The few days we spent at Pavillon Jean XXIII were quite restful and peaceful, with wonderful service and a very friendly staff. The hotel is located next to Saint Joseph Oratory, and is perfect for tourists and staycation locals searching for a personal retreat offering peace and quiet in Montreal.
Although Saint Joseph Oratory is a Christian church, you don’t have to be of the Christian faith to reserve and be accepted in the hotel, so don’t worry about being rejected or be forced to pray a faith you don’t believe in.
Another plus about this hotel would be their parking spot, and the shuttle located right across the entry that brings you to and from the Oratory. The drivers are really nice and polite to all the passengers. They will even wait for you to board the shuttle if you happen to be on your way to the Oratory. All in all it’s worth a stay for any visitors and locals who want to explore Montreal, the Oratory, or both, as all those who’ve stayed here have sworn to return in the near future if they haven’t done so already.
BEDROOM
Despite the overall look of the hotel I was quite surprised to find that the bedroom was rather spacious with extremely comfortable and soft beds. The beds were so comfortable that getting up in the morning is almost totally impossible (at least for me it was). The entire building has about 25 bedrooms, each offering different services, such as with or without bathroom, and different rooms sizes for the different people residing in the room.
The hotel did offer free wifi, however depending on the location of your room, you may or may not be able to connect to the network. I personally found it easier to access internet in the lounge and late at night when in my room.
The greatest plus of this hotel would be the quiet it offers despite the numerous noisy tourist buses driving to and from the Oratory. There are about 5-6 a day, and you don’t hear any of it from your bedroom!
Of course Canada being the country of extreme temperatures, to keep from dying of a heat, the rooms are thoroughly air conditioned before you even check in at 3:00 PM/ 15:00 hr (unless you turn it off when you leave your room).
If you need anything you can tell the staff and they’ll do everything in their power to make sure you get what you desire, from changing the bedsheets to bringing your UberEats order to your door.
FOOD
Breakfast is the only meal included in the price of the hotel room, and it’s served between 7-9 AM. Unfortunately the breakfast doesn’t have a large variety of choices however my mother and I both found that they supply you with just what you need to last 3-4 hours without being hungry. If you were to order lunch and dinner via UberEats or any food delivery company, you can use the hotel’s address and have your food delivered to your room by the receptionist, as if it were room service.
ACTIVITIES
Besides resting the hotel allows its clients to easily visit Saint Joseph Oratory. One can walk straight out of the hotel and choose to either wait for the shuttle to transport them up the hill to the top or decide to undergo the journey by foot. Not trying to influence your decision but the shuttle does have air conditioning which could be handy if…you know… don’t want to walk up a somewhat steep hill at 30 degrees Celsius. Once at the top you’ll be able to get a magnificent view of the Oratory’s Basilica, a view I recommend to anyone planning on visiting the Oratory and even Montreal in general, as it’s probably the city’s number one tourist attraction.
For the people who really want to get a feel for what Montreal is like via public transport, the hotel is located in between two 51 “Edouard Monpetit” bus stops. One is called “Saint Joseph Oratory” which drops you off right at the entrance of the Oratory, and another before that one called “Institue de Montreal”, which will drop you off a street before the main entrance. Both stops are within a five minute walking range from the hotel (although I think it’s much quicker to take the latter.)
The 51 going in the direction of “Edouard Monpetit” will bring you to Cote-des-Neiges where you can get off, cross the street and walk until you reach the metro station Cote-des-Neiges, which is on the blue line. From then on if you’d like to explore downtown or Old Montreal it’d be best to get off on “Snowdon”, take the orange line (direction “Cote-Vertu”) and get off at “Lionel-Groulx” where you’ll board the green line (direction “Honoré-Beaugrand”) and get off anywhere starting from the station “Peel” for downtown and ending at “Place-des-Arts” for Old Montreal and the Old Port (sorry for the complications). If you choose to take the bus going in the direction of “Snowdon”, you’ll have to get off at “Snowdon”, take the metro and follow the directions indicated above.
Saint Catherine street is a good street to find, as it’ll bring you to the city centre. It’s also the place where all the shopping stores are at in case you’re looking for a place to spend all your money while at Montreal. If all this is complicated, just remember a taxi/Uber is always a call away!
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