This summer I spent time in Canada visiting cities that were new to me. The Hyatt Centric Montreal is located on the north end of Old Montreal. It is a new hotel (opened in 2023) with 177 rooms built on the grounds of the old Canadian Pacific Railway station.
The Hyatt Centric Montreal is a Category 3 property. During my visit in July, I used points for my booking (12,000 World of Hyatt points per night). I used a Guest of Honor certificate so I could get breakfast included. I value 12k points at $180 USD, and the going rate during my stay was higher than that; so it made sense to use points.
Location
The Hyatt Centric is located on Notre-Dame St East. It is in a development called the Place Gare Viger, named after the former railway station. It is a short walk to City Hall to the south and the former Molsen brewery complex to the north. Rue Saint-Paul is the heart of Old Montreal; and it is just a 5 minute walk to the heart of the old town as well as the Old Port.
Currently the block or so that separates the Hyatt Centric from Old Montreal is not the most pleasant; be prepared to see people sitting or sleeping on the streets. But once you get past that block you are in the heart of the tourist area.
There is a subway station, Champ-de-Mars, a 10 minute walk away.
Check In
I arrived around 5:00pm and the room was ready. I was upgraded to a 1 King Bed High Floor on the 6th floor. There are only 7 floors of the hotel (floors above 7 are private residences and/or offices). The lobby is on Floor 3 and there are guest rooms on Floor 2, and 4-7.
Floor 2 would be best to be avoided as many of the rooms look out at the underside of the viaduct. Anything on Floor 4-7 would be pretty similar.
I was given tickets for my included breakfast as well as a 15% off at the onsite restaurant. I was offered late check out and parking; neither of which I needed for my trip.
If you are arriving by Uber, you will likely be dropped off on Notre-Dame Street and can directly enter the lobby on the 3rd floor.
Room
I was assigned Room 603 on the 6th floor just off the elevator. I typically don’t like rooms close to the elevator due to noise; but this room shared a foyer with Room 601 that was closed off and locked and prevented voices from drifting in.
Room 603 is larger than some of the other room in the same category. As you enter, there is a small entry area with a wall mirror. The closet and area for your suitcase is to the left.
There is an area to hang your clothes and a built in set of drawers under the desk and TV.
On the desk is the Nespresso coffee station. Under that is the empty mini fridge.
The King Bed faces the TV. A gallery wall is above the bed. The headboard is back lit and there are outlets and reading lights on either side of the bed.
The room seems overly large with a lot of empty space. However against the windows is an arm chair and small table as well as a small table with two stools.
I visited the hotel in July during an unusually warm time. The room never felt cold, but it did stay mostly cool (especially with keeping the curtains closed during the day). I heard someone else in the elevator complain about the heat in their room.
There is no overhead light which at times left the room feeling dark. There are various lamps and lights, including one in the open closet space, but nothing on the ceiling.
The bed does have motion activated night lights for when you need to get up in the night.
I was provided some maple cookies as a Guest of Honor, as well as some extra water bottles.
Bathroom
The bathroom takes up one corner of the rectangular room and can be closed off with a standard door.
A backlit mirror is on the wall above the single vanity.
There is a motion activated nightlight that comes on under the mirror when someone is in the bathroom. There is also a small dim light that is constantly on embedded in the mirror (it looks like a blue dot in the mirror in the image above).
The shower has an overhead rain shower as well as a handheld wand. The water pressure can’t be changed; only the temperature can be adjusted.
Four bath towels, two hand towels, and two wash clothes provided.
Gym & Pool
The gym is located on Floor 1, the ground floor.
It is possible to exit and enter the hotel from Floor 1 as well as Floor 3 (where you find the Lobby).
The small pool is located on the roof of Floor 14. It has fantastic views but no shade. The water was also murky during my visit.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the onsite restaurant; Cartier Arms. As a Guest of Honor, only the breakfast buffet was included. If you wanted to order off the menu, including espresso beverages, there was an additional charge.
I found the buffet to be limited. There were five hot items and a few cold items. The hot items included pancakes or crepes, potatoes, eggs, a vegetable and bacon/sausage. The cold items included hard boiled eggs, toast and pastries, fruit and yogurt.
There is also a bar on the 14th floor but I didn’t get a chance to check it out.
Overall I found the Hyatt Centric Montreal to be very modern and a good use of points at a Category 3 property. It is very close to Old Montreal, though removed from Downtown. The Globalist breakfast is basic. Overall I wouldn’t hesitate to stay at the property again unless I needed to be downtown.
