The best hotel bars downtown and in Old Montréal
There’s always going to be the flash and energy of the city’s nightlife scene, but hotel bars found downtown and Old Montréal are in a class of their own. They’ve a wide spectrum of offerings, from quiet and intimate atmospheres with expect service to upbeat evenings that draw in locals with handpicked DJs, bottle service and sprinkler-topped seafood towers. From boutique and bougie to casual and relaxed, consider these addresses for your drink.
Nacarat
900 René-Lévesque Blvd. West | Website
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.
Marcus Lounge + Bar
1440 de la Montagne Street | Website
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.
Bar Lounge Henri
1240 Square Phillips Street | Website
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.
The Palm Court
1228 Sherbrooke Street West | Website
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.
h3 Lounge
340 De La Gauchetière Street West | Website
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.
Bar George
1440 Drummond Street | Website
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.
Lloyd
1 Place du Canada | Website
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.
Le Pub Cartier Arms
621 Notre-Dame Street East | Website
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.
Living Room
901 Square-Victoria Street | Website
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.
Le Bar
1155 Sherbrooke Street West | Website
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.
Terrasse Nelligan
106 Saint-Paul Street West | Website
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.
Bivouac
1255 Jeanne-Mance Street | Website
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.
Bar le Flâneur
2050 Mansfield Street | Website
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.
Oskar Lounge
414 Saint-Sulpice Street | Website
Just off the cobblestone streets of Old Montréal in the Le Saint-Sulpice Hôtel - Montréal, this modern lounge with a spacious terrace to explore come summertime is centered around pure Montréal comforts. Come winter, grab prime seats by its stone fireplace, and drink a glass of bold red as you people watch guests strolling through the lobby’s main hall.
Monème
1041 De Bleury Street | Website
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.
Terrasse Carla
985 Saint-Laurent Blvd. | Website
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.
Stanley
1201 René-Lévesque Blvd. West
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.
Yama
1425 de la Montagne Street
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.
Commodore & Muze
355 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West
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.
Belvu
1050 De La Gauchetière Street West
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.
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.