http://www.sitebits.com/news/ Downtown Montreal: News and Reviews en Copyright &copy; 1999-2008 Gromco, Inc. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:02:10 EST Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:40:00 EDT info@sitebits.com info@sitebits.com You gain some, you lose some. While the city is busy adding thousands of hotels rooms (we <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new-hilton-garden-inn-centreville-5610323.html">wrote</a> about one new project last month), some in the hospitality business decided they'd had enough of the Montreal market. <br/><br/> The management of the Omni Mont-Royal hotel on Sherbrooke street has announced its decision to close the 32-year old 299-room property (which had previously been operated under the brands of Westin and Four Seasons) on Dec 10th, citing "operational difficulties"... Gromco http://www.sitebits.com/2008/omni-mont-royal-to-close-1146256.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:40:00 EDT The voting process for the name of Montreal's citywide bike rental program is over and the winner is chosen. The system is going to be called "BIXI". <br/><br/> Over the next month, demo bikes will be wheeled around the city and public demonstrations will be held. According to the city's mayor, <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/people/gerald_tremblay.html">Gérald Tremblay</a>, by next spring Montreal will count 2,400 bikes at more than 300 solar-powered stations... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/bixi-bike-taxi-montreal-7408304.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EDT Construction crews are still crawling over the central tower of the new <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/hotels/mtl-hilton_garden_inn.html">Hilton Garden Inn</a> on Rue Sherbrooke, but the hotel is already open for business, as made evident not only by the banner that says as much, but also by a quasi-permanent line of cabs picking up departing guests... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new-hilton-garden-inn-centreville-5610323.html Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:45:00 EDT Back in July, Apple opened a flagship store in Montreal of which yours truly has already had an opportunity to be a customer. <br/><br/> The store is ninth in the list of Apple's flagship stores world-wide (the others are in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, London, Tokyo, Osaka and New York) and the first of the kind in Canada... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/apple_opens_montreal_flagship_store.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:45:00 EDT As many press outlets have reported, the <b>Waldorf=Astoria</b> hotel will open a Montreal outpost some time in 2011. A 250-room, 76-residence monster (officially named The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal) will rise a few blocks west of the <b>Montreal Museum of Fine Art</b>... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/waldorf-astoria-to-open-in-montreal.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:10:00 EDT Many tourists (not to mention the residents) find the lack of direct transport links between <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/downtown-montreal.html">Downtown</a> and <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> inconvenient. Sure, the métro is there, but because of the U-shaped configuration of its lines, a traveler who wants to go from centrally located Peel Street to no less central <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> would have to travel a few stops west (or east) on the green line, switch to the orange line, then essentially come back to the geographic center of the city albeit 10-15 blocks south. Annoying. <br/><br/> Fortunately, the city is aware of that - in fact, many recent proposals for building a tramway line cited this very inconvenience as the major reason for building it. Well, the tramway, if it's ever built, is still years away, but something much more feasible is already coming, the Gazette reported: <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> and <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/downtown-montreal.html">Downtown Montreal</a> are to be linked by a new bus route... Gromco http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new_bus_route_downtown_old_port.html Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:06:00 EDT I am not exactly a frequent visitor at tea salons - a fact pretty much ensured by the very presence of the Y chromosome in my DNA. </p><p> Yet, since about a year ago, I regularly find myself at a place that ranks suspiciously well on the tea connoisseurs' list of Montreal cafés and restaurants. And what do I order there? Tea. And cookies... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/tea-at-nocochi.html Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:15:00 EST Somebody on the site mentioned that Le Grand Comptoir is one of the few restaurants in Montreal with friendly, non-pretentious “single person" table service and I would agree with them. What I mean by that is that going there by yourself doesn't necessarily present you with the typical dining-alone nuisances, like having to sit at the counter and thus forgo being able to relax in a chair, or being subjected to attitude from the host(ess) and the server. (After all, you're taking up a whole table and you'll only leave one person's tip!) <br><br> Like I said, Le Grand Comptoir is a fortunate exception to those experiences. You can go there alone at almost any time of day (except the lunch hour: too busy) and find more than a handful of individual tables to choose from... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2007/alone_at_le_grand_comptoir.html Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:20:00 EST Café Holt in Montreal serves suprisingly good food and coffee in a stylish atmosphere. Ree http://www.sitebits.com/2006/cafe_holt_montreal.html Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:15:00 EST L'Entrecôte St. Jean is an establishment that has been there approximately forever, in part because of its prime location in <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/downtown-montreal.html">Downtown Montreal</a> (the corner of Rue Peel and Blvd Maisonneuve) and in part because its formula just works. Mix one part indecision, two parts repetition, a dash of hospitality, a slab of steak, a sprinkling of chocolate and a glass of red wine. That simple formula could be a critic's worst nightmare, but that's only because they would be going there with the wrong attitude... Ree http://www.sitebits.com/2006/comfort_food_for_carnivores_entrecote_st_jean.html Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:10:00 EDT You no longer have to fly to <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/france/paris/">Paris</a> and take the TGV to experience your favorite Provencal views! Until January 8, 2006 you can visit Provence at the <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/landmarks/mtl-mmfa.html">Musée des Beaux-Arts</a> in Montreal, for the exhibition "Right under the Sun. Landscape in Provence, from Classicism to Modernism"... Ree http://www.sitebits.com/2005/provence-in-montreal.html Sat, 22 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT