Hotels in Canada

New to the Gold List

This "Old Montreal gem," in what was once a nineteenth-century leather factory "feels like a comfy country home." "Rustic but luxurious rooms," with beam ceilings, exposed-brick walls, and whirlpool tubs, draw a perfect score. Les Remparts serves French cuisine inspired by the terroir of Quebec, and the rooftop terrace offers "sublime views" of the St. Lawrence River.

27 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005

Overlooking the St. Lawrence River, this "quiet refuge" in Old Port displays artifacts from the 1600s that were found during construction. "No detail is overlooked" in rooms, which have goose-down duvets and large bathrooms with heated floors. Panache, with a beamed ceiling and knotty-pine posts, serves "innovative French Canadian cuisine",try the emu tartare.

94 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005

Created from a clutch of nineteenth-century Beaux Arts town houses, it has individually decorated rooms in bold hues, with vintage touches such as carved crown moldings. "On a quiet, tree-lined street" in the Golden Square Mile, it's a short walk from shops, museums, and restaurants. Bront

65 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

A re-creation of a sixteenth-century French castle, complete with limestone turrets, the hotel has "an exterior that's extraordinary,but inside it needs a face-lift." Located next to the Parliament Building, "it's close to all the good shops and restaurants." The menu at Wilfrid's is regional Canadian; La Terrasse's milk shakes are spiked with vodka.

429 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Skiing

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

Crowning Cap Diamant, the city's highest promontory, this 1893 landmark has hosted Chiang Kai-shek and James Cagney. The "floral, old-world rooms show a little age," but some have just been renovated. Take a guided period tour of the hotel to learn about the royalty who have stayed here. Le Champlain serves a five-course French tasting menu.

618 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2006

Ninety minutes northeast of Quebec City, this resort with commanding views of the St. Lawrence River "looks like a royal castle, but the ambience is ruined by the hordes from the casino next door." The golf course was inaugurated in 1925 by William Howard Taft.

405 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Spa, Tennis

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

This high-rise atop the downtown Pacific Centre Mall is "ten minutes from everywhere that's somewhere." Asian art enriches the public areas, while "soothing and peaceful corner rooms" have wraparound windows with views of Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains. Meals at Chartwell are "okay but overpriced."

376 rooms

Amenities: Pool

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2006

Its "mountain chic design" that melds "sleek and elegant interiors" with the rugged surroundings, earning this two-year-old Arts and Crafts retreat a perfect Design score. Rooms in earthy ochers, reds, and greens have cherry-stained woodwork. The new Ski Elite first-tracks programgives guests early mountain access. Fifty Two 80 Bistro and Bar, with nickel trim and onyx paneling, serves regional cuisine and has an extensive raw bar.

273 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2006

The city's first skyscraper, built in 1912 for the Dominion Fish and Fruit Company, this Old Port hotel uses iron, glass, wood, and stone in its decor. The location puts guests close to art galleries as well as restaurants (which is necessary since only breakfast is served here). Aveda products are in the "comfortable and sleek rooms." A fitness room was added in June 2006.

60 rooms

New to the Gold List

Once the Merchant Bank of Canada, the nineteenth-century Second Empire building near the Notre-Dame Basilica opened as a hotel five years ago. The bank vault is a candlelit spa, while the bank hall, with crystal chandeliers and ornate woodwork, houses XO, a contemporary French restaurant that "cooks great local farm produce."

60 rooms

Amenities: Spa

New to the Gold List

This downtown hotel with "a breathtaking Japanese garden" overlooks the Inner harbour. Each of the "fresh, contemporary West Coast-style rooms" has silk wallpaper, maple furnishings, and a wall of windows. Cafe Laurel's specialty is the Moroccan salmon, glazed in honey, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander; Cook's Landing Lounge delivers French onion soup and live piano music.

200 rooms

Amenities: Pool

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2006

A "hip urban jewel" in the Yaletown district, this exposed-brick-and-glass hotel embodies "clean and simple design." Rooms are "on the small side," and decor is themed to different personalities, from minimalist to daring. Bathrooms have heated floors and L'Occitane products. The cocktails and tapas in the Louis XIV meets Philippe Starck Opus Bar are "worth a repeat visit." Check out the general manager's irreverent blog on the hotel's Web site.

96 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005

The top-ranked Americas property is "a stunning classic mountain lodge" that wows guests with its location at the bases of Whistler and Blackcomb,"you really can ski on two mountains right out the door." All accommodations are suites with full kitchens, fireplaces, balconies, and floor-to-ceiling windows that "bring the mountains inside." The apr

121 suites

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

This 23-story waterfront tower atop the Canada Place complex has "quite a location." Rooms have maple finishes and windows from which to spy floatplanes with such clarity that "they look like they're just feet from the room." Cafe Pacifica serves an Italian buffet accompanied by the singing of tenors and sopranos.

504 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

A Victorian hotel in the center of town, it's close to antiques shops and to theaters that participate in the annual Shaw Festival. Rooms with period furnishings and Tiffany lamps are "nowhere near luxury," but "first-rate staff" compensate. Take a carriage ride through the village after enjoying the Asian-inflected dishes at Escabeche.

110 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Spa

New to the Gold List

Floor-to-ceiling windows, anigre wood, and stainless-steel furnishings fill the rooms of this four-year-old glass-and-steel high-rise near McGill University and art galleries. In the stone-and-onyx Renoir restaurant, where chairs are covered in ocher fabric, "slightly pricey but innovative French dishes" are made with regional ingredients.

258 rooms

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

The castles of Renaissance Scotland inspired this 1888 railway hotel,the signature rooms, which have Scottish Highlands decor, are a case in point. Of the 11 dining options, the Waldhaus is reminiscent of a Bavarian hunting cottage and has German and Swiss dishes as well as "a great single-malt Scotch list." Cross-country skiing and spa treatments are two of the diversions.

770 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa, Tennis

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

Set at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, this green-roofed property is "a skier's paradise." Rustic Canadian antiques "infuse old-fashioned charm into a modern place." Rooms have mountain or village views and wood-burning fireplaces; suites include two full bathrooms. Grab a panini at Portobello en route to the slopes; the Mallard Lounge serves oysters. "The golf here is fabulous."

550 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa, Tennis

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

Opened in 1908, this ivy-cloaked Edwardian landmark on the Inner Harbour "looks like a historic castle," and its original wing has "large regal rooms" that contrast with the "chain-airport-hotel accommodations" in the newer section. Leather sofas and tiger skins bedeck the Bengal Lounge, where the colonial menu includes tandoori chicken and fish-and-chips.

477 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

Guests celebrate the "small village feel" of this property, which started life in 1918 as a series of tents but "looks like a luxury summer camp" today. Digs in either cedar chalets or log cabins are in sage greens, russet reds, and golds and have wood-burning fireplaces. The Moose's Nook Northern Grill spotlights wild game.

446 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

"Most hotels are near the airport, but this one is in it [in the U.S. departures terminal],it's quite something." The "futuristic glass tower" has rooms with soundproof floor-to-ceiling windows, and everything from the lighting and curtains to the thermostat is remote-controlled. Jet-lagged travelers can check into the Quiet Zone floor, which observes total silence from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. "The food in the Jetside Lounge is not spectacular."

392 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

"Staff take care of everything" at this glass-walled hotel in "a convenient location" near the cruise ship terminal. Delight in the "extraordinarily soft beds" and expansive windows with their views of Coal Harbour. Alas, "Herons Restaurant can't compete with the amazing restaurants in the area."

489 rooms

Amenities: Pool

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2006

Many stay at this green-roofed resort for its proximity to Upper Hot Springs or for the "terrific hiking and spectacular scenery." Rooms in dark woods and earth tones blend with the natural setting; some also have Art Deco influences and views of Bow or Spray valley. Primrose serves regional cuisine.

346 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Skiing, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

This concrete tower near the Vancouver Lookout has interiors in a rich color palette. European-style rooms feature "Mario Buatta-esque chintz decor," crushed-satin duvet covers, and flat-screen TVs. Celebrity watching and martinis around "a comforting fireplace" are the lures of the Gerard Lounge.

397 rooms

Amenities: Pool, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

Nestled slopeside on Whistler Mountain, this "country resort" lands a perfect Location score. Rooms and interiors incorporate local slate, cedar, and hickory, which gives them a sense of place. Views of Rainbow and Sproat mountains are the dramatic backdrop for the Pacific Northwest cuisine at Aubergine Grill. Two therapists work on you during the signature satago massage.

419 rooms

Amenities: Golf, Pool, Skiing, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

"Nature is at your fingertips" at this rustic lodge, where every room has a fireplace and "staggering views of the ocean." "Professional staff" arrange whale-watching excursions, special menu requests, and more. Sample single-malt whiskeys at On the Rocks bar. At the spa, treatment rooms are on a promontory: "You breathe in the ocean air as the tension melts away."

75 rooms

Amenities: Beach, Spa

Also featured on the Gold List in: 2005, 2006

The European-influenced boutique retreat near Gastown has lodgings with antiques and Roman marble bathrooms with soaker tubs. Decorated in dark cherry with Murano-crystal fixtures, Bacchus has "a charming bar" that attracts locals and a menu that weaves West Coast ingredients into French cuisine; dine beneath a large canvas depicting the Greek god of wine.

83 rooms

Amenities: Spa