Best Areas to Stay in Montreal
 

Going to Montreal in May. What areas of the city/region would be most efficient as a tourist? Looking to do tourist sites and foodie experiences. All suggestions greatly appreciated. Looking forward to my first time there!

Good question, and one that's been asked many times. My wife and I have been visiting Montreal for about 25 years and have stayed in several areas. There are 3 primary neighborhoods that are best for visitors - the downtown, Old Montreal, and the plateau. They are all great in thier own way, but we prefer the plateau. The downtown is all about skyscrapers, big department stores, underground malls, big chain hotels, lots of daytime activity. Old Montreal is about charm, cobblestoned streets, lots of tourists, some nice retaurants and botique hotels.
The plateau is brimming with small ethnic restaurants (many byob), funky shops, lots of nightlife, and quiet treelined residential streets. No big chain hotels, but several small European style hotels, and many b&b's.
Do a search back for lots of info.

Montreal has a very good public transit system so it is easy to get around no matter what area you choose. zootsi has done a good job of explaining the main options.

http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/
I also stay in the Plateau, for its multicultural-yet-separatiste vibe. Main thoroughfares: St-Denis north of Sherbrooke, St-Laurent ditto, and Ave. Mont-Royal running east-west to the foot of the "mountain". Two wonderful parks: the mountain itself (designed by the firm responsible for Central Park in NYC), and La Fontaine. Towards the hill is a newly chic industrial area Mile End.
As noted above, there are few chain hotels in the Plateau, except around the St-Denis/Sherbrooke intersection; the hospitality institute there runs its own hotel too. Being near that intersection or St-Denis/Mont-Royal is convenient because they have Metro stops. BnBs, or "gites" can be sorted on the tourism authority website given above.
PS: The bring-your-own-bottle bistros are marked AVV, for apportez votre vin. No corkage fee, usually. A website for foodies is www.restomontreal.ca

<<I also stay in the Plateau, for its multicultural-yet-separatiste vibe.>>

OK, multicultural vibe I get--brochetterie alley, Beauty's, Fairmount Bagel, Schwartz's etc. etc. But "separatiste vibe"?? Granted that even after tonight's election results much of the Plateau remains a QS stronghold, how will I recognize it? People leaping to their feet in choruses of "Gens du Pays" while waving fleur de lis flags? Péquistes exchanging PKP fist bumps? And can one distinguish a "separatiste vibe" from a "souverainiste" or "nationaliste" one?

Seriously,however, I think that the Plateau is a great place to stay and visit in Montréal.

I might add that after yesterday whatever the séparatiste vibe might be, it won't be particularly joyful for some time to come.