Michelin stars for restaurants is very much a known thing and when the Europe-based Michelin Guide finally made it to Canada two years ago and gave stars to restos in Vancouver and Toronto, folks in the restaurant milieu here wondered if Montreal was being snubbed. Well it turns out the notorious Michelin inspectors are now in Montreal checking out eateries — under cover, of course, so restaurant managers don’t realize their food and service is being rated.
In the meantime, the Michelin Guide has just published its first rating of hotels across Canada — and Montreal fared pretty well. For hotels, Michelin uses what it calls a “Key” rating. The best is Three Keys, second best is Two Keys and third-best is One Key. Four Montreal hotels made the short list of 23 hotels across Canada that garnered One Key and the notable thing is all four are smaller boutique hotels. None of the four are big hotels and they’re not necessarily the city’s most famous hotels either. That’s right, the list does not include the Ritz-Carlton or the Marriott Château Champlain or the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth.