Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth

Our experience at The Queen Elizabeth was absolutely incredible! The location is perfect – central, convenient, and ideal for exploring every part of the city. From the very beginning, the service was outstanding: we were contacted on the day of our arrival to confirm our check-in time, and shortly after, we received an email letting us know that our room was ready – and it was still morning! We were also pleasantly surprised with a room upgrade, which made our stay even more special. The breakfast service was another highlight – very professional and personalized, which made for a truly enjoyable start for the day. The hotel also offers excellent facilities, including a spacious 24-hour fitness center and a pool with a Jacuzzi – perfect for relaxing after a long day. The room was perfectly equipped, and the bedding was honestly among the most comfortable we've ever experienced. Thanks for everything! Read less

To start the location is perfect. Super close to the Belle Centre. There was a labor dispute while we were here. They nicely gave us free breakfast. It was really nice buffet with very attentive staff. We really enjoyed it. The labor dispute really didn't impact our stay that much. The really nice thing is the VIA Rail train system is directly below the hotel. That really convenient since we tool the train to Quebec City. I must say, VIA Rail was outstanding. They were very well organized. The train ride was quite smooth. Go for the business class. Overall, a really good stay. Read less

Do not stay at this hotel if you care about receiving decent customer service. My wife and I stayed here for a medical conference that was being held at this property. We stayed four nights and wound up with a bill for over $2000 CDN, even after the piddling $50 CDN per night that the hotel was crediting all conference attendees to "make up for" the fact that the hotel's employees were on strike and most hotel services were eliminated or limited. The hotel is basically closed to the public. You can not currently make a reservation. Even so, when we asked for a late checkout because my wife was staying a few more hours than most conference attendees, to voluntarily do outreach for high school students, we were flatly (but politely) denied, even though we had previously been told on the phone that a note would be made on the reservation and that it should not be an issue. (The note was made, as it was found and read by both the original desk agent and later by a manager.) When it was clear that the desk agent was not going to be able to help me I asked to speak with a manager. The manager, who was also polite and professional, said that they were not allowing late checkout for anyone. I was not at all pleased with this answer. I noted that the hotel was basically closed. The manager said that they had 350 rooms to clean, and another conference coming in. I pointed out that they would not be able to clean 350 rooms with their very limited staff in the few extra hours we wanted to keep our room, but this did not sway the manager. I also asked why we had been told it would likely not be a problem if their policy was to not allow any late checkouts. The number of rooms they would need to clean and the fact that another conference was coming in was not new information that they had received in the five or six days between when we called and when we were asking for the small accommodation. The manager made a comment about not being able to offer it to some guests and not others. I pointed out that only a handful of surgeons were staying to do the voluntary outreach. Again, the manager was unmoved. I stated that in light of all the issues surrounding their lack of staff, and lack of services they were providing, that this would be a minor accommodation. To support my claim that things had been pretty bad during our stay, I pointed out that the banquet had run out of food the night before. The manager tried to blame that on the conference organizers. I stated that I was sure the conference organizers had told the catering department how many attendees there would be, and that it was the hotel and not the conference organizers who were to blame for the fact that there was not enough food for the number of guests in attendance. At this point I was quite angry and said that I would not be leaving the room at noon, and that they could send the police if they wanted to. Naturally my wife and I did not follow through on that threat. We checked out shortly before noon, with a desk agent who was very pleasant and helpful. I am writing this review shortly after noon, from the conference area where I will be waiting for my wife for about the next four hours. Since I mentioned the food, I'll expand on that. There was an opening reception that had two main dishes. One was "Montreal Smoked Meat." I have seen photos of this dish, and in those photos it looks like a tasty dish that I would enjoy. What was presented at this reception looked nothing like the photos I had seen. The meat was cut almost paper thin and it was slimy and greasy. I honestly would not have fed that meat to my dog, for fear it would make her sick. The other main dish consisted of the ingredients to make poutine. There was gravy and cheese curds, both of which were fine. But the french fries that were, of course, the main component of the poutine, were disgusting. It's hard to make bad french fries, but in this respect The Fairmont excelled! There was a formal closing banquet that was "black tie optional." About 1000 people attended this banquet. The hotel had set up two serving areas, allowing for a total of four serving lines (one on each side of the two stations) to serve 1000 people! The food at the banquet was fine. It was significantly better than the food served at the opening reception. In fact there was a sushi area, and my wife said the sushi was very good. Unfortunately, though, my wife was one of the lucky 50% or so of the banquet attendees who got to the sushi line before the sushi was all gone. It was never restocked! We saw that there was still a very long line of people waiting to get through the food serving line at the point the last of the sushi was taken. This was not a group of college athletes, who might eat more than the average person. This was a group of surgeons, with the average age probably being somewhere in the 40s or 50s, with many 60, 70, and 80 year olds present. My point is that if anything, the members of this group would eat less, not more, than the average person. Running out of one of the main food choices at the banquet was completely unacceptable. (They also ran out of desserts. Those were eventually partially, but not completely, restocked.) I am including a photo of the empty sushi serving area and also a photo of the letter we were provided at check-in, notifying us of the limited services. I recognize that there was not much the hotel could do about their striking employees, and that having to limit some of their services because of this unfortunate situation was beyond their control. However, in light of that, I feel very strongly that the hotel staff should have bent over backwards to try to accommodate guests when and where they could. They are, after all, in the hospitality industry. Allowing us to stay a few extra hours, in a room we had paid over $2000 CDN, for would have been an easy (and free) way for the staff to show that they cared about customer service and about making our experience better where they could. The fact that they flatly refused speaks volumes about how much they truly care about their customers. Read less

With all the wonderful hotels to choose from in downtown Montreal I’m very disappointed to have stayed at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. I know they are dealing with a labor dispute but if you can’t at least be polite to your guests nevermind basic service like fresh towels in the room then just close down. Every other hotel managed to come to an agreement with the union but this place decided to be cute and hold out. Wish we had just stayed at the fantastic Vogue Hotel and walked here for the conference. On top of it all I get accosted by the security guard at the main entrance on my 4 day. I guess I don’t look the part of a queen elizabeth guest. Read less