4 replies to this topic

[PlayerOneStewy]

The wife and I are considering heading up to Montreal this August for the races at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. I'm looking for any hotel recommendations (and eateries/places to visit, of course). I think it would be best for us to stay in the city near the river so that we can use public transportation to get to Ile Ste-Helene on the two days we will be going.

Anyone with any experience in this city that can help me find a decent place that won't cost an insane amount of money?

[SickBoy]

Check rates at Hotwire.com, and maybe try to bid on Priceline... especially if you're leaving the kids behind* The downside is you only get to select the general vicinity of your hotel, you're not what you'll get and they're both non-refundable. But you'll definitely save money.

Just took a quick visit to Hotwire, and a 3.5-star downtown Montreal hotel for Aug. 17-20 rings in at $86US/night (or $321 for the three nights, taxes included)... and accoring to Hotwire, it gets a 4/5 on Tripadvisor. You can spend less, but it's doubtful you'll get better value. On Expedia, the first downtown property that isn't a hostel/B&B comes in at $350 of our mighty Canadian dollars for the same dates.

*no guarantee of a room that sleeps more than 2 from Priceline... and if you use Hotwire, book as though you're booking for four adults -- we got booked into a series of king-size rooms for selecting 2 adults plus 2 kids for our vacation (fortunately the hotels we used were all willing to move us into larger rooms)

[levitynyc]

I always use Orbitz

[StinkingBishop]

Public Transportation is amazing in Montreal. My mom lived there when I was in Grade 12 and I fell in love with the trains and subway system. I only ever experienced the Washington DC subway system which is also amazing, but compared to the crap bus system in Halifax using a subway/commuter train is the way to travel around if you can.

Will you driving up? If so stay outside of the city in one of the suburbs close to the commuter rail. There is always free parking at all the stops, and the ride in will take you right down town. When I went up 3 years ago I stayed in Dorval area, would grab the commuter rail, then would be downtown Montreal in about 30 min or 40. Then using the same ticket you can grab the subway to the race track. Might take an hour total total, which is that bad.

http://www.stm.info/...info/trains.pdf
http://www.amt.qc.ca

Taking a quick look on Expedia, going from the 18-21 of August, the Best Western at Dorval Airport is 104 a night plus tax. And the Days Inn at Dorval Airport which I stayed at 5 years ago for work is 88 plus tax. You can pick any spot along the rail line, I just used Dorval since that is my old stomping grounds.

When I was 18 and spent the summer up there and some of the strip clubs served breakfast. You should take your wife. It is a weird experience. On one hand you get to see boobies at breakfast, but on the other hand you feel sorry for the stripper that has to get up to strip at 7am.

[PlayerOneStewy]

That is bizarre. My wife would totally be up for experiencing that

Thanks for the help, folks. Gonna try to book something today.