Planning a trip to Montreal in Summer 2008. Never been to the city before, and just starting my research. We will be 2 couples, 30ish, hoping for a nice neighborhood, a hotel less and $200 US a night (maybe something boutique and smaller would be fun). As far as neighborhood, we would wanting something close to transportation, nice restaurants, near the waterfront (as long as it's a nice and scenic waterfront).

If you could share ideas for good hotels, neighborhoods, restaurants, and summer activites to try in Montreal, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

You could spend time researching previous threads on Montreal; what would be important for now would be the dates you are aiming for.
The Jazzfest , F1 race weekend, and a few other events will book up the hotels real fast; so if you can firm up your dates, that would help you get a better rate in hotels.
Mid august is usually the less busy time in Montreal.

I'll try to look and see if the dates are out for the festivals.
Near the waterfront would be the Old Port area.
Montreal is small and easy to get around.

Hi Lesm,

Ok...as mentioned our summers are full of festivals which will make hotels harder to book and more expensive so it's important to keep that in mind when planning.

Hotels I like: The Omni, god location, nice & clean but not "trendy" really. For good location and value the Best Western Europa is also decent, nothing fancy. But at 200$/nt in summer you might have to comprimise on certain things.

Take a look on Expedia they have good rates and give you pics and virtual tours of some of the hotels so you can see what you like most.

Restaurants:
L'Express
Casa Napoli (Little Italy)
L'Academie
Guido & Angelina's
Amir (fast food lebanese)
Baton Rouge (great ribs)
La Banquise (poutine)

I'm not sure what you guys like but you're guaranteed to find it in Montreal, there's everything here!

Hope that helps a bit...get back to us with more specifics and we'll be able to help you out a bit more!

Layla

Here are some links to help you along in your planning:

http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp

http://www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/accueil0.html

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/gui.../overview.html

http://www.vehiculepress.com/montreal/downtown.html

http://www.cityguide.travel-guides.c.../Montreal.html

http://www.montrealkiosk.com/montreal-tour/

Have fun!

Some Montreal basics:
The three primary areas that are best to stay in.

- The downtown. Lots of big hotels, big department stores, restaurants, underground city. Somewhat Manhattan like, but with French overtones.

- Old Montreal. Small, very charming, somewhat touristy, near the waterfront. Lots of small cafes, galleries. A bit removed from the Metro.

- The Plateau. Strong French influence. Lots of b&b's and small hotels. Lots of nightlife, byob restaurants, small shops.

All of these areas are great, but it depends on what you want. Realize that the city is easy to get around in, so it's just a short hop from one area to another. I prefer the Plateau, just because it's the most European feeling.

Go to the bonjourquebec website and request one of their very helpful, free Montreal guidebooks.

As others have mentioned, there's always some type of festival in the summer.

One of the first things to do is take the city bus tour. It gives you an excellent overview of all of the major sites. You can always go back and spend more time in any of the areas you enjoyed but it is a very comprehensive tour. We really enjoyed it (and my husband is from Montreal - but has been away 35 years)

hello , check the website http://www.travelguidemelbourne.com
, i allready used with it , amazing web !

lesm,
How was your kauai trip??? You were planning on renting Keoniana Kai. We have stayed there before and loved it. Did you??