My husband took me to Montreal for a weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday. We chose the Hotel Le Saint James because we wanted some quiet luxery, and we wanted to be close to old Montreal. It met both needs perfectly! First, our room. We booked a deluxe room, which was the lowest category. It was surprisingly large and beautifully furnished. Because it was on a lower level, with buildings right outside the windows, it had these lovely plantation style blinds that offered just the right amount of privacy while also providing charming lighting. We really enjoyed our room and found ourselves returning early most evenings to snuggle up in the sumptuous bed and watch movies. Second, the spa. It's one of the more unique spas I've visited--it's in the hotel's basement, very dark and secluded, and it only accomodates a couple of guests at a time. I had a wonderful vichy shower treatment from an incredibly gentle and professional masseuse. Expensive, but luxurious. Third, the location. We really enjoyed being able to walk to so many places in old Montreal. There are many art galleries nearby, as well as churches and cafes. The doorman is always at the ready with a taxi if you need one, and there is a subway station within a few blocks, so it's easy to visit other parts of the city. Fourth, the service. Overall, we were very pleased with the service that we received at the Hotel Le Saint James. The doormen were gracious, as was the concierge. I'm taking off one star in this review for a little bit of pretentiousness, though. My husband and I are both vegetarians, so we asked for directions to an underground vegan restaurant that was in an admittedly unglamorous part of the city. The concierge's reaction? "Are you sure you want to go there? I could book you into a much nicer place." Grrr . . . . we felt a little judged. All in all, it was a wonderful stay, especially for a weekend trip. And if you've never been to Montreal before, you really should go. For those of you who live in the U.S., it's like going to Europe for the weekend, with a much more favorable exchange rate and no jet lag!

We booked on the Hotel's website, and due to a pricing error, we ended up staying in the Royal suite (normally $3000 CAD per night) for only $300 CAD. There was some discussion with the hotel manager, prior to arrival, and the resulting service was a bit... cold. However, they did end up honoring the rate their website confirmed, so kudos to the St James. The suite was indeed very nice, with beautiful antique furnishings, and spacious rooms. The bathroom had a great multi-head shower and separate oversized tub. There were full size Molton Brown and Hermes products in the bathroom, which were very nice. However, we have stayed in nicer suites at other hotels, for a fraction of the retail rate of this one. The service was a bit lacking, but perhaps this was due to the fact that they gave us the suite for 1/10th of the regular price. Overall, a solid choice, and a good upscale hotel, but we will likely try someplace else on our next trip to Montreal.

Booked a "deluxe" room on the hotel website. Reservation went fine, though I had written a note as part of the reservation for them to call me about renting one of their cars, never got the call. Arrived on a rainy day to no doorman at about 2:30pm. Went in and concierge quickly took control, with an umbrella, came out, and doorman appeared. Check in was quick and smooth. Escorted to our room which was a nice touch. Room was good, I have never stayed in their standard rooms, it was a corner, probably same as standard but bigger. Room is great, but not what I expected based on pictures I had seen. A little less luxurious, unfortunately. Though the bed was comfy, bathroom is beautiful with both bath and shower, slippers, bathrobe, magazines, stereo playing, not a great TV. Despite different that expected, great room. The phone controls all lights and TV. That was super cool. We did notice the lack of pay per view and with a quick call had a DVD player installed and a selection of movies. Not the newest releases but great service. We decided to go down for afternoon tea at the XO resto (the hotels resto). We got there and they said they were full, couldn't serve us, despite 12 people and 4 of the tables taken. They said there were many reservations of people coming in the next 30 minutes. The front desk saw us turn back and stepped in and made sure we got a table. Pretty stupid. We enjoyed the tea, pricey but excellent service and great food. Service was too cold for us. The "reserved" people never did arrive, by the way. We watched our movie and went out for dinner later. They didn't help us as we are from Montreal andknew where we wanted to go. We got back and turndown was excellent, chocolates and bottles of water, room cleaned. Had a nice light breakfast from room service in the morning. Called for a massage but no room. All in all we had a great time, great hotel, but certainly high class. This adds on some fronts but for us was uninviting in other ways, so I don't think I'd run back, especially at the price. You can get a great suite in Montreal for $200 or 300, and the room would probably be better.

Disappointing stay... Some positives to the hotel - the washrooms are great, good toiletries, sixty rooms, friendly employees, good location, ornate fixtures... Now the problems: Room service was poor. Food was bad - St. James club had almost no meat in it (if you want to name a sandwhich after your hotel, it better be good) they forgot the french fries with my sandwich, took twenty-five minutes to get them sent up. There is a flat-screen tv in the bedroom, but it's tiny - smaller than my computer monitor - maybe 12 inches... tv in the sitting room was old. No pay-per-view movies. Service was inattentive at breakfast. Literally the only person in the restaurant, and I couldn't find a server for about ten minutes to get the bill. Doorman didn't know which direction St. Catherine St. was. I wanted to like this place - clearly most think it's the best in Montreal - but it just wasn't up to my standards. Two and a half stars. My complaints may sound small - I realize that - but for what I paid, and what I'm used to - this hotel doesn't cut it.