prepare 4 little sandwiches for each and put each of them on 2 plates. Voila. For vegan: use regular bread (that has no egg or dairy) and vegan filling. For gluten free/dairy: use vegan bread and use filling that is meat without any dairy. Simple.

This seemed a challenge because no less than 4 people came to our table to ask for clarifications.

The gluten free bread was frozen and was all vegetable with no meat. So they made another batch. And on and on and on.

There should have been no dairy. For the scones, they brought out 2 jams and also clotted cream....which is dairy! Why do that?!

The Director of F&B did come to apologise and seemed truly concerned that this was turning into a bit of a fiasco. He offered juice or champagne or anything else. We thanked him but said we were fine with what we had. As he left, he did say that the gluten free bread had egg in it...which was a shock as the vegan had half a bite. After clarification with another gentleman, he clarified that the bread that was served was in fact egg-free. He did try to blame his colleague which made us uncomfortable.

The bill came....and we were surprised they charged us the full amount. Instead of having a lovely time to celebrate, we must have spent a total of about 15 minutes with at least 4 staff getting them to correct their many errors.

What was odd was the offer of a drink while we waited for the proper foods to be remade. Would we have been charged for those?! If so...that's so cheap. If not, then why not remove the cost of those drinks (that we didn't have) from the bill?

All-in-all, a memorable experience for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, the Ritz in Montreal does not know how to do a proper high tea and definitely does not offer a customer-first service mantra. From the initial phone call right to the bill, this was not a great experience.

A suggestion would be to contact the Ritz in London to learn how to do it properly - from the food through to...

We stayed in a junior suite with a king bed for two nights in October’24. This was an extremely expensive treat as the room costs over a $1000 CAD per night which is way more than we’d usually spend however it was a special occasion. When I arrived early, which they accommodated very kindly, and entered the room, I was taken aback as the first thing I saw was the sight of the buildings across the street from our room complete with scaffolding and hoardings. I was very disappointed as this ugly sight completely dwarfed any feelings I had about how the room looked. I went down and expressed my disappointment which they handled very well and asked for some time to come up with a solution. I went back up and put the blinds 3/4 down to mask the ugly sight and had a proper look at the room which was actually very nice. The bed was extremely comfortable with lovely bedding. The sofa area looked appealing and the sofa itself was super comfortable. I think the shape of the room was very attractive being square in shape although some of the furniture was past its sell by date. After talking to my partner, I rang down and said we’d stay in the room as I knew it was not the hotel’s fault that the buildings opposite were under renovation and that the views all around on that floor were of ugly buildings. ||The concierge team had previously asked what we would like in our room on arrival so I found a plate of meat canapés and a bottle of wine. I have to admit that was a little disappointed as the plate was very small and a bit lacking in variety as it could have done with some cheese or something to go with the crackers. ||The suite has a great dressing room and the pièce de résistance is definitely the large bathroom, complete with an enclosed cubicle for their Toto Japanese toilet which is a 5 star experience in itself. The bathroom was a great size for two people with a wonderful shower and bathtub. The dressing gowns were of the waffle fabric variety and a total treat. ||As hotel lobbies go, it is not the best as there are no sofas to just sit on and relax and people watch without having to pay to have food or drink. There is a large section dedicated to afternoon tea during the day and a bar at night which we were able to enjoy at night. ||I have already left a separate review for the high end restaurant on site called Maison Boulud which for us was a major disappointment. The unsatisfactory reply received from the Director of this restaurant clearly indicated that they did not value my comments or take them at all seriously. I would not go back. ||The hotel is in a great location to explore Montreal. ||As to value for money, I can’t say that their junior suite is worth over a thousand CAD per night as it is a one room suite with living and sleeping areas together in the same room with only one bathroom . The negative impact of the buildings very close and opposite means the room has terrible views, building renovations on or off. I have stayed in much nicer two room suites in both Montreal and Toronto that have cost significantly less so I guess you are just paying for the brand. ||Having said all that, we really ...

Staycation at the Ritz Carlton Montreal.The most welcoming Greeting from Irene who checked me in quickly,walked me to the elevator and guided me to my room floor 1 king junior suite.The Room was very spacious with a king bed, living room style section, seats 6 people and an elegant pink Victoria king chair.Flat screen TV that is movable to watch in bed.Let's talk about the bathroom, Diptyque shampoo,conditioner,gel wash and body lotion to keep you smelling fresh and feel like you're in some floral fresh garden in Paris.The bathroom also included exclusive L'Occitane products such as their signature Luffa,and toiletrie accessories.The bathroom towels were headed and the toilette had its own IPAD with self clean features to you wash your "derrière" .The spacious... and I repeat spacious shower easily holds 6 people. Had a rain fall and moveable shower head.The bathrobes...I used the mens lol plus size girl here, was so comfy..i would have stayed in the robe all day.Best thing you get to keep the slippers...yayyy!I love hotel slippers.A separate little walk- in room to hold your luggage and jackets,iron board and also spacious.A buffet console housed the coffee nespresso station with their signature teas.Did you know you can have afternoon tea at the Ritz? It's a must experience you will love!We grabbed a bite to eat at the Palm Court.Recommend making a reservation.It can fill up fast.I tried the French onion soup....yummy! The By far best Chicken Cesar Salad I have ever had in my life! I'm not kidding and 4 cheese Pizza.For desert I had peacan pie with creamy vanilla Bean ice cream.The waiters, yes I say waiters..we had 3 people serving us.Talk about service.In the end we finished our meal with a wonderful tastey café au lait.I could have had 4 but then I wouldn't sleep in the comfy bed.The Ritz has a pool.I didn't use it,but good news if you forget your bathing suit they have biodégradables to sell.Check out was at 11am,Alina was very quick to check me out.Thank you for the sweet treat to take home.A Special Thank You to Katia P for arranging my stay & making this an Experience i will tressure for the rest of my life.For those reading my post.I Hope your stay is as wonderful & memorable as mine was.A check off my bucket list for sure.Now... Let me go see how I can purchase that robe!...