The Montreal Casino is getting a 200-room hotel

The Montreal Casino is getting a hotel.

Loto-Quebec announced Monday that a 200-room hotel is set to be built on the grounds of the Casino de Montreal at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

"Right now, it’s the perfect storm. All players are on board and the timing is good for us. I think we’ve been waiting too long to be honest," said Loto-Quebec CEO Jean-François Bergeron.

The $150-million investment is expected to open "within two or three years," according to a news release issued Monday.

The hotel is expected to be a "low-height building" that will "blend in with its surroundings while preserving the natural beauty of the landscape," the news release states.

"With the traffic we have here at the Casino of Montreal, to fill 200 rooms is really not an issue, but to be safe and sure, we did a business plan with 75 per cent occupancy rate," said Bergeron.

It said it will soon launch calls for tenders to begin the hotel design process.

"The Casino de Montréal is a major tourist attract on that welcomes several million visitors annually. Adding a hotel on the casino grounds will enhance its attractiveness and further increase Montreal's visibility on the world stage," said Quebec Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx.

The hotel will be a new addition to its real estate portfolio, joining Hilton Lac-Leamy and Fairmount Le Manoir Richelieu.



Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander said Loto-Quebec should have doubled down.

"The casino should be going for even bigger," he said. "Two hundred rooms is not enough. If you want to make this a major tourist destination, if you really want to get the tourism dollars, then go big or go home."

MORE NOISE, CARS IN THE PARK?

There is some opposition, with city councillor Craig Sauvé denouncing the project. He said it will serve "affluent clientele beautiful views of the Formula 1 track from the balconies of its luxurious suites, but it’s Montrealers who will lose out as they lose access to an entire sector in the centre of Île Notre-Dame."

Sauvé said he believes the project will also increase the presence of cars and noise in the park.

"Parc Jean-Drapeau is a jewel that deserves to be developed further, but not by adding a luxury hotel. I cannot believe the city is going to let a hotel be built in the centre of a prestigious park. This is a completely unacceptable commodification of public space," he said in a news release.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said the hotel is not being built on the city's public land inside the park.

"The hotel is being built on the existing land of the [Quebec government]. It already belongs to Loto-Quebec. There is no way that a hotel would be built on public spaces that the City of Montreal owns. So for us, it's a way to create a different type of offering for housing, for tourists," she said.