Les Cours Mont-Royal is an upscale

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the city's

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, which was converted from the former Mount Royal Hotel.

Architecture

The Mount Royal Hotel was designed by

Ross and Macdonald Ross and Macdonald was one of Canada's most notable architecture firms in the early 20th century. Based in Montreal, Quebec, the firm originally operated as a partnership between George Allen Ross and David MacFarlane (known as Ross and MacFar ...

, a prolific architectural firm in Montreal and across Canada. The ten-storey, 1036-room hotel was the largest in the British Empire. It was erected on the former site of the

High School of Montreal The High School of Montreal was an English-language high school founded in 1843, serving Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the area eventually known as the Golden Square Mile. It was less formally known as Montreal High School and from 1853 to 1870 was ...

at 1455 Peel Street. The construction of the Mount Royal Hotel in the Beaux-Arts architectural style was part of a larger trend in what was the largest city in Canada to attract high-class tourists with luxurious edifices. Other famous buildings by Ross and Macdonald in Montreal include

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...

, the

Montreal Neurological Institute The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; french: Centre universitaire de santé McGill) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical complex in ...

, the downtown

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...

building (now Complexe les Ailes), the

Dominion Square Building The Dominion Square Building (french: Édifice Dominion Square), also known as the Gazette Building (french: Édifice Gazette), is a landmark office building in Downtown Montreal facing Dorchester Square on its northern side. It is located at 1010 ...

and Trinity Memorial Church in Westmount.

History

The hotel opened on December 20, 1922, managed by the

United Hotels Company United Hotels Company of America, also known as United Hotels Company, was a chain of upscale hotels in the United States. The company was headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York, with administrative offices in New York City. The company was foun ...

. It was sold by its owners, Cardy Hotels, to

Sheraton Hotels Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Ce ...

in 1950, along with the company's other Canadian properties in Quebec and Ontario. The hotel was renamed the Sheraton-Mt. Royal Hotel in 1951. The hotel left Sheraton on March 31, 1982, when the nearby

Le Centre Sheraton Hotel Le Centre Sheraton Hotel is a skyscraper hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1201 René Lévesque Boulevard West in downtown Montreal, between Stanley Street and Drummond Street. Le Centre Sheraton has 825 rooms and stands tal ...

opened to replace it. The Mt. Royal Hotel closed on November 17, 1984. Cours Mont-Royal 03

The building was gutted and renovated at a cost of $140 million and converted to a mixed-use complex with a shopping mall in the lower levels and basement, connected to the

Underground City An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of thes ...

, and offices above. It reopened in 1988 as Les Cours Mont-Royal. The only interior remnant of the original hotel is the original lobby, which contains a huge chandelier taken from the

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

casino. The shopping area is organized around four large courts, hence the French name "Les Cours". Under the main skylight there are six bird-human sculptures by the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

artist

David Ruben Piqtoukun David Ruben Piqtoukun ᑎᕕᑎ ᐱᑐᑯ ᕈᐱᐃᓐ (also known as David Ruben) (born 1950) is an Inuvialuk (Inuit) artist from Paulatuk, Northwest Territories. Career One of 15 children, Piqtoukun lived a traditional Inuit life until he w ...

Tenants and facilities

The top of the building has several floors of luxury condos. They have separate elevators and entrances, set apart from those of the shopping centre's street doors and subway tunnels. In between the top condo levels and the mall at the base there are several floors of office space. Les Cours Mont-Royal Shopping Centre is mainly composed of fashion retailers, with a few additional features and services including Montreal's largest spa (Spa Diva), a medical clinic (Les Cours Medical Centre) and a catwalk for fashion shows and other events. It is connected via the

underground city An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of thes ...

to Peel metro station.

References

Ulysses Travel Guides Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

External links

Official websiteOfficial Medical Clinic WebsiteOfficial Spa WebsitePhotograph:Mount Royal Hotel, 1923
- McCord Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Cours Mont-Royal Shopping malls in Montreal Downtown Montreal United Hotels Company of America Sheraton hotels Shopping malls established in 1988 1988 establishments in Quebec