Weekend in Montreal Part 1: The Hotel Gault
Last weekend I took some time off to visit Montreal for my birthday. The famous Misterarthur and I stayed in the beautiful, Hotel Gault. This was an authentic, 30-room boutique hotel designed by the Architectural firm, YH2. No, it’s not on Hip Hotel’s site because it’s on Tablet‘s, which is better. If you’re planning a trip to Montreal, this is the place to stay. Let’s take a little tour, shall we?
These two photos show the lobby and restaurant. Above is the main entrance with the restaurant behind it. To the left, just out of sight, is the reception desk/bar. By the way, continental breakfast is complimentary and served until 2:00 PM. You can even have it delivered to your room (did that). Below is a shot of the bar and lounge area.
The hotel is really well designed. You get the feeling you’re in your own loft apartment. It doesn’t have the hands-off feeling of a hotel. The friendly staff help out with that, too. The bar/ reception desk is U-shaped and in the center of the room. A series of tables with Artifort’s Orange Slice chairs run along the bar-side of the building. A large, communal table is behind the bar, near the fireplace. Behind the fireplace wall is a lounge area with a sectional sofa.
I give the architects a lot of credit for good use of Ayala Serfaty’s Morning Glory floor lamp. It’s perfectly placed along the ramp leading up to the lounge. Most of the time that lamp looks like it’s just stuck somewhere. Here, it looks like it was designed especially for the space.
I’ll let you read about the hallway on Misterarthur’s blog, Hotel Hallways. Let’s go right to the room.
Again, a really well designed room. Ours was not the largest. All the rooms are different. But it had a balcony, which was good for smoking on. That is until it snowed 30cm. Anyway, the bed was so comfortable I didn’t want to get up. It’s a custom creation from Flou.
The other side of the room had a desk space with free internet, a minibar, and seating. Harry Bertoia’s Bird Chair was comfortable to relax in. Tolomeo lamps were used throughout, including one hung from the ceiling over the desk.
Our bathroom had a shower, and a Duravit sink. The door to the right slides across for privacy. The toilet was separate. You can just see it there.
My favorite part of the room, and perhaps the most courageous choice among the hotel finishes, was the flooring. Aside from an area rug, the rooms had no carpeting. The heated floors were covered in a woven vinyl fabric called Plynyl. It can be washed like any other vinyl flooring and felt great under bare feet (remember the floor was heated). One look at the photo, below, will give you a clue as to why a washable floor is important.
This was taken the day we left. Amazingly, our plane was right on time. They’re used to this sort of thing in Montreal. It took me longer than I thought to write this (lots of interruptions today). So, parts 2 and 3 will have to wait until tomorrow. Stay tuned.
