Hotels in Montreal, Quebec

A little about Montreal...

Montreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie (City of Mary), the city had come to be known as Montréal by the 18th century, a name derived from the French Mont Royal (literally "Royal Mount"), the name of the three-head hill at the heart of the city.

Francophone universities:
Université de Montréal
École Polytechnique de Montréal
HEC Montréal - École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal
Université du Québec
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)
École de technologie supérieure (ETS)
École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP)
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ)
Université de Sherbrooke (Located in Sherbrooke, campus in Longueuil)
Université Laval (Located in Québec, campus in Longueuil)

English-language universities:
McGill University
Desautels Faculty of Management
Schulich School of Music
Concordia University
John Molson School of Business (JMSB)

Extending all over downtown is Montreal's Underground City (French: La ville souterraine), a set of pedestrian levels built to cross under streets, thereby connecting buildings to each other. It is also known as the indoor city (ville intérieure), as not all of it is underground. The connections are considered tunnels architecutrally and technically, but have conditioned air and good lighting as any building's liveable space dœs. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage. With over 32 kilometres (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than twelve square kilometres (5 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, hotels, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city.

The biggest sport following in Montreal clearly belongs to hockey – and the city is famous for its hockey-hungry fans. The Montreal Canadiens are one of the Original Six NHL teams, and boast the greatest number of Stanley Cup championships at 24.

Montreal is also the site of two high-profile racing events each year: the Canadian Grand Prix, and the Molson Indy Montreal of the Champcars Series. Both races take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame. As of December 2006, NASCAR is in talks with city officials and the track promoter about a possible racedate for the Busch Series in August 2007.

The plaza on Place des Arts is the home of the most important events during several musical festivals, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Montreal Francofolies, a festival of French-speaking song artists. During the seven-to-ten days that last each of the two festivals, shows are held in a wide variety of venues, from relatively small clubs to the large halls of Place des Arts. Some of the outdoor shows are held on cordoned-off streets while others are on terraced parks. The most popular festival, in terms of attendance, is the Just For Laughs Festival. A comedy festival held in both languages, it features comedians, humorists, and stand-ups from all over the world. The Montreal Fireworks Festival also attracts a lot of attention. On the evenings of competition, tens of thousands of people watch the fireworks for free on their roofs or from locations nearby the competition. Other festivals in Montreal include Pop Montreal, The Fringe festival and Nujaz.

Montreal's night life is particularly dynamic. The most active neighborhoods then are rue St-Laurent, Downtown (Crescent Street, Sainte-Catherine Street), Quartier Latin (Saint Denis Street), and Plateau Mont-Royal. The city is increasingly becoming known for its mainstream rave festivals such as the Black and Blue Festival attracting thousands of ravers to the city every Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, as well as the Bal en Blanc held every Easter Sunday, also attracting over 15,000 attendees every year.