Ancient brash tones. An odor of urban decay, European flair, and 20th century architecture blindly placed in sequences reminiscent of a gene-splicing experiment, dank lighting and spooky music included. That was the buildings. The culture? Free-wheeling, easy going, with an underlying passion.
And I don’t really have much else because I was tucked away in Laval for 3 days.
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See Point A on the map? My original location, north of Montreal Island. Point B is where my current location is. Still not close to downtown, but it was cheap cheap.
I’ve had it cushy, relying on friends for accommodation. I made the drastic decision to break my couch surfing/free ride rule in Canada and booked into a hostel close to the Village and The Big O (not that “O”, dirty birds) – the Olympic Stadium resurrected in 1976 for the games that broke Montreal’s bank.
Can you believe they only paid off that debt 2 years ago? Will Vancouver have the same woes? Time will tell.
Current pad is Appartement Qualitas, 3 blocks from Frontenac Metro Station. Yves, the owner is an odd duck peppered with a bit of control freak. Smoke 10 metres from the hostel. Recycle EVERYTHING possible – even dust. And NO crumbs on the beds. I feel like I’m at the Norman Bates motel for the OCD set.
Hostel "garden"
Apparently the recycling policy only applies indoors
To add to the situation Qualitas is an old apartment building converted into a makeshift hostel. It preys on my mind. Apartment sized rooms with 4 or 5 beds stuffed in them, an apartment sized kitchen. Wait! Didn’t I just leave this life?
However his weirdness, Yves is nice. And I have the female dorm all to myself. Not a bad deal. It’s clean and easy to self-cater. Take heed, not every hostel will be 100%.
If you do book, just beware of his testy rules, and other hostelers say he fiddles with the prices. One night it’s $16 CDN, the next it could be $20 CDN. Still cheap to what I saw on hostel.com.
Shamefully, I’m a Montreal virgin. But, so far I’m intrigued. The brick row houses, how every word in public or private is French, and yet I’m still in my own country!
The gems I will unearth is awaiting my eager hands.
And check out the crazy storm that pelted the street outside my hostel the other day. Is this similar to monsoon season in India?
Hostel Info
Appartement Qualitas
Address: 2146 Montgomery (2nd balcony), Montreal, Quebec
Website: http://youthhostelsmontreal.com
Popularity: 12% [?]
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Love Montreal! Had a great time there last November. It was *cold* but so much culture to be had. Fun times trying to resurrect the French I learned, oh, 20 years ago, lol!