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Following several years of planning and 12 months of work, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel has officially reopened and welcomed its first guests.
The hotel's owner, Ivanhoé Cambridge, had closed the property for a year while a major transformation was completed. The project objectives have been achieved with the collaboration, expertise and hard work of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and principally two Montreal firms: Pomerleau, the general contractor, who worked closely with Sid Lee Architecture on the project.
Starting today, guests can enjoy a totally renewed hotel experience, thanks to the efforts of the team and the commitment of the more than 600 employees of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth. Some 500 rooms are now accessible, along with all of the common areas, the Fairmont Gold lounge, the new CoLab 3 business campus on the third floor, with its vast outdoor terrace overlooking René-Lévesque Boulevard, Suite 1742 (site of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's iconic Bed-In for Peace), as well as the spa.
The other new "Queen E" experiences being introduced today include the Agora, Rosélys restaurant, Krema café, and Nacarat bar. Many more new features will be unveiled in the weeks to come, and all will enhance the unique experience of this pre-eminent hotel destination, while celebrating made-in-Montreal creativity and talent.
About Ivanhoé Cambridge
Ivanhoé Cambridge, a global real estate industry leader, invests in high-quality properties and real estate companies in select cities around the world. It does so prudently, with a long-term view to generate optimal, risk-adjusted returns. Founded in Quebec in 1953, Ivanhoé Cambridge has built a vertically integrated business across Canada. Internationally, the Company invests alongside key partners and major real estate funds that are leaders in their respective markets. Through subsidiaries and partnerships, Ivanhoé Cambridge holds interests in nearly 800 buildings, primarily in the residential, office, retail and logistics real estate sectors. Ivanhoé Cambridge held approximately C$56 billion in assets as at December 31, 2016. The Company is a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (cdpq.com), one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers. For more information: ivanhoecambridge.com. https://twitter.com/IC_Comms
About Fairmont Fairmont Hotels & Resorts connects guests to the very best of its destinations worldwide, providing travellers with memorable travel experiences, thoughtful and attentive service and luxury hotels that are truly unforgettable. Each Fairmont property reflects the locale's energy, culture and history through locally inspired cuisine, spirited bars and lounges and distinctive design and decor. With more than 70 hotels globally, and many more in development, the Fairmont collection boasts some of the most iconic and distinctive hotels in the world. This extraordinary collection includes The Plaza in New York, The Savoy in London, Fairmont Grand Del Mar, Dubai's Fairmont The Palm, Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, Fairmont San Francisco and Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Québec City. Fairmont is part of AccorHotels, a world-leading travel & lifestyle group and digital innovator offering unique experiences in more than 4,100 hotels, resorts and residences, as well as in over 3,000 of the finest private homes around the globe. For more information or reservations, please visit fairmont.com.
FAIRMONT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH
Address: 900 René-Lévesque Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3B 4A5
Total floor area: 64,100 m2 (690,000 ft2)
OWNER: Ivanhoé Cambridge (2007)
HOTEL OPERATOR: Fairmont Hotels (1999)
YEAR OPENED: 1958
DATE CLOSED FOR TRANSFORMATION: June 19, 2016
DATE REOPENED: July 10, 2017
INVESTMENT: More than $140 million (Ivanhoé Cambridge)
CREDITS:
Concept and vision: Sid Lee Architecture + Sid Lee
Interior design: Sid Lee Architecture
Architects: Sid Lee Architecture | Architecture 49,
in consortium
Collaborators: Design 360 Unlimited LA (room
design), Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Design+Construction, Blazys Gerard, Nicole
Vekemans
General contractor: Pomerleau
Structural engineers: SDK et associés
Electromechanical engineers: Dupras Ledoux Inc.
Asset management: Area Inc.
Project management: Dundee360, JLL
Consultants, restaurant and bar programming:
Peter Chase (BPC New York)
Lighting consultants: Lightemotion
Kitchen and equipment consultants:
Next Step Design, BPC Enterprises
Art consultants: MASSIVart
ROOMS :
950, including:
54 junior suites
5 one-room suites
2 Fairmont Gold junior suites
9 Fairmont Gold suites
10 Executive suites including the Royal Suite and John Lennon & Yoko Ono Suite
100 Fairmont Gold rooms including:
82 rooms
11 suites (including the two junior suites)
6 executive suites
FLOOR AREA AND STRUCTURE:
6746.2 m2 (72,600 ft2) at street level
21 storeys above street level + 2 terraces
1 storey underground for guests
2 storeys underground for operations
BUSINESS/MEETING SPACES (2016):
Total: 4,645 m2 (50,000 ft2)
BUSINESS/MEETING SPACES (2017):
Total: 7,900 m2 (85,000 ft2)
COLAB 3 – 3rd floor
Area: 1,710 m2 (18,403 ft2)
13 rooms
ESPACE C2
Capacity: up to 220 guests; multiple configurations
Opening: Q4 2017
FAIRMONT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH
Following its major transformation, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel takes its place as an innovative business hub, amongst the most modern in the Americas and certainly in Montreal. Its business campus, developed by the creative teams at Sid Lee Architecture, comprises a set of multipurpose meeting spaces, allowing businesspeople to benefit from experience rooted in creativity, collaboration and innovation.
The reinvented concept features spaces designed to stimulate the imagination and foster business ingenuity, with all-new room architecture offering versatile open-plan layouts with a variety of possible configurations.
Among other new features, 3,250 m2 (35,000 ft2) of convention space has been added, bringing the total to 7,900 m2(85,000 ft2), which is the second-largest capacity of its kind in Montreal after the Palais des congrès.
This transformation guarantees that Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth will remain the preferred venue in the events and convention industry, with its state-of-the-art meeting and conference rooms. Thanks to these modernized spaces, the hotel becomes THE business destination in Montreal.
Business spaces
1. The convention floor (2nd floor)
The second-floor has been entirely renovated in keeping with Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth's new, resolutely contemporary identity. The second floor features modern, flexible conference and meeting rooms that can be laid out to suit users' needs.
The new configuration ensures smooth wayfinding, with personalized digital touchscreen signage technology. This area is perfect for networking activity with its versatile spaces (removable partitions).
The convention floor offers high-speed 1 GB connectivity—one of the fastest networks in the city.
2. The Parc Mont-Royal Rooms (2nd floor)
The Parc Mont-Royal prefunction rooms feature a one-of-a-kind open-plan meeting space concept, with co-working zones that can welcome up to three groups at once. The surroundings are warm and welcoming, conducive to listening, learning and fruitful collaborations. The space is multipurpose, with modern, refined and versatile furnishings (modular units, USB ports, mirror screens).
3. The Square Victoria Lounge (2nd floor)
The Square Victoria Lounge is a multipurpose space designed as a private recreation space for businesspeople. It is an ideal venue for product launches, vernissages, trade shows with exhibitor booths, VIP cocktail and other receptions, and more.
The lounge includes a bar and coffee corner and offers a unique view of downtown Montreal. It has a capacity of 200 in its cocktail-reception configuration.
4. CoLab 3 (business campus, 3rd floor)
The 3rd-floor business campus, named CoLab 3, provides inspiration and stimulation to business guests holding meetings. CoLab 3 is laid out so as to offer diverse meeting and work spaces adapted to varied needs, for large and small gatherings alike.
The campus contains 13 rooms, including zones designed for playful creativity and inspiring themed rooms for dynamic business meetings.
Inspired by the world of startups and digital keyboards, the names and designs of the rooms are original and striking, as are the concepts. The PING room, for example, includes a ping-pong table as a meeting table, with carpeting resembling artificial turf. The SWING room, meanwhile, is equipped with a pair of swings.
Eraseable whiteboard walls, stick-on sheets, a 180-degree wraparound multimedia display, touchscreens, video walls—these are some of the particularities of the business playground that is CoLab 3. The rooms cover a total floor area of 1,310 m2 (14,100 ft2), and the terrace occupies 400 m2 (4,300 ft2).
5. Outdoor terrace
The CoLab 3 workspaces adjoin a brand-new private outdoor terrace that offers a direct immersion in the energy of downtown Montreal. It can welcome up to three groups at once and 350 guests.
The terrace is the perfect spot to relax, interact, and hold outdoor receptions, by day or by night. The space has a spectacular view of Mount Royal and the iconic skyscrapers of the heart of downtown, while enjoying grilled meats or a drink in a very urban setting.
FAIRMONT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH
New Food and Drink Destinations
Rosélys – restaurantroselys.com
Rosélys restaurant, directly on Mansfield Street, is designed to offer a modern, chic and accessible bistro experience. It features market cuisine, with varied menu items according to the time of day and the season. Blending Parisian elegance and English style, Rosélys boasts pragmatically sophisticated design. It is the perfect meeting place for business luncheons, afternoon tea, dinner amongst friends, and Sunday brunch.
Rosélys, which is directly accessible on Mansfield St., specializes in bistronomie cuisine, with a variety of flavourful dishes served in a setting with one-of-a-kind décor.
Chef Maxime Delmont proposes a menu based on fresh, superior-quality ingredients transformed
The bistro concept comes alive in spontaneity influenced by seasonal produce, with a chalkboard menu that changes daily, and dishes that can be shared.
Rosélys comprises a bar area with fine vintages available by the glass, a raw bar, and select counter seating beside the open-plan kitchen.
The bistro is open from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., with the bar remaining open till midnight.
Rosélys serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, cocktails, dinner, and Sunday brunch.
A second-floor private room with seating for 72 can welcome groups.
The dining room can welcome 124 patrons.
Bar Nacarat – barnacarat.com
Nacarat, directly accessible on René-Lévesque Blvd., will delight cocktail aficionados, offering a discerning menu and a theatrical experience thanks to interior décor inspired by the Glam Rock era. The space has been laid out to provide an exceptional view of Montreal's vibrant street life and the Place Ville Marie Esplanade. The ideal spot to meet up with friends, Nacarat reflects the electricity and excitement of impassioned evenings—in keeping with its name, a French word meaning a dazzling orange-red colour.
Headed by internationally renowned mixologist Nader Chabaane, Nacarat is a cocktail bar experience anchored by multiple stations drawing inspiration from the open kitchen concept.
"Liquid cuisine" is an apt description of the creative work of Nacarat's mixologists, who craft out-of-the-ordinary libations using both traditional and experimental techniques. Behind the bar, these artisans master liquids the same way great chefs do solid ingredients.
The Nacarat concept emphasizes spontaneity and improvisation, based on the individual tastes of each patron and the whims of inspiration. Here, the mixologist's creativity really comes into its own, right down to the way the drink is served.
Hospitality is also at the heart of the Nacarat spirit, fostering interaction between mixologists and guests.
The menu includes a selection of local craft brews that highlight the Greater Montreal Region's thriving beermaking industry. The bar also serves an exclusive range of fine spirits from the best distilleries.
A menu of creative side dishes is on offer, varying with the seasons.
Nacarat also offers a program of master classes for patrons looking to broaden their own mixology skills.
The stunning interior décor is best described as "Ziggy Stardust meets 21st century modernity."
A sophisticated ambiance, warm and welcoming service, a team passionate about their craft, sought-after products, and avant-garde distillation, infusion and conservation processes.
Nacarat features an outdoor terrace with room for 20 people.
The bar is open from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Café Kréma – facebook.com/kremamtl
Café Kréma, with its entrance on René-Lévesque Boulevard, serves high-end, homemade hot and cold drinks, with coffee and tea as the star attractions. The café is an inviting space, with its central fireplace, comfy armchairs, and unbeatable view of Montreal's effervescent downtown. Kréma is the place to be for the best roast coffees from Montreal brûleries and other comforting beverages.
The menu includes an à la carte selection of fine coffees from local roasters including Saint-Henri Micro-torréfacteur, Toi-Moi & Café, and Dispatch Coffee.
Amateurs of teas and herbal teas will find the line of Fairmont fair-trade products.
Customers will enjoy friendly service in a contemporary, welcoming space.
Kréma chooses only the finest-quality, sustainably sourced, fresh products and ingredients.
All packaging are made from recycled, reusable and sustainable materials.
Customers will also find boxed lunches, sandwiches, salads, cakes, pastries, cold-steeped coffee and tea, and smoothies.
Afternoons, a reduced version English-style tea experience will be served in a magnificent fine-porcelain tea set.
Kréma's warm, inviting ambience is enhanced by a circular fireplace and impressive window openings with a view of René-Lévesque Boulevard and Place Ville Marie.
The friendly, distinctive Kréma experience, worthy of a true five-star establishment, is embodied in its brand identity, which conveys values of freshness, excellence and refinement.
Daily roastings of beans from local Quebec producers and professional baristas are hallmarks of this new destination for caffeine devotees.
The café is accessible from the street, is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and has seating for 42.
The Agora, in the main lobby of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, is a multipurpose space offering a new brand of programming for the hotel. It is available as a venue for one-off events aimed at Montrealers, from product launches to concerts to public tribunes. Permanent, built-in food stations complement the space. It is connected to the Salle Centre-ville, which features a 10-m (32-ft) retractable video screen. Both rooms combined can welcome up to 700 people for a reception.
The Artisans market – marcheartisans.com (scheduled to open in late summer 2017)
Artisans will be Canada's first-ever urban market located in a hotel.
Artisans complements downtown Montreal's food-services offering with urban grocery shopping and gourmet take-out counters, all featuring local products and artisans.
Led by Chef Jean-Philippe Desjardins, the market will emphasize small-scale producers, products unique to Quebec, and daily arrivals of fresh produce.
It will feature a dozen or so stations offering dishes to take away or enjoy on the spot, and exclusive fine products. They will include a Quebec wild-meat rotisserie, a fish stall with a shellfish and sushi counter, cheese and deli meats, pizza, specialty foods, pastries, baked goods, crepes, fine chocolate, and more.
Gourmet advisors will be on hand, offering guidance to customers on products that suit them best along with suggested food pairings.
There will be two restaurant sections with shared tables where visitors can sit down for a bite in good company.
The décor will be modern and light-filled, with artworks paying tribute to Montreal's famous Beaver Club.
Artisans will have a seating capacity of 75 and be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Executive team and flavour creators
Jacques Larreur, Director, Food and Beverage – Jacques Larreur joined the Queen Elizabeth team in August 2016, and since then has brought more than two decades of experience in the hospitality industry to the fore in developing the hotel's new food-service concepts. He began his career in Paris, where he held key positions at the Café de la Paix and the Paris Hilton.
Mario Paladin, Director, Marché Artisans and Café Kréma – A member of the Fairmont team since July 2016, Mario Paladin has 30 years of experience, having begun his career in hotel industry food services. He subsequently held several management positions in operations, business development, and implementation of culinary and restaurant concepts.
Nader Chabaane, Director, Mixology – Winner of multiple international awards, Nader Chabaane is a self-taught barman. He learned from leading experts including Colin Field, head barman of the famous Hemingway Bar at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He also headed service at Pierre's French restaurant in the Hamptons, New York, and opened a series of bars in China and Paris. In 2014, Chabaane joined the team at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City as Director of Mixology, where he was appointed a Fairmont Tastemaker and helped promoted the chain's global cocktail menu.
Baptiste Peupion, Executive Chef – Heading the kitchens at the Queen Elizabeth since March 2016, Baptiste Peupion was brought in to oversee the hotel's culinary transformation. During his time completing a similar assignment at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Chef Peupion developed close ties with local farmers, sharing their passion for locally sourced products.
Jean-Philippe Desjardins, Chef, Marché Artisans – Jean-Philippe Desjardins boasts diversified experience in the culinary arts spanning more than 15 years, and began his Montreal career at Les Caprices de Nicolas and Le Club Chasse et Pêche. He then spent time in London, earning valuable experience in Gordon Ramsay's kitchens, before becoming Chef de Cuisine for two of the Quebec government's delegation offices, first in Paris and then in New York City.
Jean-Marc Guillot, Head Pastry Chef – Named a Meilleur Ouvrier de France in the ice-cream-making category in 1997, previously decorated in 1993 as a World Pastry Cup Champion, and appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, this illustrious master chef arrives in Montreal with a singular background and vision that promises to propel the Queen Elizabeth's kitchens to unprecedented heights of dessert-making excellence.
Maxime Delmont, Chef, Rosélys – With more than 15 years' experience in renowned establishments such as Birks Café, Europea and Maison Boulud, Maxime Delmont joined the team at the Queen Elizabeth as its new bistro chef. Hailing from the Champagne region in France, he is known for his insatiable curiosity, which pushes him to stay up to date with the latest trends in cooking, from novel ingredients to new technologies.
