Hotel rec for Montreal or vicinity?

[kristenk]

I posted this in the correct travel forum and didn't receive any responses. I thought I'd bring it to the Canada forum to see if anyone here has any suggestions.

DH, DD and I will be flying into Montreal and traveling to Burlington, VT. We are currently hotel-less for 2 nights. Does anyone have any hotel recommendations for Montreal or outside of Montreal heading toward VT?

Also, any must-sees in that general area would be much appreciated! We don't have anything on the schedule for those 2 days. Thanks! (crossing fingers that someone replies!)

[psophia17]

The Delta we stayed at was near St. Catharine's, the party district, so unless you're into strippers I can't really recommend it. I'd want to stay closer to the water, near the public market.

We also stayed one night at the airport Hilton. I wouldn't say that was near any sights.

Getting from Montreal to VT is easy as pie once you're on the right road headed south. I don't remember there being anything interesting on the way, just flat farmland and straight roads. Mapquest should be the best way to get directions.

Must-sees, there's the Basilica that I thought was amazing at Mont Royal, which has a fantastic view. It's a 5-minute walk in, but worth it unless there's a blizzard. The other sites that impressed me were mostly in Old Montreal, Notre Dame is there, there's a public market (not sure if it's open in winter, though), and lots of old, old architecture and buildings.

DH says to see the underground mall, but he forgets what it's called. Your hotel should be able to tell you.

DH also said it takes less than 2 hours to drive from Montreal to Burlington, so it doesn't really matter where you stay.

HTH!

[mom2binsd]

I'd try to stay at a hotel that is connected to the underground mall system if you're going in the winter. The Basilica is beautiful as is Old Montreal with it's cobblestone streets and old architecture and little cafe's and restaurants. I'm not sure if the Biodome is still open I'd heard that was pretty cool. It's been such a long time since I've been to Montreal as a tourist, usually just went for hockey games.

Nope, no place between Montreal and Burlington worth stopping or staying, I drove back and forth for two years to grad school that way, lots of farmhouses and open fields, if there's snow the roads are usually pretty well cleared though.

While in Montreal try the Poutine from a street vendor, it's thick fries, cheese curds smoothered in gravy-soooo good, another Montreal speciality is Smoked Meat sandwiches (much like corned beef but different). For hotels I'd try one of the bigger ones, maybe if they have a pool it would be fun for your DC too.

HTH, have fun, it's a great city- but Burlington is awesome, such a great little town!

[kristenk]

We'll actually be there in late May. Right now, I have us set up with hotel reservations for Burlington, but I am thinking about switching them to Montreal.

I keep looking on tripadvisor and just getting lost with the hotel recommendations. Plus, I don't really know ANYTHING about Montreal, so I don't know which areas are good, which aren't, etc. Le Square Phillips Hotel & Suites seems like a decent price and it gets good reviews, but I don't know anything about it.

It just seems like if we spend one night in Montreal and then the next in Burlington, we'll be doing a lot of traveling but won't get to experience much in either place.

[mom2binsd]

Late May, great time to visit both places....could be warm, could be cold, probably just right and almost no chance of snow! (but I do remember a Mother's day with snow many years ago!)

LE Square Phillips looks fine the room size would appeal to me and the fridge etc, are always nice with a child, also any of the others right downtown, the Delta, the Queen Elizabeth etc., all in downtown core close to lots. Montreal is pretty safe, yes there are sex/strip clubs on Ste. Catherine and other streets but that's part of the downtown culture, no worse really than walking the strip in Vegas and all those nasty brochures and fliers all over.

I'm thinking if you split your two nights you won't get to enjoy both cities, can you extend your stay and spend more time in each city?

[kristenk]

I'm thinking if you split your two nights you won't get to enjoy both cities, can you extend your stay and spend more time in each city?

No, we only have those 2 nights to work with. On the bright side, we'll be in the general area for 5 additional nights, but we already have reservations and we'll be right in between Montreal and Burlington.

I don't know why this is so hard to figure out! Our flight is *supposed* to get into Montreal at 5:20pm. We'll have to get a rental car from the airport. I was really tempted to just turn the whole thing into a travel day and rent the car at the airport, eat dinner and then drive all the way into Burlington. We'd have all of the next day and then stay in Burlington through lunch on the following day.

I guess we could do the same thing, but stay in Montreal and we wouldn't have to deal with a 2 hour car trip the first night. If we did that, we'd have a full day in Montreal and then we'd probably leave after breakfast the following morning. If we stayed in Montreal, we probably wouldn't visit Burlington at all on our trip. If we stayed in Burlington, we'd miss Montreal, but we'd be able to make a few side trips to towns/places closer to the border.

Aaarrrgghhhh!!! Why is there only ONE flight between Dallas and Montreal?!?!

[bubbaray]

The underground mall used to be called Place Ville Marie. Its much bigger now and called Reso....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_city,_Montreal

The weather should be fine in May. I always liked the Ritz in Montreal, but apparently it is being renoed -- you might want to call and see how that might affect the guest rooms....

[MontrealMum]

Hi -

I live in Montreal and my friends/family have had good experiences with the following hotels: L'Appartement Hotel Suites (on Sherbrooke downtown), Mariott Springhill Suites (Old Montreal), Mariott (on Sherbrooke O., can't remember the exact designation), the Best Western on the corner of Peel and Sherbrooke, and the Mariott (on Tupper?) which is billed as being in Westmount near the Forum. Most of these are suites because my parents come and stay for a week at a time, or friends often travel with children. Unfortunately, we do not have a guest room since the birth of DS.

There are two issues to consider with your trip: parking, and traffic.

Not all hotels have safe underground parking (Montreal is Canada's capitol for stolen cars, esp. for out-of-province ones), and you will always have to pay extra for it whether in the hotel or on the street. L'Appartement, which is right downtown (this may be designated as "centre-ville" on signs) has underground parking, is a reasonable rate, and close walking distance to the Metro (McGill), and lots of good shopping and museums. It's also on some main bus routes.

You also have the traffic issue, however, since your flight arrives at 5:30 or something? This is the height of rush hour here, even with customs and getting your bags, and a trip to a downtown hotel at this time will be hellish (unless you're arriving on a weekend). You might want to consider staying at an airport area hotel due to this, although sightseeing isn't going to be too easy from the airport. You'd have to drive everywhere, and parking and driving are no fun - even for those of us who live here. Montrealers have got to be the worst, and rudest drivers I've ever come across, and I've driven in lots of big cities. So, watch out

Whichever hotels you are considering you want them to be in the western end of downtown, which would be designated by "west" or "ouest" tagged onto the street name. The eastern edge of downtown is a little dodgey, especially down by the bus station (Berri Metro). Anything around Ste.-Catherine or below (south of it) is getting a little iffy too, in terms of partying and noise. Not unsafe, just unpleasant.

As for what to do? I could go on and on, but here are some faves:

the Biodome (take the Metro, tho they do have paid parking) and the Botanical Gardens;

Ile-Ste-Helene/Ile-Notre-Dame for walking, rollerblading, you can rent bikes and see where the Grand Prix takes place. Very beautiful in spring/summer. Also has La Ronde (never been myself) which is an amusement park. Accessible by bus/metro/and car (but you have to pay);

Along those same lines: The Gilles Villeneuve museum is just southwest of here for racing fans.

Montreal has many, many museums, I don't know what's scheduled to be on, but you can check out the Musee-des-Beaux-Arts, Musee-d'art-Contemporain, and the McCord. Also the Stewart museum which is a fort over on the aforementioned island. They have programming for children like shooting muskets and the like, and curling exhibitions in the winter; Pointe-a-Callieres - which is a historical/archaeological museum in Old Montreal - good for kids and has a bilingual tour.

There are tons of smaller places and great churches too, maybe get yourself a guide book? I saw that the Oratory was suggested, I find it a bit creepy myself with all its crutches on the well, and it is very modern, built in the 20s and 30s. I prefer the Notre-Dame Basillica in Old Montreal (Vieux Montreal) since it's so much older, and right in a nice part of the city for walking. Christchurch Cathedral and The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul both have summer organ concerts and other choral concerts; both are anglophone.

It's nice to wander through Old Montreal to get a real idea of the history of the place in the better weather or up on Mont-Royal but those are prime tourist areas and are packed. My poor DH works in Old Montreal but I avoid it like the plague in the summer.

You can take jet boat tours and things from both Old Montreal, and rafting from LaSalle, don't know how old your kids are.

It's been awhile since I've toured people around here, I myself am not originally from here so I probably seek things out here more than others, but I've been pretty busy with the pregnancy and DS lately.

Eating here is the thing to do - ask anyone. Not all places are kid-friendly, but Quebeckers are pretty big on family, so you can assume that many will be. A sure bet for something exotic would be St. Denis st. from Ste.-Catherine to about Laurier, or Old Montreal. There is the Bleu Nil (Ethiopian) and Bistro Cherrier (typical Parisian Bistro) Those places will cost a bit more, but there's not enough room too mention all the whole-in-the-wall places.

Montreal is famous for smoked meat (don't care for it myself) and the place to get it is Schwartz's on St. Laurent (also called the Main) be prepered to wait forever, outside, on the sidewalk. Poutine is a Quebec thing too but it's absolutely awful! You can get it at any burger/hot dog joint like La Belle Province or Nickels (co-owned by Celine Dion). I would not try any other place on St. Laurent though, it's gotten really snobby lately and not a place for kids. There is Gibby's for steak (very pricey) in Old Montreal, La Moulerie for seafood and mussels (up on Bernard), Frite Alors for the best french fry experience - much better than poutine, and we like Tatami and Tokyo both in Old Montreal for sushi. Try typing "Montreal restaurants" or similar terms into Google to find more.

One plus with kids: all Montreal restaurants and bars are now smoke-free!!!

There are also a number of festivals here, but I think you'll miss them as they are later on in the summer.

As for between here and Burlington? Depends on what you like doing. Not much on the direct route, but if you're willing to detour or go a bit further there's some great hiking in Upper NY and Vermont. Especially around Lake Placid and Stowe, and into NH. On the Quebec side we enjoy XC skiing at Orford in the winter but it's a nice hiking/mountain biking place in the summer. The Lac Brome area is a pretty drive, and Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog may have some activities, but I think you said spring, so it may be too icky and cold still. Can't remember when exactly you said you were coming, but we habitually ski thru April here, so hiking may not be an option. We have quite a nasty "mud" season here and in Northern New England.

Also between here and the border there is Fort Chambly which has re-enactment-type things in season.

I think that's long enough. Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions. Most people here are functionally bilingual, so you should be OK if you don't speak French. But be warned, all signage is French-only by law. Lots of people find this confusing, so sometimes a guidebook or some online research is helpful. People are generally friendly here, especially in tourist areas, but there are still some political tensions based on language, so don't be surprised if you encounter some black looks for speaking English. Just shrug it off, it doesn't have anything to do with you personally.

Hope that helps, and that you have a great trip!

[mom2binsd]

Wow Montreal Mum has some great ideas, I figured someone on the board had to be from Montreal (although I disagree, I love Poutine!) and I TOTALLY agree, drivers and driving in general in Montreal is crazy, although I'm sort of bilingual, many tourists get very frustrated with the signs as they are only in French (the rest of Canada has English/French signs),so if you are looking for the Champlain Bridge look for PONT Champlain, and Ouest is West, Est is East, Sud is South, Nord is North etc. and yes rush hour is nuts and will extend until around 7pm sometimes (I'd plan my drive from Ottawa to Burlington to avoid rush hour on my way to college!).

Enjoy la belle province!

[MamaBear]

I've just this afternoon signed up for these boards, and coincidentally my husband and I have been planning a trip to Montreal for next month. Although we've each been there a number of times, this will be our first trip 1) since becoming parents, and 2) with our own (and brand-new) car. Your tips about parking and car theft are really helpful! Thanks for all the details, I really appreciate them.