Montreal hotels collection

Montreal put its staircases outside: when a by-law required façades to be set back from the street, builders, unwilling to lose floor space, moved the steps outdoors, in wrought iron. The Plateau-Mont-Royal has whole streets of them, on brick fronts where every storey has its own door. Old Montreal is built of greystone, a limestone quarried on the island. Above, Mount Royal keeps its maples and its cross, lit at night. On Canada Day, the day after the bulk of leases run out, a good part of the city moves house, and the wardrobes come down the staircases.