Montréal's best hotel bars in Downtown and Old Montréal
Montréal's best hotel bars sit downtown and in Old Montréal, where rooftop terraces, cocktail programs and quiet lounges welcome both locals and guests in equal measure. But what really sets them apart is the hour they keep. A hotel bar has to work at breakfast and at last call, which is why so many handle a business lunch, a 5 à 7 and a nightcap. Several of the city's top cocktail bars happen to have a lobby attached, and in summer a good number double as rooftop terraces. Whether you prefer boutique and upscale or casual and laid-back, these are the addresses worth the detour, and if the night runs long, there's somewhere to stay upstairs.
Nacarat
One of the city’s preeminent hotel bars for its cocktails, the mixologists behind this chic experience inside the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth prides itself on serving a menu that’s equal parts perfected classics and their own creative spins. They’ve also got a sizeable supply of apertifs and digestifs in the form of fine sherries, vermouths, amaro, liqueurs and eaux-de-vie for true conaisseurs.
900 René-Lévesque Blvd. West
Marcus Lounge + Bar
Located off the third floor of the Four Seasons Hôtel Montréal, this tidy hotel bar blends together selections of seasonal cocktails and local beers with a long wine list and light menu that pulls from the accomplished Marcus Restaurant + Terrace. The bar also puts together craft zero-proof cocktails if you have work the next day; if you don’t, there’s a long bottle service list to dive into.
1440 de la Montagne Street
Bar Lounge Henri
This beautiful marble-topped space inside the landmark Birks Building in the heart of downtown Montréal is where the city’s most active socialites and entrepreneurs gather over drinks. Found inside the Hotel Birks Montreal, the service here is as suave as the drink selection, where the most popular classics are impeccably pulled off alongside a regular selection of signature creations. If you’re grabbing a bite, don’t skip on the ‘dessert’ options like a boozy iced latté.
1240 Square Phillips
The Palm Court
Still sporting all the glamour and savoire-faire it had when it was the first hotel in North America to bear the Ritz-Carlton name in 1912, this hotel lounge specializes in international wines, signature cocktails and champagne by the glass or bottle. A gorgeous fixture of the Ritz-Carlton Montréal, sit back in its plush furnishings while gazing up at a chandeliered ceiling decorated with a sky blue and fronds.
1228 Sherbrooke Street West
h3 Lounge
It’s drinks with a view at this bar and lounge high up inside the Hôtel Humaniti Montréal of the Humaniti complex downtown. Located inside a mixed vertical community, you’ll rub shoulders with as many people enjoying drinks after work as you will residents—all from the same structure. Open every evening of the week, enjoy diving into their cocktails, wine and beer as you take in local art and new perspective of the city just outside its windows.
340 De La Gauchetière Street West
Terrasse Alizé
The cocktail list here is more Québécois than the palm-fringed setting lets on, pulling in Menaud haskap, Labrador tea syrup and aronia alongside the tequila and the Aperol. It's a ninth-floor garden at Hôtel Humaniti Montréal, planted heavily enough to read as a hideaway despite sitting in the middle of the international district, with a DJ most nights and a rotating schedule of theme evenings running from Margarita Tuesdays to Latin Fridays. Frozen slush cocktails come with your choice of spirit. The kitchen fires up a grill after five, sending out harissa-rubbed Cornish hen and lobster rolls to a room that's in no hurry.
340 De La Gauchetière Street West, 9th floor
Bar George
Set inside the grand heritage mansion of Le Mount Stephen Hotel, there’s a lot of fixtures from this hotel bar interior’s 140-year-old history to admire, but don’t skip watching the show behind the bar. The mixology work here is spectacular and always shifting with the seasons, inspired by the city and the character of its building, but the classics here remain essential tasting as well—anything from espresso martinis and jungle birds to Manhattans and negronis.
1440 Drummond Street
Rosélys
The name compresses rose and lys, two of the four emblems on Montréal's flag, which tells you how seriously the room takes its own symbolism. It's the Art Deco dining room of the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, 145 seats under high ceilings, and it runs from breakfast through to a late bar. The wine list is Fairmont-scale, with Cristal and magnums of Ace of Spades at one end and a deep Canadian section at the other, down to a Québec white out of Lanoraie. Afternoon tea lands on Saturdays, and a raw bar covers most of what happens in between.
900 René-Lévesque Blvd. West
Lloyd
With its smooth interior designed by Sid Lee Architecture inside the Montréal Marriott Château Champlain, Lloyd keeps things creative with signature cocktails that are positively brimming with flavours and flair. Along its zero-proof options, beers, wines and fine scotches and whiskys, it’s just as good for a weekend getaway without leaving the city as it is a place for getting a night out started on the right foot.
1 Place du Canada
Bazarette
This one runs on the arena's clock: doors at 4:30, last call an hour after the final buzzer, ticket required. The format is built for the hour before puck drop, with cheese and charcuterie boards, vitello tonnato and a tuna tataki with melon radish and crème fraîche, all designed to land on the table at once. Anyone treating dinner as fuel can go straight for the burger or a poutine built on beef cheek and oyster mushrooms. Signature cocktails and a curated wine list fill in the rest, and your table is held through the intermissions, which is the detail that actually matters here.
1909 Des Canadiens-de-Montréal Avenue
Le Pub Cartier Arms
Located inside the Hyatt Centric Ville-Marie, this restaurant and bar is a hybrid of Quebec and British cultures. While it draws on local history for its menus in a space that overlooks Gare Viger, the site of Canada’s first train station, the menus here aren’t all traditions and old stories as the house cocktails promise to keep things fresh. In the summer, try taking that drink up to its rooftop terrace.
621 Notre-Dame Street East
Living Room
W Montréal’s hotel bar is located squarely at the center of its lobby, giving guests a view of all the action as they dig into tapas and handcrafted cocktails. This spot prides itself on making live DJs and local artists a major part of its programming, but if you’re not into socializing, keep an eye on whatever intimate activation they’re hosting; in the past there have been champagne vending machines hip-hop soundbox rooms with cognac-based cocktails.
901 Square-Victoria Street
Vinyl Bar
Hand a record to the DJ and they'll play it. That's the premise at this speakeasy inside W Montréal, where roughly 3,000 albums curated by local outfit Fono Creatives sit in bins for guests to dig through, with a listening station for anyone who'd rather keep the find to themselves. Cocktails take their names from songs, so the Folsom Prison Old Fashioned arrives with bacon-infused whiskey and pecan bitters, and the Amor Prohibido leans on mezcal and gochujang syrup. The back bar makes room for Québec distillers, with Ungava, Cirka and ChicChoc alongside the imports. DJs work Fridays and Saturdays.
901 Du Square-Victoria Street
Le Bar
With a plush environment featuring long gold fabric curtains and floor-to-ceiling windows with views onto a busy main thoroughfare of the city, this bar inside Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile has a boast-worthy wine cellar, a tidy cocktail menu, and a few zero-proof options to boot. If you’re looking for a more minimalist space that’s none too busy so you better enjoy your company (or solitude), then this is a solid bet.
1155 Sherbrooke Street West
Terrasse Nelligan
A seasonal bar open during the warmer months in Montréal atop Hôtel Nelligan, locals and tourists from around the globe flock here for as much booze as they do views. Equipped to serve up both signature and classic cocktails, most like to lounge with their selection of sangria pitchers, but there’s also a long wine list at hand to dive into—a great conversation piece with guests and staff.
106 Saint-Paul Street West
Terrasse Place d'Armes
Eight floors above Saint-Jacques Street at Hôtel Place d'Armes, this warm-weather rooftop is where the Old Montréal after-work crowd goes when it wants a view with its drink. The bar runs a dedicated spritz list, including one built on Montréal-made Cirka gin, and pours red and white sangria by the glass or the pitcher. Cocktails lean playful without getting silly, from a cold brew and tonic build to a vodka fizz made with tomato water and basil, and any mocktail can be spiked for five dollars. Chef Martin Fortier's kitchen keeps pace with tartares, truffle sachetti and a weekday table d'hôte served until 3 p.m.
55 Saint-Jacques Street, 8th floor
Brasserie 701
The room does a lot of the talking here, a neo-classical hall of lofty ceilings and windows tall enough to pass for Paris until you step back outside onto Place-d'Armes. It runs on the ground floor of Hôtel Place d'Armes from seven in the morning to eleven at night, so the hour rarely dictates what you can order. Mixologist Humberto Quiel's list is worth the detour on its own, from an espresso martini built on black sesame and brown sugar to a nightcap of Cirka whisky, Averna and black walnut bitters. The wine list leans French, with private imports throughout and room for Québec and Nova Scotia bottles.
701 Côte de la Place-d'Armes
Terrasse William Gray
Perched on the 8th floor of Hotel William Gray, this rooftop getaway has a lot going for it: Spectacular vistas spanning Place Jacques-Cartier, the St. Lawrence River, and the twinkling Montreal Ferris Wheel form the backdrop for a four-season spot. Here, you can enjoy as many crisp glasses of wine in the summer as you can luxurious heated domes during winter months, each accommodating intimate gatherings of four to eight guests. During the colder months, it’s not quite a hotel bar per se, but it’s undeniably fun to share a few rounds in a private dome.
421 Saint-Vincent Street, 8th floor
Perché
Not to be confused with the rooftop eight floors above it, this fourth-floor terrace at Hôtel William Gray is the greener, more tropical of the hotel's two drinking addresses, with Place Jacques-Cartier laid out below. Sangria by the pitcher and spritzes do plenty of the work, but the cocktail list is where things get interesting, including a savoury vodka build with olive juice and sesame oil. Wines run long, from easy glasses to serious bottles. The kitchen follows a Mediterranean-meets-Asian line with wagyu gyozas in truffle ponzu and burrata dressed in yuzu marmalade. A retractable roof and heaters stretch the season well into the fall.
153 Saint-Amable Street, 4th floor
Bivouac
Found above the Quartiers des Spectacle in the DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal, this spot’s just as good for oysters and wine over 5 à 7s as it is for nights out full of crafts cocktails, local beers and curated wines. It’s worth the wait when events are happening in the public squares on the streets below; you’ll have front row seats to all of the cultural action the city can offer.
1255 Jeanne-Mance Street
Le Boulevardier
The cocktail list at this Hôtel Le Germain Montréal dining room reads like a timeline, each drink stamped with the year and the city that produced it, from a 1773 Boston Tea Party to a Dark'N'Stormy filed under Bermuda and the 1900s. Most are rebuilt on Québec spirits, so the French 75 arrives on Ubald gin and the Dark'N'Stormy on ChicChoc rum. The zero-proof section gets its own joke, listed as the forbidden classics. The wine list runs long and unmistakably French, with magnums, old Bordeaux and a Burgundy section that keeps climbing, plus caviar and oysters if a drink needs company.
2050 Mansfield Street
Bar le Flâneur
Bubbly, oysters and mixology are the name of the game at this gorgeously designed bar by Atelier Zébulon Perron inside the Hôtel Le Germain Montréal. Named for those who lounge, wander or stroll at their leisure, it’s no wonder that the pace of life at this bar matches perfectly, where hospitality and relaxation come together to create one of the smoother bar experiences in the city.
2050 Mansfield Street
Cour Arrière
Just off the cobblestone streets of Old Montréal in Le Saint-Sulpice Hôtel - Montréal, the stylish bar situated in the lobby offers a relaxed setting infused with the neighbourhood’s charm. Complemented by the adjacent restaurant’s garden atmosphere, this bar invites guests to enjoy quiet drinks, savor signature charcoal-fired dishes, or indulge in people-watching as visitors stroll through the main hall. Perfect for intimate evenings or private events, it embodies the sophisticated comfort that defines the Old Montreal experience.
414 Saint-Sulpice Street
Terrasse R
Two storeys of rooftop sit on top of the Renaissance Montreal Downtown, which means you get to pick your altitude and your crowd, whether that's the shopping-bag set arriving off Sainte-Catherine or a 5 à 7 that settles in for the evening. Most of it is covered and heated, so a grey forecast isn't the problem it usually is this high up. Drinks run to sangria by the pitcher in lychee, red and grapefruit, alongside house cocktails built on yuzu and maple. The kitchen leans Asian and snacks well, with dumplings, oysters under an Asian mignonette, coconut shrimp and inarizushi laid out for picking at over a long afternoon.
1250 Robert-Bourassa Blvd.
Monème
Discover Hotel Monville at the crossroads of downtown and the old city in the Quartier international de Montréal, where a bar with numerous and modestly priced cocktails gets paired with beers, ciders, wines and a long list of liquor to drink neat. With a clean and minimalist character, this French-inspired space is all fun and no fuss.
1041 De Bleury Street
Terrasse Carla
With a unique location in Montréal’s Chinatown, this hotel bar on the sixth floor of the Hampton by Hilton Montréal Downtown has been a summer nightlife destination ever since it first opened. Grab cocktails by the glass or pitcher, some bottle service, or just grab something simple to pair with their French-Vietnamese menu. Be sure to dress to the nines; this spot’s where you go to socialize and have a great time.
985 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
Stanley
Situated just behind the towering, streetside, third-floor glass frontage of Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel, Stanley combines a lounging bar and chic restaurant in one spacious offering. A casually elegant address headed by Chef Alexandre Martin, the menu plays to all of Montréal’s strengths with seasonal produce and crowd-pleasers of pasta and protein. It’s got a unique structure too, as dishes can either be enjoyed individually or offered in sharing formats.
1201 René-Lévesque Blvd. West
Yama
A ‘mountain-inspired’ pan-Asian restaurant combining the finessed cooking of Chef Antonio Park and the French pastries of Bertrand Bazin, Yama combines restaurant and bar experiences worth exploring alongside a café attaché experience during the day. Located inside the Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown, its transitional style interiors will soothe during the day while transforming into a dining hotspot by night.
1425 de la Montagne Street
Commodore
A flare for the luxury of the 1920s is in full swing at these two concepts inside the HONEYROSE Hotel Montreal mere steps away from the Quartier des spectacles. At Commodore, it’s a chic brasserie-inspired restaurant offering classic French cuisine in a place that blends Art Deco elements with contemporary styles. Up on the fifth floor at Muze and its terrasse equipped for summer and fall seasons and interior dining room, things get a bit more tropical in both look and taste, as it serves a more Californian vibe with poke bowls, salads, and the like.
355 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West
Belvu
Riding high above the downtown streets alongside the Montréal Marriott Château Champlain, Belvu is one of Montréal’s best-kept secrets. Hiding in plain sight, bathed in sunshine throughout the summer and effortlessly cool in the fall, this is where hotel guests and locals alike rub shoulders as they dip into sharing dishes with an Asian focus as well as curated wines and cocktails (plus zero-proof options). Good for both business lunches and long, drawn-out evenings as the sun sets, it’s a great place to go—especially on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays when DJs make it extra festive.
1050 De La Gauchetière Street West
Establishment numbers:
Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth: 519816
Four Seasons Hotel Montreal: 298012
Hotel Birks Montreal: 297790
The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal: 521754
Humaniti Montreal: 304076
Le Mount Stephen: 295694
Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain: 521533
Hyatt Centric Montreal: 314680
W Montreal: 196604
Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile: 184435
Hotel Nelligan: 180390
Hotel Place d'Armes: 159751
Hotel William Gray: 293576
DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal: 583940
Hotel Le Germain Montreal: 150975
Hotel Saint-Sulpice: 180950
Renaissance Montreal Downtown Hotel: 290146
Hotel Monville: 295871
Hampton Inn Montreal Downtown: 307224
Montreal Centre Sheraton: 544913
Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown: 516143
Honeyrose Hotel Montreal: 311200
Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain: 521533
JP Karwacki
JP Karwacki is a Montréal-based writer and journalist whose work has appeared in Time Magazine, the Montreal Gazette, National Post, Time Out, NUVO Magazine, and more. Having called the city home for over a decade and a half, he regularly focuses on spreading the good word about the amazing things to eat, drink and do in Montréal. One half raconteur and the other flâneur (with just a dash of boulevardier), when he wasn’t working on the frontlines of the city's restaurants and bars, he spent his time thinking about, reading about and writing about restaurants and bars.