twinkboylover28

2 days sooner
 

I'm looking forward to the day when US tourists can fly to and from Montreal without having to take any kind of COVID test upon arrival or departure to either country, or have to prove vaccine status. Hopefully this day will come sooner rather than later.

I'm looking forward to the day when US tourists can fly to and from Montreal without having to take any kind of COVID test upon arrival or departure to either country, or have to prove vaccine status. Hopefully this day will come sooner rather than later.

The former L'Adonis is now called EXPOSE and had been completely renovated on the inside and looks great. It was open when I was in Montreal in July but not that busy. On the other hand Taboo was packed to the point we started feeling uncomfortable because it was before the covid passport system came into effect. Unfortunately the customers were cuter than the actual dancers.  

Good God that sounds like so much work and so very time consuming. The 747 airport bus only goes to Lionel-Grouix? What's up with that? So returning to the airport we have to also take the metro to Lionel-Grouix to catch the 747 airport bus? What about all of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a NEXUS pass? And then the Quebec vaccination passports... Man, I was looking forward to spend a week in Montreal around Halloween but perhaps I will wait until next May 2022. Looks like so many things could go wrong at any moment on so many levels. Glad you had a good time with no hiccups. All of us are eager to hear about your adventures after 2 years...

Good God that sounds like so much work and so very time consuming. The 747 airport bus only goes to Lionel-Grouix? What's up with that? So returning to the airport we have to also take the metro to Lionel-Grouix to catch the 747 airport bus? What about all of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a NEXUS pass? And then the Quebec vaccination passports... Man, I was looking forward to spend a week in Montreal around Halloween but perhaps I will wait until next May 2022. Looks like so many things could go wrong at any moment on so many levels. Glad you had a good time with no hiccups. All of us are eager to hear about your adventures after 2 years...

This is a very misleading film about Ste Catherine Street today. When I was there last weekend, it was fairly humming with activity for a Saturday afternoon. The film was obviously shot early in the morning from the way the sun is casting shadows. At 8 or 9 in the morning, it always appears dead. Except for the liquor truck restocking the bars and restaurants. Lol.
And there were very few storefronts that were empty, only couple I noticed.
And the commentary sucked. Why was he going on about Chinatown? Totally irrelevant. In sum, not worth watching 

Unvaccinated finding it harder to travel:
 
https://news.yahoo.com/international-travel-more-complicated-unvaccinated-181938889.html
 

Thanks for this. I'm m a bit confused by your statement that the street population has shifted east. Ste Timothee is west of where the concentration of activities used to be.

Very helpful info...but way too many hoops to jump through for me to even consider a trip now to Montreal.   

Just returned from my first Montreal trip in 2 years.  It was exhilarating and I'm in a serious post-partum depression.  I hope to post details when I get a chance.
The travel process turned out to be very smooth, if somewhat time consuming.  It's important to follow the Canadian procedures carefully beforehand (see https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid) -- fully vaccinated, PCR test less than 72-hours before departure, use ArriveCAN (https://arrivecan.cbsa-asfc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca/privacy) to fill out questionnaires and upload documentation.   
Some things to know about ArriveCAN. You cannot complete the form more than 72 hours before departure.  If you work with the web form, you also cannot save what you've done and return to it later.   You can save stuff on the phone app (at least on Android), but that app kept hanging on me.   Leave a good 20-30 minutes to complete the process, which involves entering information about flights, passport, etc.,  explaining your quarantine plan (see below), and uploading documentation.
At the airport.  Because all  documentation is checked at the departure airport (no online boarding pass), leave lots of time...I arrived 2 hours early and waited an hour in line to check in.  (I was on Air Canada, but I'm pretty sure all airlines do the same.)
Arrival in Montreal.  The line to border control stretched from the arrival hall all the way back along the corridor halfway to gate 76,  but it moved very quickly to the top of the stairs.  The hall below was completely full, but I was able to bypass that and use the NEXUS kiosks once I hit the top of the stairs.   NEXUS holders still have to see a border control officer, but there were only 2 people ahead of me in line.  Questioning was what I remember from my pre-NEXUS days (why are you visiting?  do you know anyone here? and the like).  The border control officer examined my passport, typed some stuff into his computer, and put a blue dot on the back of my passport (there were other-colored dots he could have used).   When I handed in my NEXUS receipt at the customs check,  they asked to see my passport, looked at the blue dot, and shunted me to the far left lane,  which gave me direct entry into Canada.  From what I could see,  those with other-colored dots went into a clinic area where they were given a covid test (they do random testing on arriving tourists).  If you fail that test, you are required to quarantine, which is why ArriveCAN has you prepare a quarantine plan.
A friend who arrived a day after me faced much longer delays at the airport because a bunch of planes arrived simultaneously.
If you plan to take the 747 bus into the city, you should know that as of August 23, during the hours when the metro is running, the 747 goes only as far as Lionel-Groulx.
Returning to the US.  You must have a covid test no more than 72 hours before your departure back to the US.   This test can be a rapid antigenic test and is pricy (CAD$150).   I made an appointment before I left home (definitely recommended) with https://elnamedical.com/en/covid/ at their downtown location.  It was quick and efficient.  I had the result in my email in a little more than an hour.  Air Canada allowed me to upload my test result and check in online ahead of time, which made my departure very speedy (less than half an hour total from the time I got to the airport).  
It's quite possible that some of this will change as time goes on.  Towards the end of https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/119965-what-do-we-know-about-when-and-how-montreal-clubs-will-reopen/  there is some discussion of vaccination passports in Quebec, for example.
Happy travels!
 

This was bound to happen. 
Tourists were acting like COVID was over when they went down there.  No masks, no precautions, packed dancefloors.

VIDEO OF DEDICATION OF PARC DE L'ESPOIR
 

I'm in Montreal this weekend and the city is packed. Lots of U.S. cars on the street from New York, Pennsylvania, Mass and even saw a Florida plate. The street is very busy and we dropped into Campus early but it was pretty quiet as it usually is. After a late dinner at La Piazetta we went to Taboo around 10:30 and it was quite busy... by 11:00 it was packed. I don't know if there are still 50% capacity limits in place like Ontario has but they were way over that and everyone took their masks off once inside and seated, but seriously there was a crowd of about a dozen people right next to us that kept growing and encroaching on our space. The only saving grace... there were some hotties in the group. Oh yeah, on the stage there were a very limited number of guys who did nothing for me even when naked. 

Nice to see my old neighborhood looking great.😊

Great to see most of the outdoor restaurants pretty busy, especially since tourists from outside Canada aren't able to get in yet.  This is lot more promising then the video I saw from earlier this year. Thanks for sharing.

Get a f&$+@# life.

Yeah they refer to "Village" but from a previous post on here I understand the city now refers to it that way. Anyway the location is great and I am ready to move on to the Hyatt experience. The last year or so the HVAC system sucked and was difficult to get an acceptable room temperature. Other than that everything else was fine, especially the large bathrooms and showers. In the junior suites you got a walk-in shower and a jacuzzi big enough for two or three, which was put to good use.😈

again, you don't know what you post. This only means the land border is closed to Canadians. Americans will be able to drive to Canada starting August 9th. 

Border opens to fully vaxxed Americans August 9th!

https://www.cp24.com/news/canada-aiming-to-allow-vaccinated-americans-into-country-by-mid-august-pm-tells-premiers-1.5511411

Can we go back to discussing Montreal strip clubs?

Back in May of 2016 when it was the Guv I stayed a week on the top floor corner room facing West over Ste. Catherine Street. Most incredible view I've  ever had of the city, especially at night.

I can drive there since I live in Ontario. In fact I've already booked a room and escort for the occasion of the opening weekend.
 
I'll let you know how the new hotel looks in reality. The pictures are pretty but they're still doing the work so I imagine it's a mess at this time.
I'll be the first to mess it up again with my guy. LOL