The Chateau Champlain is an excellent choice in Montreal. Though not perfect under a few minor aspects, its general quality definitely outweighs those little flaws.

PROS:
Views : Every room is equipped with a semicircular kind of bay window (without partitions), which provides STUNNING views of Montreal's skyline. Should you elect to stay at this hotel, indulge yourself and request a room on higher floors. This single feature is worth the price you will be paying.

Location : Close to everything. Just grab your shoes and walk to virtually any interesting spot in the city. Also - and this is not a minor advantage - the hotel is linked to the metro, Place du Canada, the CN train station, Place Ville-Marie (one of Montreal's highest skyscrapers) and Place Bonaventure. Only few other hotels in Montreal are directly linked to a metro station and so many shopping centers.

Furnishing / decor : Some like it traditional. This is my case, and if it is yours too, then go along with the Marriott Chateau Champlain. Upon entering the hotel, you are greeted by an inviting, spacious and classy hall. So are the rooms, except for the spacious attribute. I got a room which I guess is considered as basic. Nevertheless, its furnishing was on par with North America's highest standards. Overall, the room itself was in a state of perfect cleanliness, smelled incredibly good and looked very elegant. As Marriott got us used to, their new beds are sublime. Every room features a spacious walk-in with lots of drawers. This contributes to reducing the size of the room itself, but is undeniably useful.

Service : Bellboys are incredibly efficient with luggage. The vast majority of staff members I encountered were obliging and competent. Still remains some exceptions (see cons). The maid service was flawless. I cannot comment on room service since I did not use it (same for valets).

Fully non-smoking property : I personally do not mind, but those who can not stand the smell of cigarette will be pleased with this hotel. If a guest ever smokes in his room, the hotel applies a 250$ penalty and closes the room for an intensive 1-day cleanup.

I can not comment on the pool, but it looked fairly good at first glance.

Still a few CONS:

Size of the rooms : It is true that rooms are on the small side. I would say smaller than usual for this hotel category. For a party of more than two, I suspect that it would feel a little cramped.

Bathrooms : Though their spotless cleanliness, bathrooms look overly outdated. I do not really care, do you ?

On-site restaurant : The hotel restaurant (Samuel-de-Champlain) is stuffed in a large, dimly lit room with high ceiling and no windows. Food is okay, but prices do not reflect that.

Service : Some of the staff members were either underperformant or too familiar. One night, there was a bartender who seemed to be fluent in no language known in North America. Plus, he made a weird comment on the beer brand we ordered. Excessive familiarity and lack of manners are not acceptable in such a property. On that particular aspect, the Ritz-Carlton is still way ahead of the Chateau.

Here I will conclude with a special note for event organizers. This hotel is certainly a fairly decent choice for your next event in Montreal, but remain alert. Banquet managers are well intended, but some (not all) of their staff are severely lacking professionalism. In my personal experience, service was erratic, room charts were not always followed, Internet access was a nightmare and lighting / climate control was terrible.

But overall, the Chateau Champlain is a wonderful place to spend some vacation time.

Back in October a friend and I decided to make a quick weekend trip to Montréal for a Canadians hockey game and where looking for a hotel. That would be relatively close to the Bell Center and sights that we wanted to see, after doing some minor research on-line we came across the Marriot. The closeness of the hotel to the arena sold us instantly, along with being able to park in the garage for the weekend as we where driving in from New York.

Once we arrived at the hotel check in was a breeze and the staff was very friendly. I had requested an upper floor room (as I had heard the view was the best from the upper floors which is definitely true, if your planning on staying their anytime soon definitely request this before you leave as you will not want to miss out.) and the hotel definitely gave us what we wanted placing us on one of the upper floors with an amazing view.

The room its self was very spacious, comfortable and clean even with two double beds. The table had two very comfortable chairs to go along with it and was big enough for two laptop computers to sit on with out having to fight for space. Also their where plenty of outlets located through out the room so that we could not only keep the cell phones charged but also the computers up and running with out having to fight for a jack for either of them.

The free wireless internet was also very nice to have available as it was very fast and reliable. For someone who needs to stay in touch with work through out the weekend while I’m away it was nice to not have to pay for this service for once. The television even had a great choice of programming to watch and this was a great way to settle down after a long day of sight seeing and hockey.

Also we had purchased some beverages and snacks before entering the hotel (you’ll definitely want to do this as hotel beverages and snacks are quite pricey) and wanted to keep them cold. So once we arrived and got settled in I placed a call the front desk and requested a mini fridge and within 5 minuets doing so the hotel staff arrived with the fridge plus there was not extra charge for having it in the room.

Another plus was the access to the Metro right under the hotel as it made getting around the city very easy, even though there is plenty to see within walking distance. After doing some minor exploring upon arrival we found that the quickest way to get to the Bell Center was not actually through the underground walk way but instead heading out the man doors of the hotel and to the left.

Also the staff was very helpful when trying to find an inexpensive place to eat as they made several suggestions of really reasonable places to go. Check out when we were ready to leave was also very quick and easy.

My friends and I are planning a repeat trip to Montreal again this October and have already decided that we will once again stay at the Marriot.

My husband and I stayed at the Mariott for two nights in January. We were treated exceptionally well during the entire duration of our visit. Check-in and out went very smoothly. Our room was lovely and clean, and the view was beautiful. We were able to walk to Old Montreal and to Rue St. Catherine easily. The staff were helpful and gracious. We would recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Montreal, for either business or pleasure.

I stayed five nights at the Marriott Chateau Champlain for business in December 2007. I stayed in a "king deluxe" room which had a king bed, table with two chairs, and desk with one additional chair. The room was clean and comfortable and there was free wireless internet which was reasonably fast. It also had a TV with a good selection of both English and French stations.

The biggest pros for me were:
- Convenience to Metro, you just go down the elevator behind the concierge desk and you immediately find yourself in the Bonaventure station. You can either get on the train or walk into the "underground city" without ever going outside.
- Front desk staff, room service, etc., spoke English well and did not make you feel bad for not speaking French.
- The $14.00 shuttle from the airport stops directly in front of this hotel. Beats a $35+tip taxi ride.

The only reason I did not rate it 5 star was the price of the room service and relative lack of affordable vending machines. In typical Marriott fashion, there is a bottle of water in the room that will run you $6.00 if you open. Vending machines were $2.00 for a can or small bottle. Room service food was good but again very overpriced. Fortunately I found a nearby pharmacy and bought $6.00 worth of beverage, which was 4 bottles the size of the $6.00 one in the room. Also there was a charge for local telephone calls that was not disclosed in the information contained in the room's information booklet.

No comment on the parking as I did not bring a car. But as I noted, this hotel is very convenient if you do NOT have a car. And I would not recommend having a car in Montreal during snow season.