After reading some of the reviews about Le Nouvel Hotel on this site, we were very worried that our stay in Montreal would be marred by this hotel.

And guess what...it wasn't.

Either people posting here had some very bad luck or management has changed, because we had absolutely no problems (with the exception of a non-working TV remote) during our four-night stay at this downtown property.

First off, the location was great. Easy to find off the highway, easy access to parking, quick and simple check-in. Close to all the activity on Rue St Catherine, but much quieter than that bustling area. We walked everywhere in the city - from Vieux Montreal to Plateau du Mont Royal and Quartier Latin - without a problem.

We had a spacious corner room with a lovely view of the city, a microwave and decent sized mini-fridge (which came in handy to store our bottles of water).

The room was clean and comfortable. The linens and towels weren't what you'd find at a Ritz-Carlton, granted, but they were just fine for the amount of money we paid (100/night). All pillows in the room were down-filled, which was a problem for me since I'm allergic. I made a phone call to the front desk and less than 15 minutes later, two lovely pillows were delivered to our door.

Best of all was the free wireless Internet. My boyfriend and I (luckily) brought along our laptop and were able to do some research on restaurants, etc., before leaving the room. Very nice perk, indeed, considering most hotels charge a small fortune for WiFi access.

Keep in mind, this is not a luxury hotel (as Le Nouvel Hotel promotes itself). In my opinion, this is a mid-range property. If you want luxury, stay at the Ritz. But if you're looking for a nice hotel for a good deal, this hotel fits the bill.

I am so glad I didn't let the so-so reviews deter me from staying here. I will also post some photos of our room and the view, so you can judge for yourselves.

We didn't eat on the property, nor did we use the swimming pool (as seeing the city was our first priority). At the end of the day, we were happy coming back to Le Nouvel Hotel and we really enjoyed our stay there (and with the money we saved by staying there, we were able to afford an additional night)!

My company booked me at this hotel for a business trip to Montreal last year. The hotel looks like a hybrid between a hotel and residential apartments. It is split in two buildings joined by a tube corridor.

Here are the good points:

(1) It is in a good location, 1 block from Ste Catherine st.
(2) The breakfast in the hotel restaurant was quite good. I don't know if it was good value though because the breakfast came with my room package and I didn't know how much extra it costs.
(3) The room was large and clean.

Here are the bad points:

(1) The fire alarm went off one night about 2AM - there was a fire in the electrical room. I was on one of the top floors. When I went out of my room to go down - there was no emergency lighting whatsoever. I could not even find the EXIT/SORTIE light - it was pitch dark and I tried to feel my way around for about two minutes. I decided to feel my way back to my room when I heard footsteps running down the emergency stairs. I did not know where it is until I saw a flash of light - from the person's flashlight which briefly leaked through the emergency door cracks. I headed in that direction and found the exit door, clambered down very slowly (it was total darkness even in the emergency stairs) until I remembered I had a cellphone which lit the way down for me. If the fire was more serious and there was smoke and panic - I might not have made it. My colleague sent a protest email to the hotel management and all we got back was an unsatisfactory apology.
(2) My room's wired internet port does not work and neither does my colleague's in another floor. The wireless worked a bit but I had to work on the floor beside the room's door to get an internet signal. Very uncomfortable.
(3) There was a heat wave at that time and I was looking forward to a dip in the pool but didn't because the pool was very small, cramped, and unsightly.

After this experience, we sent a recommendation to our company management to not use this hotel.

Stayed at this hotel in October 2006 and on arrival their staff pushed a trolley off the sidewalk which dented our car. At first they didn't admit to it, but then relented and referred me to the manager Carlos Solomon who simply gave us lip service and wasted immense amounts of our time asking for ridiculous amounts of documentation. The rooms were unimpressive, outdated and just clean enough. In short, after paying for that evening, they refuse to make good on their promise to make the situation right. I would not trust them or recommend anyone else risk the unprofessionalism that we experienced.

The location of the hotel is a bit stranded on the west side of the city and cabs were needed to get to anywhere of interest. Hotel rooms were adequate, however, the maid service was poor and the room was frequently not made up by the early evening despite leaving room in the early a.m.

However, the worst of the situation is that I have had money automatically taken from my bank account after I had departed the country when the account was already settled in full. It has now been several months, and the hotel is refusing to respond to me emails for an explanation, even though I have provided proof of the transactions going through twice.