Rooms
Life as lived in your favorite shelter magazine, the one you read before sleep, so that maybe when you awaken… These thirty rooms represent all that you want your urban pied à terre to be: streamlined and chic, immaculate and stylish. A composite of the best 20th-century internationalist design ideas and everything impeccably crafted. The hardware, for example: polished and functional and ergonomically correct. And the built-in oak cabinetry: drawers which slide like silk on skin, and details such as a shoe cabinet drawer at the base of the closet. Rooms are anywhere from 300-1000 square feet, with huge windows or French doors, leading onto Juliet balconies or fully furnished terraces. And then there’s that bed: a FLOU bed so comfortable you seriously consider purchasing one for your own home (and yes, they are available for purchase).

As for the bathrooms, we’re talking Manhattan apartments, complete with private toilet and heated floors and a shower stall built for four and delicious Essential Elements toiletries—and best of all, a free-standing bathtub large enough for two—but why share when you can have it all to yourself?

Also a moveable pocket wall—for privacy—and a workstation ingeniously built into the room divider. And commissioned artwork from Canadian artists. And lighting on dimmers and a couch in purple wool and an afghan so fluffy you might wear it to lunch. And flat-screen televisions, with DVD and CD player and Internet access, free of charge, and—

To be honest, our favorite room (and no, we’re not telling) is one that we can imagine living in on a daily basis. In fact, we’d be perfectly happy to work out a deal… Hello? Anybody listening?

Public Spaces
Exactly as the Gault itself says, “an urban oasis.” A modernist refuge in the middle of Old Montreal. A sanctuary, without the usual hustle one might associate with hotel lobbies. Instead, there’s a sense of cool calm: a crackling fire in the well-stocked library and cocktails or coffee at the bar (which also cleverly functions as reception) in the room’s center. A small restaurant overlooking the quiet street. These spaces, this level of comfort—and you’re easily forgiven for imagining life in Montreal on a full-time basis.

Breakfast
Served in the lobby while seated on Pierre Paulin’s orange-slice chairs, a Charlie Chaplin silent film on the plasma television above the small bar, and the gentle murmur of muted conversations. Contentment at such an early hour—for the buffet table is laden with culinary treats: crèpes and caramelized fruits and brioche French toast and… If that’s not enough, order something else; the kitchen is there to serve—whatever your palate desires. And best of all: brunch is served late—as in afternoon late—on weekends. You can sleep in—and still eat when you finally wake.

Staff
These people are as splendid as the setting. The sort of people whose names you want to remember—to include in your letter of appreciation. Charming and unpretentious—and genuinely happy to be helpful in a place of which they are so obviously, and with good reason, proud.

Location
On the corner of a quiet street in fashionable Old Montreal— but still far enough from the touring hordes. A ten-minute walk to the river. Just around the corner from the shops of rue St. Paul. A five-minute cab ride to St. Catharine. A street you might wish to call your own—each time you step out from the Gault.

Overview
Isn’t it obvious? This might well be our favorite hotel in all of North America. The combination of comfort and hospitality, generated by the warm and personable staff, in a setting so understated and elegant. A hotel confident of its attributes with no need to oversell its virtues. The Gault knows what it is and what it is for a certain type of person is very nearly paradise.