OverviewThe Hotel St. James is located on St. Jacques Street, corner of St. Pierre Street, in the historic district of Old Montreal.
The hotel is housed in the restored Merchants' Bank building, which dates back to 1870. The hotel's restaurant, XO, is one of Montreal's highest-rated restaurants. It serves breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch, cocktails and dinner. Room service is available 24 hours a day. The hotel also features a gym, steam room and spa, as well as a library with a collection of historical and contemporary books, magazines and daily newspapers.
The hotel provides 24-hour valet parking service, with in and out privileges, for $40/day. Wireless Internet is complimentary in the lobby and available in the rooms for $20/day.
The hotel's 60 guest rooms are all decorated in a unique style. All rooms feature fine goose down duvets and Frette linens from Italy. The bathrooms are designed with marble and come with luxury Molton Brown bath products, plush towels, bathrobes and slippers. Rooms also feature an LCD TV, alarm clock with iPod docking station, a high-tech telephone that manages room temperature and lighting, and a digital safe.
The hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Square Victoria metro station. It is about 20km from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, and a 10 minute metro ride to both the train station (at Bonaventure metro), and the bus station (at Berri-UQAM metro).
The hotel's location in Old Montreal means guests are a 5 to 10 minute walk to the area's many attractions, such as its renowned restaurants, the Notre-Dame Basilica, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum of Archaeology, the waterfront area of the Old Port, and the Bonsecours Market. It also about a 10 minute walk to Montreal's Chinatown district and to the restaurants and nightlife on St. Laurent Boulevard (all distances and travel time estimates: Google Maps).
Front desk agent (call date: July 26, 2012) confirmed hotel's wireless Internet and parking services.
The Bad
Overall, there were very few negative comments about the hotel in the reviews used for this analysis.
A few reviewers found their rooms were a little too dark. And a few others felt that the hotel's valet parking, at $40/day was expensive, as was the $20/day cost for wireless Internet in the rooms. Although one guest reviewer pointed out, "if you're looking at the prices alone, you should not be staying at this hotel."
TripAdvisor.com guest reviewers ranked this hotel 8 of 168 Montreal hotels, with a rating of 4.5 out of 5, based on 172 reviews. Reviewers also ranked it as the #2 luxury hotel in Canada for 2012.
Booking.com reviewers rated this hotel a 9 out of 10, based on 19 reviews.
Expedia.ca guest reviewers rated this hotel 4.7 out of 5, with a 90% recommendation rate, based on 53 reviews.
Front desk agent (call date: July 26, 2012) confirmed hotel's wireless Internet and parking services.
