Montreal..holiday inn express @ 155 blvd rene levesque location

[kruzin']

:) Staying in Montreal post cruise 3nites and know nothing about Montreal...Is this a good tourist location for us? We will not have a car and we will be arriving from Quebec City by train..The nightly rate is 151.05 CAD ...any thoughts and ideas will be appreciated.

[dan_and_joe]

Yes, this is a very good location. This Holiday Inn is located in Chinatown and has an asian feel to it (architecture and decor...) You definately won't need a car. You'll be within a walking distance of Old Montreal and the old Port as well as downtown Montreal's shopping district (Ste. Catherine St.).

The train station is also nearby, 10 min. walk or quick cab ride (less than 10$).

Enjoy your stay in Montreal!

[Ephraim]

Disclaimer: I'm not impartial, since I run a B&B....

 

I assume you mean 155 Boulevard Rene-Levesque Est (since the West address would be at Complexe Desjardins.

 

I don't know the hotel itself, but the location is acceptable, but not great. It's two blocks away from Chinatown, a walk over to Old Montreal.

 

I will make three small notes, so you should be aware.

 

1. On the corner of Saguinet and Ste-Catherine street is Cactus, a needle exchange. They therefore have clientèle walking back and forth. Just ignore them and they ignore you. (There is a police station on Ste-Elizabeth and René-Lévesque.)

 

2. St-Laurent between René-Lévesque and Ste-Cathrine draws some of the downtrodden, again, just ignore them and they ignore you. It's also the theatre district and there are clubs along there, probably not you kind of club.

 

3. Two closest metro stations are St-Laurent, Champs de Mars and Place d'Armes. Personally, I wouldn't walk on St-Dominic at night, it's dark and off the beaten path. Same with Champ de Mars. I would therefore suggest you use the Place d'Armes metro station at night since it's on main streets that are well lit. Right through Chinatown.

[dan_and_joe]

I think I got my Holiday Inns mixed up! The Holiday Inn I was thinking about is not on Rene Levesque... Ephraim is right about this location... I would also call it acceptable but not great, although you would still be within a walking distance from Old Montreal and the Latin Quarter.

By the way, Montreal is a very safe city. I personally wouldn't mind walking in this area at night.

[Ephraim]

Indeed Montreal is a safe city... and I have walked through the city at 3AM quite a few times. That being said, I would never consider walking on St-Dominique at night. The street is just not well lit enough.

 

The Holiday Inn you were thinking of is the Holiday Inn on the corner of St-Urbain and Viger, the Chinatown Holiday Inn. Which is a much better location and right in front of a metro station.

 

There are three hotels right next to each other on Rene-Levesque E, The Holiday Inn Express, the Candlewood Suites and the Days Inn.

[kruzin']

:)thanks again for your help..I checked out your suggestions frm your email and those hotels run from CAD 199 to CAD219..I made arrangmnts for Auberge du Vieuxport Cad 156..it looks nice and the location seems to be good too for the port..we plan on renting a car when we dock then going to chutes montemorency ,Ile orleans and st anne de beapre before we check in...

Indeed Montreal is a safe city... and I have walked through the city at 3AM quite a few times. That being said, I would never consider walking on St-Dominique at night. The street is just not well lit enough.

 

The Holiday Inn you were thinking of is the Holiday Inn on the corner of St-Urbain and Viger, the Chinatown Holiday Inn. Which is a much better location and right in front of a metro station.

 

There are three hotels right next to each other on Rene-Levesque E, The Holiday Inn Express, the Candlewood Suites and the Days Inn.

[Ephraim]

:)thanks again for your help..I checked out your suggestions frm your email and those hotels run from CAD 199 to CAD219..I made arrangements for Auberge du Vieuxport Cad 156..it looks nice and the location seems to be good too for the port..we plan on renting a car when we dock then going to chutes montemorency ' date='Ile orleans and st anne de beapre before we check in...[/quote']

 

You asked for brand name.... Auberge du Vieux Port isn't brand name :confused:

 

You do realize that les chutes Montmorency, Ile d'Orleans and St. Anne de Beaupre are a 3.5 hour drive from Montreal? (They are all around Quebec City.)

[kruzin']

You asked for brand name.... Auberge du Vieux Port isn't brand name :confused:

 

You do realize that les chutes Montmorency, Ile d'Orleans and St. Anne de Beaupre are a 3.5 hour drive from Montreal? (They are all around Quebec City.)

........Yes. I could not resist the location,price and photos.. I am renting the car in Quebec City not Montreal I guess I got carried away..

[arlee]

Just know that in Montreal all the signs are in French. Don't want to scare you! I live here and I'm used to it by now (I don't like it, but that's the way it is here). People speak English, so you won't have a problem. I like the Sofitel Hotel - I don't know the prices though. Ritz Carlton is nice, but expensive - good location on Sherbrooke Street. If you want good steaks - Moishe's on St. Lawrence (St. Laurent) is very good - pricey but excellent food - smoked meat (pastrami) - Schwartz's also on St. Lawrence.

[Ephraim]

I prefer Gibby's for steak and atmosphere. Pricey but a special treat and the Old Montreal location is beautiful. Schwartz's is not exactly pastrami, it's a smoked pickled brisket and a Montreal tradition. The street signs being in French, St. Lawrence Boulevard is Boul. St-Laurent in French.

 

Montrealer's who are native English speakers often use street names in English for some of the streets. Just in case you hear one, here are a few of the more famous ones and their French equivalent (Don't worry about the Street or Avenue parts of names, Montrealers often don't use them):

 

Mountain - de la Montagne

St. James - Rue St-Jacques

Pine - Pins

Dorchester - Réné-Levesques (I know.... it's still in our heads even after they changed the name).

Park Avenue - Ave du Parc

St. John's - St-Jean

[arlee]

Gibby's is a good restaurant also. We also have the best bagels ever! For smoked meat, the Main, which is across the street from Schwartz's is good too, and there aren't any long lines outside.

[The Nice Family]

I'm confused. Is the OP now staying in Quebec City instead of Montreal?

[arlee]

I'm fairly new to CC boards - what is OP? - original person?

[Twickenham]

OP = Original Poster

And I think they are staying in QC before heading for Mtl - as their cruise ends there anyways.

[arlee]

Thanks!

[The Nice Family]

Funny how these boards work. I had happily secured a reservation for a top-rated Trip Advisor hotel for our 2 night Montreal stay, pre-cruise in October. This thread got me thinking though, about our location, which was going to be on St. Denis. I checked out Auberge du Vieux Port on TA and it sounded great. Checked out their website and saw that a 1,000 square foot loft (albeit not in the main Auberge but just down the road) was only going to be $14/nt more ($164 vs $150) than our other place, so, I've now booked the Auberge instead. Who knew looking at a Cruise forum would result in a hotel booking? Gotta love these boards.....

 

I know that every area has its pros and cons but, we can always take the Metro to St-Denis and walk up to St. Catherine - it'll be nice to be surrounded by a bit of history for the couple of nights we're in town. After living in BC for 6 years, I'm craving a bit of history.

[arlee]

The CC boards helped me alot before we cruised in March - it was our first time and I was able to get alot of valuable info. St. Catherine Street is not that great around the St. Lawrence street area. You would need to walk up to the area around Place Montreal Trust etc. St. Lawrence, starting at Sherbrooke st, has alot of trendy restaurants etc. I live in the suburbs of Montreal and don't go downtown all that often. I prefer shopping in the U.S. anytime, even though our dollar is not good now.

[The Nice Family]

I live in the suburbs of Montreal and don't go downtown all that often. I prefer shopping in the U.S. anytime, even though our dollar is not good now.

 

I grew up in the suburbs of Montreal and I know what you mean about not going downtown that often. I haven't lived there for going on 20 years now and, even when I return to Montreal, it's just to visit my dad in Kirkland so, don't get downtown.

 

I did, however, have a truly fantastic few days there last October and stayed downtown the whole time. Trust me, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone....I wish I'd spent loads more time in the City when I had the chance. It's a great, exciting, friendly, walkable, historic, fun place and, as for shopping, well, I was with a well-travelled, well-off girlfriend and she and I agreed that it was the best shopping we'd ever experienced. Hands down. That includes Europe. Everything from big chain stores (Winners - the best one in Canada apparently) to small ethnic places. I've never seen so many "Made in Canada" labels, anywhere, which is something I really like - buying "local". Not to mention the beautiful imports from Italy (which were cheaper in Montreal than in Italy), DKNY.....ohhhhh, now you've got me started. Too bad I'm going with hubby in tow this time around, there's no WAY he's going to let me loose in Montreal with a credit card.:eek:

[arlee]

We have some very nice stores here - I just find the prices high compared to the U.S. Winners/Homesense is a good store in downtown Montreal. Which ship are you sailing on? We're already thinking of next winter - sooo far away!!

[The Nice Family]

We're sailing on the NCL Spirit out of Quebec City on the 16th October. Should be a nice time of year for foliage - although that's not why we're going....it's just WAY past our time for another cruise (last one was December 2007). Also love the ports of call - Sept-Iles, Charlottetown, Halifax and Portland ME, ending up in Boston. My daughter is in French Immersion here in BC (Grade 5) and hasn't really seen any of Canada other than her Aunt's neighbourhood in Toronto and her Granddad's house in Kirkland. She's used her french in Paris, but not Montreal. Time for a bit of home-country culture, I say. Oh, and just a teensy, eensy bit of shopping (shhhhhh, don't tell my husband);).

[Ephraim]

OP=Original poster (ie the person who started the thread).

 

I've been to the Main and I don't think it's a good replacement for Schwartz's. A few people swear by Smoked Meat Pete, but that's in the West Island (or as we Montrealer's call it, the Waste Island) and too far for most tourists. Of course I do love their ads... because nobody beats Pete's meat.

 

I live off of Square St-Louis (which used to be known as Carre St-Louis,) so I know about the trendiness of the area. I can walk through most of it. Which is why my B&B location is good.

 

There are a number of excellent hotels in Old Montreal, but generally the rates can be expensive because of the cost of land in that area of Montreal. Remember as well that we have three taxes on hotels, 5% GST (Federal), 7.5% QST (Provincial) and 3% Tourism (City). A total of 16.26125% you need to consider that in the prices as well.

[arlee]

I agree that The Main isn't as good as Schwartz's, but the line ups there are crazy!- just like our taxes - it's unbelievable. You have more of a feel for the town down area because you live there. There are some beautiful boutique hotels in Old Montreal, but I'm sure they're very expensive.

[arlee]

Nice Family - our first cruise this past March was with NCL - Dawn to the eastern caribbean - we loved it, except for the few rough sea days. I was wobbling! Looking forward to next winter probably with NCL again - their prices are good and it's very easy going on the ship. Both my daughters went through French Immersion - it's good to learn another language. (I won't tell your husband about the "S" word)!