Montreal hotel ?
 

We will be in Montreal 6/19 for several days and I booked the Residence Inn on Lincoln. We use the RI here in the US frequently and like the convenience of breakfast .However never saw the RI mentioned in posts re hotels.They offer a great senior disc.
Also has anyone used the Entertainment book in Montreal. Have used it various trips and usually give to a worker at the hotel when we leave.
Since are from California, I was wondering if there are non smoking areas in restaurants? What is the dress code for eating out in the evening?
Thank you for your help.

Lincoln is at the far western end of downtown. It's a clean, safe area, but wouldn't be my fist choice. I believe there is another Residence Inn closer to the heart of downtown. If I were to choose a moderately priced hotel downtown, I might look at the Marriot Courtyard or Holiday Inn, both on Sherbrooke. I'm not familiar with the Entertainment book - however there are typically lots of free guidebooks available at the hotels and many have coupons for various attractions.
The last time I was in Montreal, there were non-smoking areas in restaurants. However, there are more smokers in Montreal than in most US cities, and it may be hard to totally avoid the smoke.
As for dress code, Montrealers tend to dress up a bit more than most Americans, but you will still see jeans and tee shirts in many restaurants.
Montreal is a great city, you'll have a ball!

Don't know about the hotel or the Entertainment book.

For tourist info, you may want to visit http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp

Regarding smoking, the provincial government passed a law forbiding smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars.

As for dress code, it depends where you intend to eat and how old you are!!!! I'm a man. If you go with kakis (think Levi's Dockers), a shirt and closed leather sandals, you'll fit perfectly at 80% of the places, including museums and bars. untucked short sleeve shirts are very fashionable. If you dress with California beach outwear, you will definitely not fit in, unless you're a teenager.

Keep in mind that Montreal is quite humid in summer.

Have fun!

Thank you Zootsi and Travelingmad for your input. I did change to the Peel St RI,we build Marriott rewards for free nights and get senior discount rate. Entertainment book is dining etc. discounts and allows one to try upscale restaurants with 2 for 1 or % off.plus usually some chain restaurants, movies museums etc.

We will have 6 full days would it be worth going to Niagara on an overnight using the train?

We like to explore, History ,museums,gardens and the walled city sounds interesting. I am very excited about this trip.
Any suggestions for best things to do and see will be appreciated.

I think you will love Montreal. You can learn a little more about this marvelous city and see 40+ photos here:

http://www.LoveLetterToMontreal.com

Niagara Falls is not a convenient overnight destination from Montreal. If you took the train, you could leave Montreal in the morning at 9:40, arrive in Toronto at 3:15 (that's 5 1/2 hours), then change trains (departing Toronto at 5:45 and arriving in Niagara Falls at 7:42) (wait 2 1/2 hours, train 2 hours). Your total travel time would be 11 hours one way.

From Montreal, you could look into going to Quebec City for a day or even overnight. The train takes you right into Quebec City and it's only a 2 1/2 hour trip.

With 6 nights, I would definitely recommend Quebec City, a beautiful, European looking walled city overlooking the St. Lawrence - there's no place else like it this side of the Atlantic!
Another option would be Ottawa, the capitol. Lots of museums, Parlament buildings. A somewhat lower key city than Montreal or Quebec City, but nice for a day or two.
PS: Montreal has an 'Old City' area, but it's not a walled city. Montreal does have one of the finest botanical gardens in the world.

Thank you Judy, payfec and Zootsi.
Will forgo Niagara.
Quebec city and Ottawa sound like the thing to do.
Judy the Loveletter to Montreal site is incredible,did you take the photos. If we did not have Granddaughters here might consider a second home in Montreal.
As always the help from Fodorites has been phenomenal and truly appreciated.

trubrit,
we were recently at RI Peel street. It's a nice downtown location, in the middle of the shopping district. The rooms were comfortable and having a fridge, electric stove and microwave was sure a big plus. The elevators were so tiny, though.

Patrons on most of the restaurants in the Mont-Royal area and Rue Ste. Catherine were casually dressed.

Montreal has it's share of historical buildings. A few blocks from RI Peel is the Sun Life building - humongous and very impressive. Across from it is the Basilique Marie Reine du Mond. And that's just for starter.

Have a fun trip.

Darcy thank you for your input . We are really looking forward to this trip and so much to see and do. I hope to see the fireworks 6/20/07.

Leave next week but I just booked. for Sat/Sunday, the Queen Elizabeth in a "Fairmont" room, for $119 a night (an upgrade from the expedia.com double at $150) by joining the Fairmont President's Club after calling Fairmont directly. Apparently rooms are hard to fill downtown at this time of year. Above the train station and we leave by train so that's convenient. Will update if it sucks (or Liz returns) but a Canadian Pacific hotel is usually a treat.

I almost always stay at the Queen Elizabeth when I'm in Montreal. I often work in Montreal, so have spent a lot of time there. I like that hotel a lot - much prefer it to the Hilton where some of my co-workers like to stay.

Actually my husband and I were supposed to be there last weekend to celebrate a milestone birthday (his). Unfortunately he had a family emergency and he's had to go out of the country for a couple of weeks. So I had to cancel the reservations (including the restaurants that I had booked) - I'm hoping we can celebrate later in October when he's back.

Look into picking up the Museum Pass for Montreal. it offers you free access to most of the museums over a 3-day period for $35. For an extra $10, you get a 3-day pass for the metro and public transportation.

Here's the website: http://tinyurl.com/yr3qw5

restaurants are all non-smoking now, by law.

I touted the Queen Elizabeth Fairmont last month at $119/night but must say that the street noise on the 11th floor was bad. And we had a connecting door (my fault for not moving immediately) and ended up with noisy neighbors at all odd hours. Other blue hairs found it quiet. VERY convenient above the train station but quite far from the metro although all underground access in bad weather.

The Auberge Le Jardin D'Antoine on St Denis turned out to be very quiet (except for trash morning on Wednesday for 15 minutes at 6AM) if you have a "garden" suite. They are on the inside, off the street but an innner courtyard shared with the entire block. Bfast is more European with breads, cereals, cheese, ham, juice, coffee, etc. and under a canopy just below street level. Great people watching, easy to see what to wear that day. Very convenient to Metro, St Denis and St Laurent.