Hi,

Five friends and myself (all from New York City and about 24 years old) are visiting Montreal next week for a quick get-away. We're looking for a nice hotel in the "center" of the everything. We'll be there for 2 nights and 3 days and would like to stay under $100 a night (around $85/night would be ideal.) A place that's modern/well-kept, close the Montreal sites and near the shopping districts would is what we're looking for. (We'll be seeing the city's nightlife as well.) All advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

What kind of hotels would you get in NY for that amount of money? Are you willing to stay in hotels of that level?

You want to stay, for sure, downtown. don't think about commuting from the suburbs.

Downtown Montreal is fairly compact -- much smaller than Manhatten, and there are several areas of interest to you, so there's lots of choice. St. Denis area, and Crescent Street Area, are two parts of downtown to consider.

And you might try Priceline for good rates.

BAK

Go to the Choice Hotels web site, lookup Montreal, and consider

(CN329) Quality Hotel Downtown
3440 av du Parc
Montreal, QC, CA

This is just north of Sherbrooke, a short walk to lots of interesting places, has good restaurants nearby, and is, by Montreal standards, a low priced hotel. I have stayed there half a dozen times when I wanted clean and comfortable, but had no need for luxury.

BAK

Thanks for the advice. I should have clarified my prices. A little more than $100 a night is OK, I was thinking that after I use a travel web site I could get one for about $100 a night.

Try Anne Ma Souer Ma Souer located on St. Denis street in the heart of the action. We stayed there this summer it was great. $185 for a two room, two bath suite with our own balcony. Fresh croissants delivered to your room each morning. Parking was $5/day extra. Highly recommend it!

The Marriott Residence Inn Downtown has really nice, really big rooms in a great location, a quarter-block from the intersection of Peel and De Maissoneuve in the heart of downtown Montreal. The rates, once converted to U.S.$, are about $90 a night on Marriott.com. It's a fine hotel that charges less because it lacks extras such as a restaurant, even tho there's a breakfast room with free continental breakfast.
Again, the location is great. It's across the street from the Peel metro station and a block from the gaudy mass commercialism of St. Catherine's street and a block from the more elegant commercialism of Sherbrooke Street.

You might wish to consider the Chateau Royal on Cresent Street. It has 1 and 2-bedroom suites which could be handy for a large group such as yours. All six could use one 2-bedroom suite if that's what you had in mind. We paid $85 Cdn in November for a 1-bedroom. Fair warning it is certainly not the most elegant hotel in Montreal and it would fail some folk's definition of "well kept". We consider it good value for our money and will likely return.

If you are willing to stay at a b&b or small French style hotel, you should have absolutely no problem finding a well located, clean and comfortable place to stay for well under $100 a night. Try Manior Sherbrooke or Hotel Argoat on Sherbrooke St., the Hotel St. Antione on St. Dennis; or any of the countless b&b's in that area. If you want more of a big hotel, the Marriot Courtyard, Holiday Inn, Delta, or Sheraton usually run between $95-$150 a night in USD. They are all located downtown, on Sherbrooke.

Since there are no conventions at this time of year, you can probably get a great price at a really nice hotel which would be out of your price range at another time. Check out the tourisme montreal website for last-minute deals. The Omni and Vogue would be examples of luxury hotels in the heart-of-downtown area you want; at a lower price look for the Best Western Europa on Drummond St., the Novotel on de la Montagne, or the Phillips Square if you want more space. Avoid the lovely little places in Vieux Montreal--cold and too far from the action this time of year. If you can dig up the July issue of Lucky magazine, they did a great job covering shopping in Montreal.