Le Mount Stephen hotel - Montreal, Canada

The former home of Canada’s railway pioneer, George Stephen, and later a private members’ club, the neoclassical landmark on Montréal’s Drummond Road has had another reincarnation, this time is as Le Mount Stephen Hotel. Here, 90 contemporary guest rooms, a sizeable ballroom, a spa and a series of meeting spaces are discreetly tucked away in a new-build behind the original mansion.

Prerequisite bells and whistles include Japanese toilets, showers with Chroma lighting therapy and multiple USB ports in all the right places. But for a touch of heritage, head to the restaurant and bar, where British fare, such as Welsh rarebit, is served among the original wood panelling and stained glass windows of the 19th-century pile.