Montreal Hotels Guide  Hotel accommodation in Montreal

Montreal has a compact downtown between the mountain and river With most city workers living in the town. There is no evening exodus from the city to suburbs.

There are restaurants of every nationality, international name-brand boutiques, great department stores, intimate café-terrasses and very happening nightclubs and bars.

A thriving Chinese community continues to celebrate traditional festivals and holidays and shops selling medicinal roots, exotic foodstuffs and hand-painted porcelain

Centuries-old buildings and modern skyscrapers stand side by side in the city. The Quartier international is a modern area with the Convention Centre having a colourful glass facade and the Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle a remarkable fountain-sculpture that features a ring of fire.

The downtown has a famous underground pedestrian network under the centre of the city with 20 miles of brightly lit, scrupulously clean passageways. These link thousands of boutiques, major hotels, restaurants, universities, dozens of office buildings and attractions.

Montreal is an important centre of commerce, industry, culture, finance, and world affairs.

It is the centre of Quebec culture and has museums such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musee d'art contemporain, the Redpath Museum, the Stewart Museum, the McCord Museum of Canadian History, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

The city has four Roman Catholic basilicas: Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, the Notre-Dame Basilica, St. Patrick's Basilica and Saint Joseph's Oratory. This is the largest church in Canada and has the largest dome in the world after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Montreal has a great nightlife attributed to its relatively late "last call" (3 a.m.) and also many restaurants and after hours clubs that stay open well into the morning.

Major cultural events include the world's largest jazz and comedy festivals as well as celebrations of French-language song (les Francofolies), African culture (Nuits d'Afrique), electronic music (Mutek), artisanship (Salon des Métiers d'Art) and cinema (World Film Festival).