Canada Montreal InterContinental

[giadav]

Just back from Montreal for New Years Eve. We got the Hotel on Hotwire for $97 dollars per night. It was a spur of the moment decision, so after I made the purchase I read some not so flattering reviews on tripadvisor. Well, we had a great stay!! The hotel was very nice, CLEAN and the conceirge was fantastic! I liked the location because it was about a 10 min walk to St. Catherine's. The drinking age is 18 so St. Catherines Street was crazy!

New Year's Eve we didn't really have any plans, it was fun to just walk around and check things out. People watching was quite comical, to see these young kids dressed in club clothes standing in line that had about 800 people waiting to get into the club without jackets on (and it was FREEZING OUT). We went back to the hotel it was about 11:30, we wanted to have a drink at the bar to ring in the New Year, but it was closed. There was a private New Years Eve party in one of the other Restaurant's in the hotel, when we asked the front desk if there was a place to go just for a drink, they said they could ask the manager in the private party if we could have one there......no problem!! They were fantastic! They set up a table for us by the band with party hats and horns and we ordered a drink!! How nice was that!

Canada is very different than the US. A holiday means everything is CLOSED!! :)

I was disappointed that I couldn't do shopping because OMG!!! The stores were unbelievable.....and shoes!!!!!! It was difficult finding a restaurant open on New Years Day. We really wanted to go to Milo's but they were closed, so we found Gibby's, very nice, steak, lamb and several kinds of fish. We got the fish and it was delicious.

Montreal is a beautiful city, I think we will go back in the summer. I will do more research and make sure the stores will be open :)

[WillTravel]

The summer in Montreal can be rather hot and sticky. I'm not sure what the best month is - maybe May or September? But you can't go too wrong with any time of year. I'm glad you had a good stay.

[Ippo456]

Great location: Metro accessible from hotel (Victoria Square Metro stop) & Old Montreal is right behind the hotel. Even if you don't want to take the Metro or walk, any downtown location doesn't cost more than CAN$10 of a cab ride from the hotel. Connected to the hotel is a small mall, where it has a money changer (the best rates I came across so far) & a good food court to have affordable breakfast if you don't want hotel breakfast. Old Montreal has great eating places & when the weather is warm enough, you can take a horse-drawn carriage ride by the pier. Don't miss out Cirque du Soleil, which is now playing in a tent, set up by the pier. St. Catherine, the shopping area, is also within walking distance. W hotel, which is across Intercontinental, has a good club/lounge area. Garde Manger, a premiere Montreal restaurant owned by a chef who is a regular on the Canadian Food Network, is within walking distance in Old Montreal.

Decor: given that the hotel was undergoing renovation, the lobby looks like a furniture store. Renovation should be complete before summer of 2009. But other than that, the hotel room is very spacious, comfortable beds, at least a 40" flat-screen TV, and nice bathroom. One little thing though, the housekeeper didn't clean the bathtub properly, but I didn't mind as I used the separate shower instead. 24-hour gym. Because of the renovation, the business centre was not done yet, so I had to opt for in-room internet access, which was CAN$15/24 hours.

Travel tip: do NOT go to Chabanel (some guides will suggest that you visit Chabanel for discounted shopping), but just go to Winners (Canada's equivalent of TJMaxx) which can be found on St. Catherine. Chabanel is like Manhattan's Canal Street. You can use the same CAN$2.75 ticket for any Metro/bus trip, any destination, as long as you use them within the same hour. Remember that shops close at 5 pm and grocery stores close anytime from 9 pm to midnight. Clubs close at 3 am and Sunday crowds are the hardcore clubbers (so you will find some clubs on Sundays packed with party-goers). Don't just opt for the usual Western foods; because Montreal is a melting pot, try other types of food as well, such as Lebanese (very big Lebanese community here) and Chinese (go to Chinatown where some restaurants handmake their noodles). Be adventurous and you will find some of the best foods around.