Ritz-Carlton Montreal earns Five Diamond status

Montreal finally has a five-diamond hotel.

AAA has awarded the historic Ritz-Carlton Montreal its coveted Five Diamond Award - just four months after the hotel re-opened following an extensive, $200 million renovation and expansion, hotel CEO and general manager Andrew Torriani tells Hotel Check-In.

"It's a shock. You don't expect it," Torriani told me. "You never know if you can get your hotel up to standard that quickly."

The award makes the Ritz-Carlton Montreal (1228 Sherbrooke St. West) the only five-diamond property in Quebec, and one of just four in all of Canada, he says.

The award is given to hotels that provide guests with outstanding levels of service and luxurious amenities. Service, Torriani says, was the hardest component to get up to Five Diamond status in such a short period of time.

AAA inspectors personally examine everything from service to cleanliness and comfort before awarding diamonds. In 2012, only 126 lodgings and 53 restaurants received the Five Diamond Award.

AAA had previously granted this hotel just four diamonds.

Hotel's renovation means new pool, restaurant, rooms

With the extensive renovation, the 129-room hotel sports newly redone guest rooms, 45 luxury residential units, a brand new rooftop pool and a celebrity chef restaurant - Daniel Boulud's Maison Boulud.

It's located in the heart of the Golden Square Mile, home to Montreal's elite in the early 20th century.

This hotel stands out in the Ritz-Carlton chain, because it was the very first hotel - in 1912 - to combine the Ritz and Carlton names.

Over the years, the hotel has hosted many of the world's heads of state, artists and business moguls. Past guests have included Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, George Bush Sr., as well as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who celebrated their first wedding at the hotel.

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