Location: Old Montreal
Fun Fact: The song “Give Peace a Chance” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono was recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in 1969 during their week-long "bed-in" honeymoon
About a month ago, I received an e-mail from Auberge du Vieux-Port inviting me to spend a couple of nights at their lovely hotel. I was SO excited about this as Old Montreal is one of my favourite areas of the city and I had always wanted to plan a staycation!
One of the things I love about this hotel is how historical it is. It's the only hotel sitting along the Saint Lawrence River and it's supporting structures date back to over a century and a half ago and were used to operate as a warehouse.
Before getting started on this post, I'd just like to clarify that although my stay was complimentary, I will be giving a fully honest review.
Day 1
Last weekend, Erik and I packed our weekend bags and drove to the Old Port, where we would be hosted by Auberge du Vieux-Port for two nights. We checked in at 4PM and went to drop off our bags in the room before heading out to find a late lunch.
Our room had a beautiful view of de la Commune street and the Saint Lawrence River with so much natural light, which is a huge plus for me! We requested a king size bed because, when your boyfriend moves around as much as mine does in his sleep/sometimes accidentally knocks you hard in the stomach, it's kind of essential (sorry, my love). It was very rustic and felt like we were in an old cottage!
By this time, we were starving, borderline hangry. We went to Venice, one of my favourite spots in the city for poke bowls. We ordered two salmon poke bowls (I always order the salmon one) and a side of sweet potato fries. The fries were amazing! They came with this curry mayo that was unreal and not spicy whatsoever (I'm really, really bad with spicy food, so this is saying something). We went back to the room in a minor food coma after and just relaxed and read for the rest of the night.
Day 2
I'm the kind of person who immediately thinks of food upon waking up. I absolutely need to eat something, otherwise I can get a bit (very) grumpy. After sneaking a peek at the room service menu last night, I already knew what I wanted for breakfast. Hey, I like to get excited about my food! Since I eat eggs with toast every morning at home, I decided to go with something sweeter and ordered the french toast with bananas and chocolate sauce and two sides of fruit.
Our plan for the day included spending the morning at a spa. Because we had been to Scandinave Spa Mont-Tremblant before (one of our favourite spas), we wanted to try out Bota Bota but the line up was insane! It was a 45-minute wait just to get in and we did not want to wait outside, so we walked over to Scandinave Spa Vieux-Montreal instead. We spent close to three hours there and it was pure bliss. No phones, no laptops and no speaking allowed. It felt so great to disconnect for a bit and focus on just being present. I will definitely bring my book with me next time though, because I saw others doing it and it's the perfect setting to unwind and have guaranteed peace and quiet!
After the spa, we went to another one of my favourite spots to eat in Old Montreal: Olive et Gourmando. In my opinion, they serve up some of the best paninis in the city, the tastiest ones being The Cubain and the O+G Grilled Cheese. My only complaint is that they don't have fries!
We checked out a couple of art galleries, went back to the hotel and relaxed until we got hungry again. Erik was really in the mood for steamed bao buns, so I took him to Hà for dinner. I have been wanting to try this place for so long! It's a Vietnamese restaurant with a twist, but remains authentic and true to classic Vietnamese cuisine. I say this with confidence because back in September I visited Vietnam, and the smells and flavours of Hà reminded me so much of my week there! The food was SO good. Truly! Service was fantastic, the decor awesome and we loved the general vibe of the place. There are a few locations around Montreal and I definitely recommend going!
We had such a lovely stay at Auberge du Vieux-Port and it was so nice to be a tourist in my own city! There's so much to do and see (and eat) in Old Montreal and Auberge du Vieux-Port is in the heart of it all! The only thing I'd suggest to anyone staying there with a car is to find a lot to park your car in because parking at the hotel is $35/day.
