For the unacquainted: what Tiffany & Co. is to New York, Birks is to Montréal. In 2018, the 146-year-old jeweler—famed for its robin’s-egg-blue boxes and a celebrity clientele that includes Meghan Markle and Rupi Kaur—made its foray into hospitality, opening a 132-room hotel inside its century-old headquarters on Phillips Square. The building’s richly ornamented façade remains, as do exquisite interior details: original plaster moldings, Birks’ stained glass, and imposing marble columns. Two glass-enclosed floors were added up top, housing suites with panoramic terraces and downtown views. Even the entry-level rooms feel indulgent, with marble bathrooms, white damask bedcovers, and the occasional gas fireplace for frigid winter nights. The centerpiece is Restaurant Henri, designed by Montréal studio Atelier Zébulon Perron to channel early-1900s Paris, with pendant lamps, carved ceilings, and a brass bar backed by mirrored walls and a glittering lineup of cocktail coupes and Champagne magnums. Your order: escargots with confit garlic, brown butter, and panko, followed by magret de canard with Saladaise potatoes fried in duck fat and sweet-and-sour apricot sauce.
- Amenities: Restaurant, shop, spa, gym.
- Bonus Tip: If you’re going to pick up a souvenir, beeline to the Maison Birks jewelry store (connected to the hotel via an indoor glass corridor) to shop celebrity-favorite styles such as the Snowflake Snowstorm Diamond Earrings Meghan Markle wore at her wedding rehearsal.
- Address: 1240 Phillips Sq, Montréal, Quebec, H3B 3H4
Courtesy of Auberge du Vieux-Port
