Montreal, Canada · Five-Star · ★★★★★
Four Seasons Hotel Montreal
The newest serious hotel in the city. Marcus Samuelsson in the kitchen, a 38th-floor spa, and Holt Renfrew Ogilvy at the door.
The newest serious hotel in the city. Marcus Samuelsson in the kitchen, a 38th-floor spa, and Holt Renfrew Ogilvy at the door.
"Montreal's first new five-star in a generation, and a credible challenger to the Ritz across the road. MARCUS is one of the best hotel restaurants in Canada, and the 38th-floor pool is a quiet revelation."
When Four Seasons Hotel Montreal opened in 2019, it was the first new five-star hotel in the city in over two decades. The property occupies a 26-storey tower at 1440 de la Montagne, in the heart of the Golden Square Mile, and shares its block with Holt Renfrew Ogilvy — the country's most serious luxury department store. The arrival ended a long status quo in which the Ritz-Carlton, three blocks away on Sherbrooke, faced no genuine competition. The Four Seasons is the answer Ritz needed, and the better hotel for several specific occasions.
The 169 rooms and suites are unmistakably contemporary — Atelier Zébulon Perron designed the interiors with a restrained palette of pale oak, brushed brass, soft grey, and warm leather. Floor-to-ceiling windows give every room views of either Mount Royal, downtown Montreal, or the St. Lawrence River. Bathrooms are oversized, with deep soaking tubs separated from glass-walled rain showers, and the headboards include integrated reading lights that work properly. The Royal Suite on the 26th floor — 2,400 square feet with a private terrace — is the largest hotel suite in the city.
MARCUS, the ground-floor restaurant by Marcus Samuelsson, is the defining amenity. The menu is a carefully calibrated synthesis of Quebec terroir and Samuelsson's Ethiopian-Swedish-American sensibility — wood-grilled lobster, foie gras with Saskatoon berries, dry-aged Charlevoix beef. The cocktail program, anchored by a marble-and-brass bar that feels imported from a Parisian brasserie, is the most ambitious in any Montreal hotel. Reservations should be made at booking. The breakfast room next door does the best eggs Benedict in the city.
The spa occupies the entire 38th floor — the highest urban spa in Quebec — with treatment rooms looking out over Mount Royal and an 18-meter indoor pool framed by full-height windows. The pool deck, with its loungers facing the city skyline, is the property's most photographed space and the reason many guests choose Four Seasons over Ritz: the Ritz spa is older and smaller, with no equivalent view. The fitness centre is large, equipped with the latest Technogym, and open 24 hours. A direct interior connection links the lobby to Holt Renfrew Ogilvy — guests can walk from their rooms into Hermès, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton without putting on a coat.
Where Ritz-Carlton trades on heritage — Sherbrooke since 1912, the same dining room Trudeau Senior frequented — Four Seasons trades on contemporary design and operational precision. The two hotels appeal to different sensibilities, and Montreal is large enough to support both. For business travellers who need fast WiFi, a serious gym, and a meeting room that works, Four Seasons is the easier choice. For honeymoons that want a modern aesthetic and a spa with a view, it is also the better option. The Ritz remains preferable for occasions where institutional pedigree matters more than pool design — but those occasions are fewer than one might expect.
For honeymoons that prefer modern design over period heritage, Four Seasons is Montreal's first choice. The 38th-floor spa pool with skyline views is genuinely romantic at sunset, and MARCUS handles the first-night dinner with the kind of polish that justifies the rate. Request a Mount Royal-facing king room, brief the concierge on the occasion at booking, and ask about the in-room couples massage. The neighbourhood — Holt Renfrew next door, Sherbrooke a block away — handles the honeymoon shopping itinerary without taxi rides.
Four Seasons is Montreal's strongest business hotel. The meeting rooms are properly soundproofed, the WiFi is fast and stable, and the lobby is large enough to host a quiet client meeting without booking a private space. MARCUS is the dinner address that closes deals — the bar in particular handles the post-meeting drink with appropriate gravity. For executives flying in from Toronto, New York, or London, the location, the gym, and the room product all meet the standard expected at this price. The Ritz cannot compete on these specifics.
For anniversaries marking a chapter rather than a century, Four Seasons offers the right register: contemporary, confident, not weighed down by tradition. The Royal Suite terrace at sunset, with champagne and a view across Mount Royal, is the picture-postcard answer. Returning guests are remembered by name within two visits, and the concierge will arrange dinner at Toqué! or Joe Beef on a Saturday with surprising frequency. Pair the stay with an in-spa couples treatment and a late MARCUS reservation. The tone of the hotel matches the tone of an anniversary that looks forward, not back.
Rates checked May 2026. Price may vary by date.
Four Seasons is the contemporary answer; Ritz-Carlton is the heritage answer. Both belong in your shortlist — we'll help you decide which one fits the trip.
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