Hotel Question for hobbyists and companions

[Special K]

Inter-Continental Hotel?

Would anyone have any information on the Intercontinental Hotel located on St. Antoine St.? Hobbyists as well as providers your opinons would be appreciated.

Thanks,

SK

 

[gremlin]

Re: Inter-Continental Hotel?

Originally posted by Special K
Would anyone have any information on the Intercontinental Hotel located on St. Antoine St.? Hobbyists as well as providers your opinons would be appreciated.

i agree with the advantage of the views at the Inter Con. but the rooms are a bit small for the price, yet service is tops. i have seen a few SPs there, and no problems.

my current favorite for SP meetings is the St. Germain right near McGill. higher price for sure, 230CN or so right now...rooms seem designed for wild times. sound proof, big baths and showers, glass dividers between the room and the bath. low key staff, great location.

gremlin

 

[donbusch]

Re: Inter-Continental Hotel?

Originally posted by Special K
Would anyone have any information on the Intercontinental Hotel located on St. Antoine St.? Hobbyists as well as providers your opinons would be appreciated.

Thanks,

SK

When I was staying in Old Montreal last month, during one of my foolhardy attempts to walk to downtown (remember the Arctic chill, moral of the story: don't stint on the taxifare ,lol), I think I saw some signs of construction work being done around the Intercontinental. You might want to check with the management if that's a concern.

 

[MotJuste]

Re: Inter-Continental Hotel?

Originally posted by donbusch
When I was staying in Old Montreal last month, during one of my foolhardy attempts to walk to downtown (remember the Arctic chill, moral of the story: don't stint on the taxifare ,lol), I think I saw some signs of construction work being done around the Intercontinental. You might want to check with the management if that's a concern.

The InterContinental is now hooked up with the underground tunnel network which can get you to downtown without going outside and freezing your ***** off. The access signs though may not be very clear, since this was only recently completed.

 

[donbusch]

Originally posted by MotJuste
The InterContinental is now hooked up with the underground tunnel network which can get you to downtown without going outside and freezing your ***** off. The access signs though may not be very clear, since this was only recently completed.

Thanks for the update, wish the concierge or the driver of the taxi that I was forced to take, had told me that . I assume that they connected the Intercontinental to the main segment of the underground city, do you know if they also connected the Complexe Desjardins where the Hyatt (formerly the Wyndham) is, to the Intercontinental as well?

 

[fensterlein]

Got a great deal at Montreal Delta for 35 bucks per night. Now, if I could just find the same for airfare, that would kick ass..

 

[fensterlein]

Yeah, it's not for the President's Day weekend; it's for some other dates. And, yeah, got it on the first try on priceline.

 

[MotJuste]

Underground city

Originally posted by donbusch
do you know if they also connected the Complexe Desjardins where the Hyatt (formerly the Wyndham) is, to the Intercontinental as well?

Yes, they have. You go south through Complexe Guy Favreau to get to and to walk westward through the newly expanded Palais des Congres. You then go down one level into a tunnel and I believe there is a direct access from it to the World Trade Centre. I really didn't notice exactly where it was, but I definitely saw the Hotel indicated on the map, and I saw two guys from the Hotel pushing a catering cart through the tunnel when I was walking through it last week.

There's also an alternate route to downtown from the InterContinental if you head towards Place Victoria or the Square Victoria Metro station and look for the access leading to Place Bonaventure which hooks you up with the same tunnel mentioned above.

 

[fensterlein]

Hey, thx, EB! I was just scratching my head, thinking about which restaurant to go to.

So, is Fiona currently number 1 on your list? Wow, I think I just might have to try her, even though I am more of a brunettes kind of guy.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Nice to see the Vogue finally being available on Priceline. It used to be listed as being available, but i had never heard of anyone getting it. Maybe the fact that it's not as 'espy-friendly' as it once was (due to the new elevator system) caused business to slow down and gave them no choice but to begin using Priceline.

 

[Special K]

My Opinions

The Vogue for $85/night. I haven't seen that come up since February 2001 when I got it for $60/night. This is good news! My only concern with this is bidding a 4* and getting the Hilton or Omni as opposed to the Vogue or Sofitel which is in my top 3 favorite hotels.

EB...I've gotten the Hilton probably 10-15 times in the last 2 years and I don't believe the Hilton to have especially dark rooms or any lighting problems at all, as a matter of fact I often turn down the lights here because they are just too bright. I also don't believe the Hilton warrants a 4* rating. Their linens and beds are no comparison to the Sofitel and Vogues, as well as the bathrooms not being nearly as nice.

Les Faubourg is a steal at $45/night on priceline. I needed a room in a pinch recently and this is what I wound up with. My only complaint was no king sized beds. I think it's rated correctly at 2.5*.

Lastly my view of the Omni. Decent rooms, but I wouldn't classify them with the Vogue or Sofitel either. Linens are average and they have a very annoying shutter type of shade in the rooms that allow alot of sunlight to come into the room early in the morning. This was a big problem for me. I also found nothing special about the bathrooms or set up of the rooms in general. Would much rather stay at Les Faubourg for $45/night plus free high speed internet in the room than stay at the Omni. Shouldn't be rated more than a 3* in my opinion.

 

[faveone]

Originally posted by Special K
Was wondering if anyone can tell me how the Hotel Le Cantlie Suites on Sherbrooke might be. What other hotels might it compare too? Any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

SK

I stayed at the Hotel Le Cantile last weekend. With taxes and everyhting else it was $376 for 2 nights in a suite. Suite comes with seprate sleeping quaters with 2 double beds and a kitchenette with sitting room. Large bathroom with bathtub & shower (make sure you ask for room ending with "08" down at the end of the hall. If they put you in room ending with "11" you are stuck next to the elevator and the room is a little smaller !

I booked it thru Expedia.ca because it was cheaper thru them then it was trying to book directly with the hotel (girl at reservations explained that they give a block of rooms to Expedia at nywhere from $25-$50 less than their lowest prices to encourage people to use Expedia.ca (sort of a promotional thing).

Anyway, you can say it was $188 a night (all taxes in) for a suite at Hotel le Cantile. Nice hotel and centrally located. If you are looking for something a little more than the standard hotel room, I highly recommend it !

good luck...faveone

 

[donbusch]

There are some good deals on sites like Expedia, Orbitz, etc but watch out for all the fees and so-called taxes that they add on, all of which are non-refundable unlike when you book through the hotels where you can at least get the GST/HST back. Also, some of these sites add on a cancellation fee. Best to read all the fine print when comparing deals.

 

[Lawless]

Where is that Holiday Inn located?

 

[donbusch]

Originally posted by EagerBeaver
99 Avenue Viger Ouest. It's in Chinatown. The hotel looks kind of crappy on the outside but much nicer inside.

As I recall there is a well known dim sum restaurant right around that block, but I can't think of the name of it or the street it is on. I ate there once a few years ago. It's got a huge dining area. And get this, although the dim sum was pretty good, it was the only time I have ever had dim sum served with mayonnaise dipping sauce. MAYONNAISSE! I thought I would vomit when I dipped in there and discovered what it was.

The Holiday Inn Select also has its own Chinese restaurant which is good.

Are you referring to La Maison Kam Fung although I don't remember the dining room being that big. As for the mayonnaise dipping sauce, you can think of it as that branch of Cantonese cuisine evolving. I'm still looking for a place that serves good "chinese barbecued pork with mango" pastries. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the shrimp dumplings at Kam Fung but the various rice rolls with different fillings and seaweed roll are pretty good.

 

[donbusch]

Think La Maison Kam Fung is on Clark too. It's on the second floor in a building with at least two entrances, one of which has a Chinese eatery and a Chinese roasted meats shop opposite to one another, think they're owned by the same people. With regards to the size of Kam Fung's dining room, it looks bigger than it actually is due to the lack of any partitions. Dim sum restaurants are typically quite large and I'm somewhat used to seeing multi-level dim sum restaurants so it could just be we're envisioning different scales. Either that or Kam Fung has shrunk in recent years.

 

[mrtaiwan]

The large restaurant you are referring to is probably:

Ruby Rouge Restaurant
1008 rue Clark
390-8828

Dim Sum and Hot Pot. On the second floor of a small shopping plaza. Tommy Hum, Restaurant Owner

 

[puro]

is there a consensus(or at least majority) #1 in the downtown area? omni. sofitel, or vogue?

 

[donbusch]

Originally posted by puro
is there a consensus(or at least majority) #1 in the downtown area? omni. sofitel, or vogue?

To add to the useful information already provided, you should consider where you're getting the hotel room from? If you're looking for cost savings and are using Priceline and Hotwire, then the more relevant choices for the 4*s are really between the Hilton, Sheraton, Omni and maybe the Sofitel since the Vogue appears only rarely. Also, note that you don't get to choose the hotels but if you follow the biddingfortravel and betterbidding websites closely, you have a better chance of getting the hotel of your choice. Also, even if you do get the Vogue on Priceline or Hotwire, it's very likely that you will get their standard room with the smaller sized bathrooms. Same with the Sofitel, they will put you in those small rooms rather than the larger ones which I hear, have a soaking tub and loveseat.

If I wasn't looking for cost savings and just wanted the best downtown hotel, I would be comparing between the Loews Vogue, Le Germaine, Ritz-Carlton and maybe the Sofitel.

 

[WRman]

Having only stayed at the Omni and the Vogue, each time in the corner "upgraded" room, I prefer the Vogue. True, you have to deal with the elevator card thing, but the lobby bar is directly across from the elevators. It's nice to hang in the bar instead of waiting in your room. They had no problems with the three dates that met me there the last three nights I was there. The bartender, Marie I think, was very friendly. On the first night one lady came with a small bag. On the third night, the lady came with a rolling suitcase. No problems, except for the guys in the bar who kept admiring my dates. Wait, that's not a problem ...that was part of the fun!