With only a minimal delay, Le Westin Montréal by Starwood opened this month in the Quartier International, right next to the Palais des Congrès. The hotel appears to be a solid, reasonably stylish choice for business visitors, although some PR claims do seem a bit exaggerated...

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The moment has finally come! After many months in the making, the much-talked-about Montreal public bike rental system, Bixi, has launched. Over the past few weeks the city has installed a number of automated bike rental stations and launched a web site allowing users to see availabilities in real time (both the number of available bikes and available docking slots).

Although the system is geared mainly towards residents of the city, tourists can take advantage of it as well, with monthly and even daily tariffs available.

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The mayor of Lisbon announced the beginning of a 700 million euro renovation of the historic neighborhood of Baixa. The central Lisbon neighborhood, built after the 1755 earthquake, consists mostly of 4-to-5-story neo-classical walk-up buildings.

Once considered one of Europe's most elegant districts, Baixa has been on the decline for decades. Over half of its residents have left since the 1950's.

Read the rest of: "Baixa Area To Be Renovated"»