Two-Bedrooms Suite Apartment in beautifully renovated Heritage Building, Old Montreal, Pet-Friendly!N°001
Montreal, Canada
Air conditioning
From $294 per night
Photo by Mathias RedingA festival city with a French accent and four true seasons
Montreal is Canada's cultural capital in all but name, a bilingual island city where cobbled Old Montreal, the wooded rise of Mount Royal and some of North America's best dining sit within a few metro stops of each other. Renting a private residence here gives you space, a full kitchen and concierge support that no downtown hotel room can match, whether you come for the summer festivals or a snow-dusted winter week.
- Cobbled streets, galleries and the Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal
- Mount Royal park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, rising above downtown
- One of the world's great festival calendars, led by the Montreal International Jazz Festival
- A celebrated food city, from classic bagels and smoked meat to inventive Quebecois kitchens
- Private residences with concierge service, minutes from the Plateau, Outremont and Westmount
Known forOld Montreal, Mount Royal, world-class festivals, French-influenced dining, bagels and smoked meat, nearby Laurentian ski country
Best time to visitMay to October for terrace weather and the festival season; December to March for skating, winter festivals and skiing in the Laurentians
Nearest airportMontréal-Trudeau International (YUL), around 20 minutes from downtown
Ideal forCouples, families and groups of friends who want culture, food and festivals with a private base
4homes available
2–2bedrooms
up to 4guests
Montreal in pictures
Events not to miss in Montreal
- Late June to early July
Montreal International Jazz Festival
The world's largest jazz festival takes over the Quartier des Spectacles with hundreds of concerts, many of them free and outdoors. The city is at its most exuberant, so book accommodation well ahead.
- June
Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix
The Grand Prix on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, on an island in the St Lawrence, turns the whole city into a party for a long weekend, with open-air events along Crescent Street and Boulevard Saint-Laurent.
- July
Just for Laughs
One of the world's largest comedy festivals brings international headliners and free street performances to downtown Montreal, running alongside the height of the summer terrace season.
- Late February to early March
Montréal en Lumière
A winter festival of light installations, gastronomy and performance culminating in Nuit Blanche, an all-night arts crawl across the city. It is the best reason to embrace Montreal in deep winter.
Montreal through the seasons
- Spring (March – May)
Sugar shacks and the city reawakening
Maple sugaring season fills the cabanes à sucre of the surrounding countryside with long communal feasts, while the terraces and markets of the Plateau come back to life as the snow retreats.
- Summer (June – August)
Festival season at full tilt
Jazz, comedy, fireworks and the Osheaga music festival follow one another through the warmest months, with cycling along the Lachine Canal and picnics on Mount Royal in between.
- Autumn (September – October)
Fall colour on Mount Royal and the Laurentians
Crisp days and blazing maples make this the most photogenic season, ideal for hiking the mountain, touring the Laurentian lakes and settling into the city's bistros.
- Winter (December – March)
Skating, snow and Laurentian skiing
Outdoor rinks, the Montréal en Lumière festival and the underground city make winter genuinely enjoyable, with Mont Tremblant's slopes about ninety minutes from your door.
The Area and Where to Stay
Montreal spreads across an island in the St Lawrence River, and each neighbourhood has its own character. Old Montreal is the postcard quarter, all cobbles, converted warehouses and riverside promenades, and suits travellers who want to walk everywhere. The Plateau and Mile End are the creative heart, with rows of wrought-iron staircases, cafés and independent shops. Outremont and Westmount, on either flank of Mount Royal, are the leafy residential districts where larger homes with gardens are found, quiet at night yet ten minutes from downtown. Griffintown and the Golden Square Mile offer modern residences close to the business core. A private home in any of these quarters gives a family or group far more room than a hotel, and our concierge handles restaurant bookings, transfers and day trips to the Laurentians.
Things to Do
Start with the classics: the Notre-Dame Basilica, the old port and a climb or drive up Mount Royal for the lookout over downtown and the river. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Pointe-à-Callière archaeology museum anchor a strong cultural circuit, while the Botanical Garden and Biodôme near the Olympic Park make an easy family day. In summer the city lives outdoors, cycling the Lachine Canal, picnicking on the mountain and drifting between free festival stages. Winter brings skating at the Old Port and in Parc La Fontaine, and the underground city keeps shopping and dining comfortable whatever the temperature. Mont Tremblant and the Laurentian lakes are about ninety minutes north for skiing, hiking and swimming, an effortless day trip your concierge can arrange with a private driver.
Food and Local Flavour
Montreal takes eating seriously. The icons are worth the queue: wood-fired bagels from the St-Viateur and Fairmount bakeries in Mile End, smoked meat piled high in a Boulevard Saint-Laurent deli, and poutine after a late night. Beyond them lies one of North America's most exciting dining scenes, where Quebecois produce meets French technique in the bistros of the Plateau, Little Burgundy and Old Montreal. Jean-Talon and Atwater markets are superb for self-catering, laden with Quebec cheeses, maple products, ice cider and seasonal fruit. In late winter, sugar shacks in the surrounding countryside celebrate the maple harvest with long communal feasts. A private chef in your residence is an easy way to sample it all at your own table.
When to Visit
Montreal is a city of four emphatic seasons. Summer, from June to August, is warm, sociable and packed with festivals, when terraces spill onto the pavements and several central streets go pedestrian. May and September to October are quieter and often glorious, with autumn colour blazing across Mount Royal and the Laurentians. Winter is genuinely cold, usually snowy from December to March, but the city embraces it with outdoor skating rinks, the Montréal en Lumière festival and quick access to Laurentian ski hills; a warm private residence makes it a cosy season rather than a hardship. Spring arrives late and fast, with sugar-shack season bridging March and April.
Getting There
Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) sits about twenty minutes west of downtown and receives direct flights from across North America, Europe and beyond, including frequent services from Paris, London, Geneva and Zurich. Private transfers to your residence are easily arranged, and the city itself is best explored on foot and by its clean, efficient metro. Trains from Toronto, Quebec City and New York arrive at Central Station downtown. A car is unnecessary within the city but useful for the Laurentians and Eastern Townships; your concierge can arrange a hire car or a driver for day trips to Mont Tremblant and the lake country.