FAQs

Question

Do I have to speak French?

Answer

You'll be greeted in French. Respond back with a "bonjour" and most Montrealers will recognize your accent and switch to English. (Unless you're actually good at French.) A little effort goes a long way. You know "Bonjour" and "Merci", use them and you'll be fine. Almost everyone is bilingual and doesn't mind English. But that said, don't speak French unless you can. The expectation is that you're bilingual if you go that route.

Question

What do I do with my kids?

Answer

The William Gray's offering us an extra hospitality suite that we plan to convert to a kids area, so they can have a space to chill out, play with toys or watch a movie. The kids meals will be vegetables, a choice of a breaded chicken breast or burger, and ice cream.

Question

What's the deal with bagels?

Answer

Montreal developed its own style of bagels and you should try. They're smaller, sweeter, and baked with a crispier crust than the bagels commonly found in the US. The two most famous bagel shops are Fairmount and Saint-Viateur (with multiple locations each).

Question

Do I need to rent a car?

Answer

Nope. Montreal is very walkable and has a great public transit system. Uber's available (and pretty cheap).

Question

Are street signs written in English?

Answer

Nope! While the city is bi-lingual, all street signs in Montreal are ONLY in French! Montreal has fairly complicated parking laws, so it's good to know French if you plan on parking on the street.

Question

Can I drive to Montreal?

Answer

Sure, with a valid US Driver's License and passport. If taking a personal car to Canada, we recommend getting a "Canadian Non-Resident Interprovincial Motor Vehicle Liability Card". It's a yellow card that you can request from your car insurance company proving that you have good insurance. We got it from GEICO for free, but it took about 2 weeks to process.

Question

What's a BIXI Bike?

Answer

Glad you asked. It's Montreal's bike-share program. For a few bucks a day, you can use your credit card to rent bikes that are stationed around Montreal. Their program has been exported to cities around the US. If you're familiar with Citibike in NYC or Divvy in Chicago, you already know how to use BIXI.

Question

Are people nice?

Answer

Yes. It's Canada. But only if you're nice, too. (The current US president is not very popular in Quebec. Let's talk about the weather and avoid politics.)