Montreal - Which neighborhood to stay in?
 

I have the guide book, I'm reviewing the forums, planning a long weekend in Montreal for early October. However, I thought I'd save time by seeking direction from fellow Fodorites. DH and I are early 40's and looking for relaxing 4 days in Montreal, seeing the sights, enjoying the atmosphere and eating well (and maybe some shopping for me). Not really interested in the late night scene.

We've always enjoyed Quebec City and this will be our first visit to Montreal. We would appreciate insight on whether there is a specific neighborhood that would be best to look to as a base for our explorations.

Your thoughts are appreciated!

We stayed in the Plateau area in July and really liked it. I enjoyed taking walks in all the directions from our B&B which was located a block from La Fontaine Park.

It depends on what you're looking for. Downtown has mostly large hotels. Lively and great for shopping (but almost only chain stores, nothing really original).

The Vieux-Montréal has great boutique-hotels and is really quaint, although tourist oriented. Many restaurants, and good ones if you avoid touristic ones.

As kkukura suggested, the Plateau Mont-Royal would be the best area if you want to get a real feel of the city. Best neighbourhood in town for restaurants and cafés. For shopping, Saint-Denis and Mont-Royal. In this sector, you'll almost only find B&B. Easy access by the métro (Sherbrooke, Mont-Royal and Laurier stations), buses or bicycle (15 minutes ride to downtown or the Vieux-Montréal). Great neighbourhood for a relaxing stroll after diner in the quiet but quaint residential street, especially during Fall when the leaves turn read and gold.

The Vieux-Montréal would be my second choice.

We like Old Montreal. Sure there are a lot of tourists there but we like the "atmosphere". We stay at the Hotel Nelligan. We agree, Saint-Denis and Mont-Royal are the places for shopping. Ogilvie's Dept store on Rue Ste-Catherine is worth visiting.

Montreal is such a great city, you really would be happy in any of the 3 primary areas - the old city, the downtown, and the plateau. Like the above posters, my first choice is usually the plateau - somewhere between Sherbrooke and Mt. Royal, close to St. Dennis. This to me is the true heart of the city with it's small shops, cafes, restaurants (many byob's), clubs, quiet tree lined streets and parks. There are not many large hotels in this area, but several small hotels and dozens of interesting b&b's. You will find Montreal to be much different than Quebec City.

Chiming in here on the question side- we are coming to montreal around the same time. i booked the Loews Vogue- through Amex. It's my understanding that this is downtown, correct? Id actually like to stay in the other places you mention. Can anyone give me some info on the nicest places to stay (budget not an issue) in old montreal of the plateau? I tried to get into Le st james, but it is booked one of the nights of our trip. (where is that located btw?)TIA

i meant "OR" the plateu. Thanks

The Loews Vogue is quite a nice hotel, in a nice area of the downtown. The plateau area is about a 20-30 minute walk, or very short metro ride from the Vogue. The old city is about the same distance, but in the opposite direction.
If you do want to consider being in the plateau, the Grand Plaza Centre Ville is a large 4* hotel kind of between the downtown and the plateau on Sherbrooke (very nice area). There are also many b&b's in the area, some are quite upscale. If you decide on the old city, there are several very good hotels, but I can't recommend any since I don't stay there.