Montreal’s historic Mount Stephen Club building is set to open its doors as a new boutique hotel after years of construction and controversy,
The design aims to preserve the Drummond Street building’s heritage while creating a modern retreat for tourists.
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Arriving at this point was not easy, however.
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Many groups tried to step in during construction after cracks started appearing on the old building’s façade.
READ MORE: A family’s heartache over the crumbling Mount Stephen Club
They demanded the project be overseen by government officials to help preserve the heritage site.
Yuval said the project has been a huge success, despite the setbacks.
“Whatever happened, it’s fixed, it’s better, and it’s stronger and much better than in the past,” he said.
The luxurious boutique hotel was built to combine the old with the new.
The Mount Stephen Club originally opened in the 1880s as a private home for Scottish native Lord George Stephen.
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It was later converted into a private club in the 1920s and every detail has been preserved in the construction of the new hotel.
“When you look at the hotel — at the façade from the outside — you see the cubes and the diamonds. That has been inspired by the tapestry from the Rogers Room and the office of George Stephen himself,” said general manager Antoine Naoum.
Even the hotel owner admits that he’s astonished by the grandeur of it all.
“With all honesty,” said Yuval, “I’m overwhelmed.”
He said their hard work has paid off and he is ready for the grand monument to be reopened in all its opulent splendour.
The hotel will be open for business later this week.