VacantReady

Last week I received an email from Debbie Collins letting me know about the launch of the Opus Montreal’s new Koko Restaurant + Bar, set to open its doors this Saturday, May 10, 2008.

The anticipated restaurant located in Montreal’s newest boutique property plans to “blend urban glamour with modern Asian cuisine in a theatrical, 9000 square foot setting”. Sounds like Vancouver’s thriving Asian-Chic culture is taking over Canada’s hippest city…

Opus Montreal’s Koko Restaurant, the Video:

Executive Chef Don Letendre of Vancouver’s renowned Opus Hotel kitchen has created a pan-Asian menu, served in the Japanese izakaya “sharing-style”. Letendre’s culinary experience in Tokyo, including cooking at popular Soba Ni Umazake Yoshimura, left an indelible impression and influenced his style of clean and innovative cuisine.

Says Letendre, “My experience in Japan taught me about balance between cooking, tasting, and seeing, and gave me a foundation for my senses. It helped me to trust in my hands.”

“Koko adds an exciting new element to the dining scene in Montreal,” says John deC. Evans, President of Opus Hotels. “Much as its setting integrates the classic aspects of Joseph-Arthur Godin’s 1914 art nouveau structure with its adjoining contemporary concrete and glass structure, Koko blends an array of Far Eastern flavours and textures with Western culinary techniques to bring an international dining and socializing experience never before scene in this city.” To set the mood, resident DJs spin with international talent to bring the latest electro-house rhythms from East and West.

Nice Hotel Marketing, Opus

I love the Opus’ promo video-release for Koko. Cheap and cheerful, and effective. 

The folks at Vancouver’s Opus Hotel were early adopters in leveraging social media to connect with their guests when they introduced their popular Blog. The site was very well received by guests and the hotelier community under Opus VP Daniel Craig’s terrific writing. Daniel has since left the company to pursue fame and fortune in the literary world, but you can still read his hilarious hotel dispatches at his new blog.

I receive lots of boring industry press releases (usually unsolicited) in my inbox, and virtually all of them hit my trash folder unread. Not this one though, because Debbie did her homework. She knew a little about me (like, my name for starters), and she presented her info in a way that she knew would be meaningful to me.  And it worked.

Through our interactions, I was made to feel that that Opus Hotels would also make an effort to connect with me in a personalized manner.

Opus is a pretty cool boutique brand in Canada—one of the few in my mind who offer a chic, “happening” vibe. This is a rare experience indeed for a Canadian hotel (c’mon fellow Canadians, you know it’s true). I’ve been a fan of the Opus in Vancouver for years.

Next time I am in Montreal I will be first in line to check out the Opus Montreal—and you can be sure that I’ll try Koko Restaurant + Bar. Thinking about it right now is making me dread hitting the streets of Cairo in my never-ending search for decent cuisine (c’mon fellow Caireans—you know it’s true).

Linkage
Opus Montreal [Vacant Ready]
Recent Feature [Montreal Real Estate Blog] - thx 4 the link!

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Montreal • Celebration

Quebec’s Germain family are innovators of the boutique hotel concept in Canada. Germain Group properties in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Old Quebec pushed the boundaries of design and style in Canada before virtually all other boutique operators.

In 2009, the Germain Group will open its first hotel and residences in Western Canada with a Calgary location.

This leading edge hotel company recently announced the launching of their new ALT Hotels brand, which opened in September 2007. Check out some truly wacky (bordering on strange) pictures from their October 25th launch party.

Germain’s inaugural ALT Hotel is located in Montreal’s Quartier DIX30, which is a planned Commercial Lifestyle Center. Considered Canada’s first lifestyle center (occupying an area of 1.5 million square feet), Quartier DIX30 was designed to emulate an urban or downtown shopping experience with boutiques and restaurants catering to the suburban dwellers living on the South Shore. 

Later this fall, Quebec City’s Hôtel Germain des Prés will be re-branded to become the next property in the ALT Hotels’ brand story.

“The new ALT concept of no frills-chic offers an alternative to the typical mid-range hotel experience, and is self-styled as a lifestyle hotel. ALT aims to marry the stylish features and services of a more upscale hotel without charging top-tier rates.”

With a focus on design, the latest in green building technology and a cool lobby experience, ALT Hotels claims to redefine luxury: ‘trendy & glamorous, at a miniscule price.’

ALT Hotels is offering an interesting one-price rate strategy ($129 CAD) as well as a promotion where once a day a lucky guest who has reserved on AltHotels.ca will be billed just $1 for a room.

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Montreal • Quebec City • Toronto • Development

The Trilogy Group’s Opus Montreal hotel has completed its branding transition from the Hotel Godin name, and is open again for business.

The Opus brand originated in Vancouver, and the Trilogy Group has plans to open future properties in Calgary and Toronto with the same cosmopolitan-sleek styling that has made the Opus Vancouver such a successful property.

No word yet on who will take the helm of the Montreal Opus as general manager. Vancouver G.M. Daniel Craig and key members of his team were dispatched to Montreal to manage the opening.

This last Wednesday evening I visited Vancouver’s Opus Hotel, curious to know whether a quick stop as a lounge patron would live up to the Opus hype. The lounge was busy at 10 o’clock, and there was an incredible DJ in the lobby setting the groove for the evening.

The service in the lounge was professional but infrequent, and I had to wander around the Elixir restaurant to find someone to settle my bill (loved the olive tempura appetizer).

Service aside, the lobby and lounge were buzzing with fashionable folks, and the music, spun by local DJ Chris Goodspin, was awesome.

What other hotel in Vancouver has a ‘scene’ happening on a Wednesday evening?

Linkage
Looking for a few extra shifts? Opus Open House [UrbanDiner]
Vancouver’s Opus Becomes a Brand [VacantReady]
Image thanks to flick [MarkJ]

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Montreal • Vancouver

Last week Vancouver’s popular Opus Hotel made the transition from a luxury independent boutique hotel to a bona fide hotel brand.

Trilogy Properties Corp., owner of the award winning Opus Vancouver, have leveraged their success in Vancouver to re-brand the flailing Hotel Godin in Montreal as the Opus Montreal.

Under the leadership and vision of G.M. Daniel Craig, the Opus in Vancouver has become a media darling and a perennial hit with guests from around the world. Daniel Craig is temporarily heading up operations at the new Montreal Opus until a G.M. is named. Katrina Carroll-Foster, director of sales and marketing, is also on loan to Montreal from Vancouver.

No strangers to the Canadian hotel scene, Trilogy Properties are also the owners of the funky Adara Hotel in Whistler and the Westin Grand in Vancouver.

Montreal’s Hotel Godin (named after the original architect and owner J.A. Godin) has fallen under hard times since opening to accolades in 1994. Strangely enough the hotel has been without either a bar or restaurant since opening due to the property’s original failure to obtain liquor licenses from the militant “Regie des alcools”. Liquor permits for the restaurant and lounge were subsequently issued by the provincial liquor board, but neither the restaurant nor the bar was ever actually opened. You can be sure that will change under new management!

The Godin cost approximately $30 million to develop and has been evaluated at nearly $23.5 million by the city. The hotel was put on the seller’s block in October by the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (who partnered recently to purchase all Fairmont Hotel assets) and Hotels Incognita Inc.

I’m thrilled that the Vancouver-born Opus banner is now flying in Montreal, and I can’t wait to hear how this will affect performance in the years ahead.

Check out some hotel images by MarkJ of HotelChatter.

Linkage
Opus Montreal [Hotel Website]
Hotel Godin becomes Trilogy’s Opus Montreal [The Gazette]

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Montreal • Development