Waldorf=Astoria Hotel to Open in Montreal

As many press outlets have reported, the Waldorf=Astoria hotel will open a Montreal outpost some time in 2011. A 250-room, 76-residence monster (officially named The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal) will rise a few blocks west of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

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I imagine this is great news for the city. The thing is, rich folks of traditional persuasion (i.e., those who prefer their luxury without any trace of modern design) have always been facing a limited choice of accomodation in Montreal - basically, the Ritz-Carton was their only option (and, perhaps, the Queen Elizabeth, to a lesser extent). Meanwhile, the city's high-end hotel scene seemed to cater only to the corporate card-carrying 'W' types. With Waldorf=Astoria, this is sure to change.

In addition to 250 rooms and 76 residences, the hotel will include ample meeting and ballroom space. Montreal-based developer Monit, which is headquartered only a few blocks away from the future hotel, will pony up $200M for the project.

The location is not bad, affording the hotel a prestigious Sherbrooke Street address (although, for various reasons including zoning restrictions, it will set back from the street), but I have to say, the other side of the block, featuring somewhat rundown coffee shops and pizza joints next to rather grim apartment buildings may not be exactly the type of neighborhood you'd imagine a luxury hotel would want to be in. With that said, the "other side" (Blvd de Maisonneuve) is going to be getting a facelift as well (which partially explains the current messy state), so everything should be in decent shape by 2011. Still not sure about the pizza joint, though.