What hotel would you recommend for me?

[Rex Kramer]

I know I tried finding Auberge du Vieux Port but apparantly they're too upscale to want to deal with discount rate sites because they only place I saw a listing on Hotels.com was past the end of discount listing they list "other" hotels available in you vicinity that don't have discounts available.

If you do a quick search you will find that Auberge du Vieux Port can be booked from a number of sites including tablethotels.com and 1stmontrealhotels.com. It is a very small hotel with 27 rooms, and common sense would say that you would expect it to have a different modus operandi than say a hotel like Delta Montreal that has 456 rooms and is only one of the many Delta Hotels in Canada, and there is acutally another Delta Hotel right in Montreal.

Your best bet would be to call up Auberge du Vieux Port directly and find out any unpublished specials they might be offering, rather than expecting the booking and any discount info be available to you at a click of your computer mouse.

 

[Wombat2]

discussed in the hotel bidding thread

Just did a search for it under that name and didn't immediately find it. Would someone please provide a link.

Second question: do either the HDLM or the Hyatt provide free parking? This is something to consider when comparing hotel prices.

 

[Rex Kramer]

Second question: do either the HDLM or the Hyatt provide free parking? This is something to consider when comparing hotel prices.

None of the hotels in the downtown area provide free parking. You can expect to pay somewhere between $17CAN to $20CAN per hotel day for self parking, and a few dollars more for valet parking. It is not something you need to consider when comparing hotel prices since it is almost the same for every hotel.

The Hyatt is somewhat unique since it sits on top of a shopping center and its garage. There is valet parking thru the hotel staff, but self parking is with the garage in the mall. The day rate is either $17CAN or $18CAN, but on weekends it is like $8 for Friday after 5pm till midnight, all day Sat, and all day Sun.

Signs for parking and meters on the streets are in French. So it helps a lot if you know the French for the days of the week and the months of the year if you want to use the parking meters on the streets.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Just did a search for it under that name and didn`t immediately find it. Would someone please provide a link.

https://merb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=220615#post220615

See post #204 by Captain Renault. He is correct that the Hyatt is the 4 star property you will see on Hotwire on certain dates with the "customer favorite" designation.

 

[chef]

.............
Signs for parking and meters on the streets are in French. So it helps a lot if you know the French for the days of the week and the months of the year if you want to use the parking meters on the streets.

Pay very close attention to those parking meters. A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday night another merbite and I parked on St. Catherine Street (we got there at around 8), right across from Complexe Desjardins (we did not feed the meters as it was a Sunday night). When we got back several hours later from Cleo's he had a $40 ticket on his windshield. He checked the signs on the meters, and all it said was that the times had been changed. This guy is fluently bilingual, so it was not a question of misunderstanding the signs. A few weeks before that I parked in exactly the same area on a Sunday night and did not get a ticket.

In case you were wondering, I gave him $20 towards the ticket.

 

[metoo4]

Meters are now till 21:00 7 days a week in Montreal downtown. The signs about the changes are controversial and currently challenged in court as they are meaningless and don't tell of the changes, no matter if you're French or English. How can anybody know what are the changes? Price of these signs would have been the same if the changes were indicated. Where there's the electronic pay-machine meters, the changes are, I think, on the machine, but not on the posts.

At Hyatt, if you go with self-park at Complexe Desjardins, be aware you have no in-out privileges so, first time in-out, you just paid whatever the difference is with valet, unless on weekends and evening. Last I was there self park was $6-$8 after 19:00 but daytime, you get to the maximum of about, if I remember $18, after something like 1 hour. It's been a while I haven't been there and my company pays paking so, I never pay close attention.

 

[bumfie]

Borh HDLM and the Hyatt are great for hobbying. I like HDLM better because it seems like hobbying is EXPECTED there. Plus, in the summer, you can't beat sitting in the bar next door and watching the eye candy pass by that corner.

And that's not to mention the wonderful treats to be found in Thursday's, which adjoins HDLM.

I have had some SPECTACULAR encounters at HDLM, so I am biased. Friendly staff, too, and there is a woman at the desk whom I wish to heaven was an SP.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hotel de la Montagne

I like HDLM better because it seems like hobbying is EXPECTED there. I have had some SPECTACULAR encounters at HDLM, so I am biased.

I have to agree....great place to receive 'guests', especially during the summer since each room has a balcony and i love to spend some time drinking wine and smoking a cuban while relaxing. For some unknown reason, my libido always seems to be at a high when i've stayed at HDLM in the past. As a matter of fact, i still recall one of my favorite hobbyists named "Lewlo" refer to HDLM as "The Fuck Hotel". Need i say more?

 

[Wombat2]

I have to agree....great place (HDLM) to receive 'guests', especially during the summer since each room has a balcony and i love to spend some time drinking wine and smoking a cuban while relaxing.

Out of curiosity how much does a discount booked king room at HDLM typically increase in price between now and late June? I ask because I typically stayed at another hotel which has changed management between then and now.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Out of curiosity how much does a discount booked king room at HDLM typically increase in price between now and late June? I ask because I typically stayed at another hotel which has changed management between then and now.

To answer your question: at the end of June is Grand Prix weekend and if it is that weekend, the answer to your question is "dramatically." Otherwise, prices can be expected to go up by as much as 20% or more.

 

[Wombat2]

To answer your question: at the end of June is Grand Prix weekend and if it is that weekend, the answer to your question is "dramatically." Otherwise, prices can be expected to go up by as much as 20% or more.

I was thinking of early Summer in general. Thank you for reminding me about Grand Prix weekend

 

[CaptRenault]

To answer your question: at the end of June is Grand Prix weekend and if it is that weekend, the answer to your question is "dramatically." Otherwise, prices can be expected to go up by as much as 20% or more.

GP weekend returns to its normal time this year, June 7-10. Last year it was June 22-25, later than usual, because they didn't want to have any F1 races in Europe during the World Cup.

Hotel rates during the GP week are 2-3 times the normal summer rates , with 3 or 4 day minimum stays, payable in advance and not refundable. C'est fou. But I'll be back.

 

[CaptRenault]

I posted this in another thread, but it's worth repeating here. Right now (and at least for the next month or so) you can get the Hotel de La Montagne on Travelocity.com for $80 US (plus tax) per night if you stay at least 4 nights (and pay in advance). It's $107 US/night for stays of less than 4 nights. $80+/night for the Montagne is a tremendous bargain.

 

[Wombat2]

The comment made above about the balconies at the Hotel de La Montagne sounds quite appealing at a lightly warmer time of year than at present. However, the weekend parking situation at the Hyatt has an attraction of its own, since I hate that feeling that you’ve almost paid for a nice dinner for the price of having parked the car (although its my experience that Montreal isn’t as bad as Toronto).

 

[Doc Holliday]

Out of curiosity how much does a discount booked king room at HDLM typically increase in price between now and late June?

I've stayed at HDM for years and i've never seen it priced as low as it is now. The rates are usually in the $160-180 CA range.

As for June specifically, the rate would likely double and possibly triple during the GP weekend. I was in Mtl last year for that particular weekend and it was crazy! I stayed at a motel located 10 minutes from downtown and it was impossible to find a parking space downtown during the evening, so i pretty much either stayed in my room or hung out in the suburbs. Traffic in the downtown area was also crazy due to the fact many blocks of streets were closed down due to the GP festivities. If i ever go back, it will only be because i've found a downtown hotel to stay at. However, i'm not interested in paying $300-400 per night just for a hotel room.

 

[Rex Kramer]

Pay very close attention to those parking meters. A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday night another merbite and I parked on St. Catherine Street (we got there at around 8), right across from Complexe Desjardins (we did not feed the meters as it was a Sunday night). When we got back several hours later from Cleo's he had a $40 ticket on his windshield. He checked the signs on the meters, and all it said was that the times had been changed. This guy is fluently bilingual, so it was not a question of misunderstanding the signs.

Meters are now till 21:00 7 days a week in Montreal downtown. The signs about the changes are controversial and currently challenged in court as they are meaningless and don't tell of the changes, no matter if you're French or English. How can anybody know what are the changes?

This is really Machiavellian and is worst than being robbed. When you are robbed at least you know you are being robbed, and not after the fact.

Looks like the Montreal city government is borrowing this tactis from some of the duplicitious agency owners on this board- "yes, our GFE definition has changed and the fees have changed. Our lovely ladies will give you all the details once both of you are comfortably naked and reached the point of no return."