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| *Travel Tips>>>Montreal Travel Tips |
Anyone stayed in the Days Inn Downtown in Montreal, QC? |
Travel Info I am taking a road trip from Philly to Montreal in November with 3 friends and we are looking into getting a room in the Days Inn in downtown Montreal located on 215 Boulevard Ren茅-L茅vesque E. I was wondering if this was a good place鈥攃lose to plenty of bars, shops, restaurants, etc. We need an affordable place in an area where we can walk to the sights, and more importantly, the bars. Any help would be great. Thanks. Travel Tips Unfortunately "Councy" does not remember his (or her) period in Montreal very well. Your hotel is not actually in the French part of the city but rather approximately where the eastern extent of downtown office and financial towers, the edge of the (bi-lingual) "Old Montreal" touristy area, the small Chinatown and the comparatively raunchy (also bi-lingual) stretch of St-Catherine Street interconnect, all of these are within 10 min walking distance, as is the exhibition hall (Palais des Congres), the performing arts center (you can pick up a street hooker - male, female or mixed - a block away if you are going to the Montreal Symphony without a date) and the (bi-lingual) downtown underground shops complex. You will also be near the subway (Metro) to go elsewhere. For some reason the district containing the streets for bars, clubs and restaurants Councy recommends are all in the English part of the city, south of McGill University, about 1 - 2 km (3 to 5 metro stops) west of your hotel (by all means do not - DO NOT!!!!!!! - take his suggestion about the Bar B Barn, it is total crap as a barbeque compared to what is in the States. In fact, Montreal, otherwise one of the great eating cities in the world, has no decent BBQ and the entrepreneur who brings Memphis and Carolina and K.C. BBQ to Montreal is going to make a gazillion!). It's a nice district with good entertainment, but unfortunately attracts a lot of Americans, especially younger Americans looking to just get drunk and get laid (Montreal happens to be far more libertine, sex and swapping clubs among other things being open and legal but mostly subdued, and with a larger gay population, than is San Francisco, but the quiet and polite Quebecois and Canadian nature does not lend for touting the Amsterdam-like acceptance and tolerance). Better in my judgement are the truly French entertainment and restaurant districts, which begin about 3/4km to the north and northeast of your hotel, extending another 2km or so, including such areas called The Main (St-Laurent Blvd), The Plateau, Quartier Latin and St. Denis. Rue Duluth is just about in the center of it all, although live music and shows (les spectacles) are centered closer to rue Sherbrooke and St. Laurent. All of these areas, with exception of the Parc Avenue/Outremont part of The Plateau, are served by the metro. Montreal has a good bus system - much of which operates all night - to reach elsewhere (if you choose to drive be advised that parking enforcement is viscious and regulatory signs are only in French). Fortunately you are used to PA prices for alcohol (unless you go to NJ), so Quebec prices will not seem out of line (actually QC beer prices are the cheapest in Canada, and Montreal bars and clubs do not take the margins on drinks typical in the USA so the front-end prices here may even be less than you are used to. However here the tax is 14%). For myself, as I would in Philly I would usually rather seek good food and entertainment in one of Montreal's varied ethnic neighborhoods, which are more toward the north side (Blvd Jean Talon bisects many) and the west side (Cote de Liesse, Cote St-Luc). Canada has twice the percentage of immigrants as the USA (though your president and other politicians will never tell you!** - in fact Toronto is the most multi-cultural city in the world at present). What might most surprise you: there are no vacant lot littered slum areas in Montreal, even the poorest of districts are clean and safe usually with restaurants and music clubs and bars of their own. The museum as well as the music scenes in Montreal are far more extensive than those in Philly. Sports: just hockey, hockey and more hockey (soccer and Canadian rules football make a bit of a dent but their seasons are over in November). Be aware that even in November Montreal can have weather that Philly only experiences in an occasional depth of winter. Bring your warmest winter clothing and boots. Almost every "francophone" speaks English but like in France many will not admit it until you try to speak French first (if you are learned in French be aware that Quebec French differs from Parisian French about as much as Canadian English differs from American English, which is more than one expects). Have a pleasant trip. _____ **PS. The site of the Battle of the Chateauguay, the site where a small contingent of Canadians fought and vanquished a 10 times larger American army in 1814 thereby ending the American occupation - I'll bet you never knew of the Chateauguay battle and American defeat - the only American war loss until Vietnam - or even that the USA invaded and occupied Quebec in 1813-1814, did you?, is located about 30 miles - 50 km - to the southwest of Montreal. If you are a Bush-Cheney partisan, or even if you are not, it is a good place for Americans to go to contemplate things. Source(s): (me. Writing from Montreal but American citizen with residences in both Boston and Montreal; have been to Philly lots). Other Travel Tips Hi, I used to live in Montreal and moved to London, Ontario 10 yrs ago but still have friends and family there. All I can tell you is that by the address, you are going to be a couple of streets east of St-Lawrence Blvd (or St-Laurent). This is a very "french" part of town, including restaurants and bars are mainly frequented by french patrons. Yes there are many clubs & restaurants and you are need the Old Port of Montreal and several museums. However, if you could find a hotel west of St-Laurent it probably would be better, The better clubs are located on Mackay St, Crescent, Stanley, Bishop. between Rene Levesque and De Maisonneuve Street. Good Luck and enjoy the food!!! You have to try BarB Barn (on Guy Street) for superb chicken and ribs you are near lots of bars and clubs and shopping malls that are mostly located on Ste. Catherine St...Plenty of restaurants on de Maisonneuve st. http://english.montrealplus.ca/portal/ex... If you're looking for bars and clubs, Crescent Street is the place to be. Shopping is best on St. Catherine's Street, or in the underground mall via the Eatons Centre. Restaurants are pretty much everywhere. I stayed at the Days Inn once a year or so ago. It's only a couple metro stops from Crescent Street and it's pretty much right downtown, so you're good. It's pretty expensive though. If you're looking to save some money, my advice would be to stay at a motel that's out of the downtown core. Anything downtown is extremely pricey. There's a really cheap place on Decarie Autoroute called the Quality Inn. You can take the metro or a taxi from there and it would be sooo much cheaper, and it's in the St. Laurent area which is also nice for shopping. But if you really want to stay downtown, Days Inn is probably your best bet. It's a decent place and probably the most affordable of them all. Montreal is really fun, I'm sure you'll have a blast wherever you end up staying. Good luck! Student in Montreal I stayed there last February and it was AWFUL!!!!! I can not warn you enough! Aside from the good location (close to Chinatown and bars) there's not much else. 1. It smelled like sewage. There was a terrible smell as soon as you entered the building. 2. The staff was quite unfriendly. Terrible customer service. 3. The room wasn't clean. The toilet was dirty, carpets were stained, and the bedding had holes here and there. 4. They do offer the service of checking in your luggage for a few hours after you check out, in case you want to do some last sightseeing before you leave. We tried this service, and asked if they could store our 3 suitcases in their storage room. They said "Sure, just leave them over there, and we'll put them away for you", so we left them in the main lobby of the hotel- in front of the check-in desk. We got back several hours later to pick them up, and they were still there-- unchecked, unprotected, sitting in exactly the same spot! I was told they'd be put into a locked room. There are several other inexpensive hotels in Montreal. Stay away from this one! |
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