The Warwick Le Crystal Montreal hotel is the first Warwick Hotels and Resorts hotel to open in Canada. And its vice-president, daughter of the founder, fell under the spell of our metropolis.
The Warwick Le Crystal Montreal hotel, made up of 131 rooms and suites (formerly Le Crystal), is the first in a great story between Canada and Warwick Hotels and Resorts, since Toronto is already included in the company’s projects.
Warwick Hotels and Resorts has around forty luxury hotels around the world, in New York, Paris, Brussels, London, Geneva, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Fiji and Beirut. What sets them apart from others? ” Their story. It’s not just a nice luxury room. All of our hotels have a story to tell,” responds Clare Chiu, vice president of development for Warwick Hotels and Resorts.
The first hotel acquired in 1980 was the New York Warwick on 54th Street. It dates from 1926 and was built by the American William Randolph Hearst for his lover, the actress Marion Davis. It is located right next to the Ziegfeld Theater. The glamorous couple could thus welcome their Hollywood friends at the hotel, after the performances in which the actress was featured.
“There is also the Westminster Hotel in Paris, which was the residence of the Duke of Westminster. And our hotel in Montreal, rue de la Montagne, which dates from 2008, was one of the first condo buildings in the neighborhood. There’s a path that leads directly to Mount Royal,” explains Clare Chiu, who has lived in Montreal for seven years and speaks impeccable French.
“I really fell in love with Montreal, a city that I love and that I chose to live in with my husband [he is from Toronto] and our three children,” she says. Born in London, originally from Hong Kong, she grew up in England, where she was educated. She worked in finance in Hong Kong before moving to New York, where she joined the company founded by her father, Warwick Hotels and Resorts, before landing in our metropolis.
What also sets Warwick hotels apart, says Chiu, is that they are always strategically located in cities. “There is the certainty that we are in the heart of the city, whatever the destination. In Montreal, we are right in the city center. In Paris, we are next to the Champs-Élysées. In New York, the hotel is very close to Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art, and in Brussels, it is right next to the Grand Place. Our customers are always reassured, because we are in the center of cities, which is very important. »
She adds that the rooms are larger than average. “All suites have a small kitchen, which is very convenient. When we stay in a hotel, we don’t want to go to a restaurant all the time, and that’s one of our strengths, because it’s like a small apartment,” she explains.
On vacation or on a business trip, what people are looking for from a luxury hotel today is obviously comfort, but also the quality of services: “A luxury hotel is not an exuberant place where one dare not enter; on the contrary, it must be accessible to everyone. It’s a place where you feel good, where you are well received, where customers’ needs are anticipated. If you’re coming for an evening, to explore the city as a family, everyone should feel comfortable, no matter who you are,” says Clare Chiu.
Clare Chiu notes, particularly in Asia and Europe, that city residents frequent large hotels. “In Asia, we meet at hotel restaurants for lunches, dinners, business meetings, and we organize parties there. In Europe, we also frequent them, whether in Paris or London, we like to meet at the hotel, for example for afternoon tea in London. »
“It’s very different in North America,” she continues, “although it’s changing. I hope that Montrealers will take ownership of our hotel and meet there. We already have loyal customers who frequent our Siam Thai restaurant and, hopefully soon, our bar, as renovations are planned in the lobby in 2024. There will be a lounge bar and a café. »
