cly88

Hi, I need some advice...

My wife and I are taking a 7 day cruise from Quebec to NYC. So we are planning to arrive 4 days earlier to explore Montreal and Quebec City.

I have done some homework reading the posts on this board by searching for "Montreal Hotels" (thanks to Scarlett for the tip).

Since we live in CA, we do not foresee will return in the near future so would like to get the best experience out of this trip. It is to celebrate a special occasion, so we are willing to spend more.

1) How do you recommend us split our 4 days? Equally 2 days in each city?

2) Does anyone have recommendation on which upscale hotels have better specialty rooms? We have not decided whether to go with the large scale hotels (QE - Gold room, Omni - Jr suite, Sofitel, Sheraton, Le Germain, Vogue) or the botique hotels (AVP, Nelligan)

3) There are a lot of positive mention of Togue. I noticed in AAA book, there is a restaurant called Nuances with 5 diamonds. Any suggestion?

Thanks so much for your help!!!

Scarlett

Hi cl88!
Having just returned from Montreal, I am still floating along on a haze of good food and good spirits from our trip. My trip report is J'Aime Montreal~
We stayed at the Le Germain, it was as usual, perfect. I have never found fault with their service. There are less than one hundred rooms in the hotel.
The rooms are luxurious and silent, I always sleep like a baby in their beds. The breakfast that is included is all the coffee/tea/cappucino/espresso/juice you want to drink along with many breads, cheese, fresh fruits and cereals and crepes with maple syrup. The breakfast area is the hotels restaurant, with a great view of the street. We have celebrated a couple anniversaries in Montreal.
We saw the Sofitel from the street, remembering what the building had been before a hotel. It looks like a lovely hotel, the rooms could be smaller than the Le Germain, they have huge windows, but they do look across at another big office building, so I am not sure of the view. There are about 200+ rooms in the hotel. But it is brand new and must be quite nice. I really don't like the location of the Vogue being on a side street right off of St Catherine St.
The Omni is a very nice, huge hotel, if you get a room on a high floor overlooking Mont Royal you will be happier, we used to get a Jr Suite, they are on the corner and are a little larger than a regular room. There are many many rooms in the hotel.
Toque, I believe, is considered to be one of, if not the Best, restaurant in Montreal. You have to make reservations way in advance, they will ask you to confirm them. I would recommend going there at least once .
Having been to Quebec City in the past, personally I would stay there one day and night and spend the rest of the time in MOntreal. There is so much more to do and see in Montreal.
I hope this helps some

djkbooks

Nuances is the fancy restaurant at the Casino (haven't tried it).

With only four days, I'd spend three days in Montreal and one in Quebec City (which is much smaller). Everyone has strong preferences on way or the other, so you may want to scroll down and read through other posts to see which you might find the most appealing.

Any of the hotels you mentioned are quite nice. We happen to prefer the location of Vogue (we usually stay across the street at Hotel de la Montagne - we love that place).

There are also lots and lots of dining reports and recommendations in this forum.

It's not too soon to make reservations for Toque, which are absolutely essential. I'd recommend reserving (you can always cancel if you change your mind).

SusanD

In Montreal - The Vogue is a really nice hotel and well located - I would also recommend the Ritz Carlton on Sherbrooke. If you like history - Quebec City for two days would be good - if not then 1 day there and the rest in Montreal. If you like upscale shopping - Ogilvies in Montreal is great - it right across the street from The Vogue. Also make sure you go up Crescent street and along Sherbrooke - for the small art galleries etc, a trip to the top of Mont Royal is a must - great view. If you are going in the fall - the changing of the colours would be breaktaking in the Laurentian mountains about a hour north of Montreal- Mt. Tremblant.

curjul

we spent 5 days in Montreal and 3 in Quebec City in June. L'hotel 19th Siecle in the old town is small 50 rm boutique hotel with a fantastic location and great staff. It offers a variety of rooms which will not disappoint at a very reasonable price. http://www.hotelxixsiecle.com/

tilburg

We just returned from Quebec last week. We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel, Le St. Sulpice in Old Montreal....small, quiet, great location and service with kitchnette. It's across from Hotel Nelligan.

In Quebec, stay at the Frontenac if you like history. If you want a small luxury hotel, stay at the Dominion. Have fun!