jerryskater

Thanks for your reports Ichabod.  I appreciate all the info.

I am having the same issue using a PC and Windows 10.  Started a week or so ago.

3 hours ago, fresh said:

I’m sure these questions have been asked before but I’m visiting Montreal for the first time and need some help. Is there a private space for lap dances? What is the going rate? US dollars or Canadian? Any info would be helpful.

Stock, Campus and Taboo have private spaces.  I think Expose does too but I haven't been there in many years.  The going rate per dance is $20 dollars Canadian.  per song.  As mentioned on other threads be very careful about the number of songs so you don't get ripped off.  I say to the dancer when we first go back something like "Just two songs" then if I want to continue after that I will say "Let's do one more".

Do a search on this site for "Montreal" and read the threads there is a lot of useful infomration about private dances and all things Montreal.

3 hours ago, Alfstoria said:

i am too old to walk from Campus to Taboo. 

This year I finally realized I am too. My husband and I will be rethinking how we get around.

Montreal 8/18/23 – 8/21/23

This post is way past due – Sorry.

 Hyatt Place (formerly The Gouverneur)

My husband and I have stayed here and its predecessor for many years.  The current incarnation is clean with modern somewhat cold décor. I don’t think we will be staying there again because the room design flaws got on our nerves this time. See https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/142770-hotels-montreal/?do=findComment&comment=2129974

 Breakfast room very crowded and lots of children.  Only one station to get coffee which creates a line.  Food just OK.

 Homeless situation

Homelessness is a problem in many cities in the U.S, and Canada so it is no shock to see it in Montreal.  Not only in the Village but in the old town as well.

 We didn’t see many homeless around the hotel.  The bank on the corner now has a guard which keeps them from sitting on the steps.  The city over the last few years has reconfigured the park across the street to make it more inviting to passersby. Fewer homeless are gathering there.  Don’t know why.  Perhaps increased police presence.

 We did encounter homeless on St. Catherine Street but no one bothered us.  Still, it is a real problem. The media reported in late July that several establishments closed their “terrasses” because patrons were harassed and afraid to eat outside. The mayor held a news conference and promised more police and social services so they reopened them. 

 https://montreal.citynews.ca/2023/06/22/village-issues-mayor-plan/

 Report of attack on shop owner September 2,2023

 https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/restaurant-owner-says-she-and-her-husband-were-attacked-on-their-terrace-in-montreal-s-village-1.6546254

 We did not see an increased police presence.  If anything, it seemed like fewer police then in past years.  We did not feel safe walking St. Catherine Street particularly the blocks just before Taboo and along the park next to it.

 There is no easy answer.

 The Village

The Village has not recovered from the disaster of Covid-19.  We found conditions have not improved in the year since our last visit.  Many restaurants and stores have not reopened.

 Here’s an article from the Dawson College Newsletter I found touching because we used to east in Mozza a lot:

 https://www.theplantnews.com/post/the-gay-village-no-longer-gay

 Something that I think would restore some of the joy would be the replacement of the overhead “18 Shades of Gay”.  Lots of tourists of all persuasions visited to take selfies.  There were plans for a replacement but I don’t know what happened.  Probably lack of funds.

 The Bars

We went to Taboo every night because we enjoy twink types.  There were 10-12 dancers Thursday-Saturday.  Sunday was absolutely dead only one dancer and maybe six patrons including us.

 Dancers were OK.  Some a little heavier than ideal. One blonde from Nova Scotia (I think) was spectacular.  He danced fully nude. The trend continues that the majority of dancers DID NOT dance fully nude. All that we chose for private lap dances were great.

 Stopped by Campus twice in the afternoon and there were no dancers each time and few patrons.  I wonder how it is worth their while to open in the afternoon.  Tried once at around 7 PM and there were still no dancers.  One we met outside was just arriving and said things got started around 8 PM.

 Will we be returning?

Probably, unless reports get worse.  We have been going every summer since 1989 and have so  many good memories of places, restaurants, and yes, dancers.  I hope that the Village will once again return to its vibrant self.

Does anyone know if the elevator at Campus is working?  It's getting to be a touch climb with my aging knees.

Weight matter on helicopters too.  Many years ago my partner and I took a helicopter to Heron Island in Australlia.  We were only allowed one piece of luggage and the luggage as well as both of us were weighed one at a time but not on a baggage scale.  There were lockers available for extra luggage so you could pick it up when returning.

31 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

The Hyatt that is the new incarnation is a lot more expensive.

Agree that the Hyatt is a lot more expensive.

The Hotel Gouverneur is now the Hyatt Place Downtown.  My partner and I stayed there last July and September.  I has been totally renovated.  Will be staying there again this  year.  Here's some comments I posted at that time.

The overall décor is modern and I found it cold but not unpleasant.  The mezzanine is very nice.  Excellent free computers and printer so it was a snap to check in with the airline and print boarding passes. 

The breakfast area is the same as the old Gouveneur.  Buffet breakfast is good with lots of options and free.

We had booked a king bed on a high floor.  The room was unfinished. Closet unfinished, no safe.  Requested a change of room.  Got a two queen bed on the 20th floor.  It was good.  Certainly much better than the Gouveneur when it was on its last legs.

At check in requested daily service so we could get fresh towels daily.  Service was very good.

Design flaws:

Light in the bathroom is around the mirror and it is impossible to see to shave. If the designer is male  he should be forced to try to shave in it and if female should be forced to try to but on makeup.
The handle that turns on the shower regulates both the flow and the hot water so when you get in you need to stay out of the way until you can turn the handle to warm.  Water pressure is very good.
The safe is set so low in the closet you have to get down on you knees the access it.
Door to the closet and bathroom is a sliding door and you need to be careful that when your coming out of the bathroom you don't slide the door into you partner who is accessing the closet.

16 minutes ago, Karl-G said:

I remember with Luv2Play.  There was a time, 1998-2010, when Campus had lots of twinks and twunks and good crowds from 4:00-9:00 when the big boys arrived.  Non-stop dancers, no music fillers.  Some boys danced at Campus first and then appeared later at Taboo.  Taboo in those days had 25-40 beautiful twinks and twunks, fully nude, every night of the week, no exception.  Not pseudo-nude like Stock, but real.  One or two fem boys, but almost all really nice.  No tattoos, no long hair, no body hair.  They came from all over Canada and France.  I remember beautiful boys from Paris and Mulhouse and Tours and Nancy.  And they really danced; they practiced at home and had routines.  Not like the Stock-shuffle.  There were even twins for a while.  Some danced to Piaf; Diego was very cute and danced to Brazilian music; they chose their music.  Lap dances were not particularly private, but they were a lot of fun and at $10, you couldn't go wrong.  At 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays, they introduced all the boys by name on stage, and then they each got one of the little circus platforms and spread out through the room and danced;  you had gyrating nude boys all over the place.

OMG I remember very fondly those years as well.  It's been a long time but I remember particularly Pierre-Luc and Francis.  Time marches on and things change but they were good times.

3 hours ago, rojjodc said:

Do they still close St Catherine street to auto traffic in the summer?  

Yes St Catherine Street will be closed to auto traffic this summer.  Last year they had no overhead decorations which I missed a lot.  I'm hoping that will change this year.

3 hours ago, rojjodc said:

I can't think of any time when a dancer bar would be even remotely busy in the late afternoon or very early evening

Good point.  I've been going to Montreal for many years,  We would usually go to Campus around 7 PM for a pre dinner drink and while the number of dancers  varied from year to year it was always slow even at that hour.

12is12 Thanks for your reports.  Sounds like Montreal is kind of dead.  I hope things improve this summer when I'll be there.

1 hour ago, azdr0710 said:

thanks, @12is12 ....

it sounds like not all dancers got fully naked during their stage show, even at the second song??.....

when I was there in 2016, I believe all (or very close to all) dancers got fully naked on stage, aroused or not......

if this new "policy" is true, I'm wondering if management was forced to relax nudity requirements in order to continue to attract new talent

When I was in Montreal last year spent my time at Taboo.  If I remember correctly most of the dancers did not get fully naked for their second song.  I was thinking the same as azdr0710 that nudity requirments were relaxed to attract new talent since there were fewer dancers than in years past.

Quote

14 hours ago, Buff Daddy said:

Daddy's Room? 

 

Sorry they're calling it Daddy's Corner.  Here's the link:

Hope I pasted the link correctly.

Check the weather forecast for Montreal.  Love Montreal but it could still be pretty cold there.

If you do get to Campus let us know if they have set up their "Daddy's Room" as their website promised and what it's like.  

Sounds like fun.  I'm really looking forwward to it.  Hope they won't mind a grand daddy. If it is as good as they are making it sound I wouldn't mind a cover charge.

Watched Skate America on TV.  His quad axel was unbelivable.  He not only got all the way around but executed flawlessly.  It's impossible but he did it.

Many, many years ago when I skated a double axel was a highlight of male free skating.  I could barely do a single.  Needless to say I didn't last long.

Still miss true artistry in skating.  It really doesn't exist anymore.  John Curry, Robin Cousins, Brian Boitano.  I'll never forget Boitano's Olympic short program to Meyerbeer which was like a young man showing off on a pond.  Even wiping the snow off his blade.  A wonderful piece of theater on ice.  Always reminded me of Ashton's "Les Patineurs".

These days most long programs look the same - 3 jumping passes, some spins and footwork to kill time until they get to the bonus time then 4 more jumping passes.  So boring the even at 4 minutes I'm thinking "When will this end."

9 hours ago, newatthis said:

I read an article in French this week with the new owner of Campus and he was saying they have plans to open a male only club up the stairs. They have applied for an alcohol license. They also have other plans which they can't talk about yet. 

The article is very interesting.  One take away for me is the new owner's background in porn.  His contacts are undoubtedly the reason for the high number of dancers that the other bars can't match.  We can guess why that is (monkypox, covid, only fans) but no way of knowing for sure.  I'll add one more to the mix i.e., the circle of::

Lots of good looking dancers = more customers - More customers = more income for the dancers = more good looking dancers

Few or no dancers = few customers - Few customers = dwindling number or no dancers

Hope I'm making some sense with the above.

Thanks for your report LD.  My husband  and I have beeen going to Montreal for over 20 years and share your love for the city. We hope that the Village will rebound. 

38 minutes ago, mcbg22 said:

The booths are still open. I read an article in French this week with the new owner of Campus and he was saying they have plans to open a male only club up the stairs.

That would be another flight of stairs.  Good luck with that.  Even now the stairs are difficult for me.

In the past my spouse had to go upstairs and get someone to bring the elevator down to get me.  Is that still the case?  Does anyone know if the elevator is workiing now?

Any idea what "BQ Garden" is?  Anybody going?

9 hours ago, keroscenefire said:

Curious any side effects for those who've taken it? COVID shots kinda kicked my butt but the Jynneos one doesn't seem to have major side effects. Is that right?

Got the vaccine in Montreal on a Thursday afternoon by Friday my thighs were very, very weak to the point of almost falling.  My husband and taxi driver had to help me into a taxi to get me back to the hotel.  Weakness and soreness continued till Sunday although getting better each day.  My husband got the vaccine the same day and his legs were sore but not severe. Perhaps my advanced age contributed to the reaction.

Spoke to several dancers at Taboo who told be they had sore thighs but nothing severe.

Forgot to add that none of the dancers at Taboo do their second dance fully nude.  Some show their dicks but some don't.

We were in Montreal July 14-18.  It was good to be back after three years.

Covid has devastated St. Catherine street.  Many stores and restaurants closed. No balls overhead and it felt funny without them like you were walking along with the roof missing.

Seemed like there were more homeless than in the past along St. Catherine.

Warning many of the banks along St. Catherine close access to their ATMs around 5PM so if you need cash get it early.

This trip we only went to Taboo.  It was pretty empty Thursday, Friday and Saturday with only about 7 twink type dancers each night.  Sunday was a nice crowd for Jerry's anniversary and maybe 12 dancers.  Even with small crowd and few dancers we still enjoyed ourselves.

Some of the dancer's:

Rodrigo - Great body. ABs like steel.  Not very interactive in private.

Emilio - Nice personality good in private.

Candle  - Hot. Good in private. I wanted to do more than my usual two dances. Might try to arrange a meeting next time.

Stevie - Tall. Nice body. Nice cock. Very long hair.  Lots of energy.  Fun to talk to and good in back if you can ignore the very long hair.  Also might try to arrange a meeting next time.

Damian - Very tall and slim.  OK in private but somehow I really felt the transactional aspect more with him.

We did not hire this time around.

Two nice dinners each at Carte Blanche (on Ontario and Wolfe) which offers Table d’Hote for $61 Cdn and is a bring your own wine and Toro Rosso on St. Catherine.

All in all if you like Montreal as we do then go but it's certainly not booming.

Yes the views are still great.  And you can see the shows in the park when they have them.