Montreal Wins Skate Canada's Bid for 2020 Worlds

[skategal]

Marriott Chateau Champlain

I think this is where we were intending to stay. Maybe not now though.....it will probably be blocked out.

 

[clairecloutier]

Traffic in downtown Montreal: How bad is it on a typical day??

 

[kwanfan1818]

Mostly sucks: there's so much construction and blocked streets. I'd hate to be in a car there.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Other than the time the parking lot attendant and then the arena usher yelled at us in French, not understanding that we had no clue what they was saying, it was all good at GPF.

Lol! I hope you had a great time though! The % of English speakers in Quebec City is much much less. I am not surprised.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Traffic in downtown Montreal: How bad is it on a typical day??

Once you get to Montreal, there is no need to use your car. Take public transportation, much less of a hassle, IMHO.

 

[clairecloutier]

Once you get to Montreal, there is no need to use your car. Take public transportation, much less of a hassle, IMHO.

Here's why I'm asking .... I am contemplating a trip up to Autumn Classic this fall. And it looks like the rink for Autumn Classic (Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds) is some distance away from the city center. According to online maps, it would take over an hour on public transportation to get to the Sportplexe facility from downtown Montreal. Whereas driving would take less time.

Any advice? I've also thought of staying at a hotel closer to the Sportplexe venue (if there is one).

 

[kwanfan1818]

Is there somewhere in between you could stay that's still near transit? So you could avoid downtown on the way to the rink, but leave the car at the hotel and hop on transit to get downtown?

There are lots of places to stay in Montreal that are away from downtown. There have to be some in that direction.

 

[Catherine M]

Here's why I'm asking .... I am contemplating a trip up to Autumn Classic this fall. And it looks like the rink for Autumn Classic (Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds) is some distance away from the city center. According to online maps, it would take over an hour on public transportation to get to the Sportplexe facility from downtown Montreal. Whereas driving would take less time.

Any advice? I've also thought of staying at a hotel closer to the Sportplexe venue (if there is one).

I've been a couple of times to Pierrefonds for skating events and always had a car as it was just easier to travel to and from our hotel via the car than dealing with the bus system.

As for where we stayed, one time we were in a suburban hotel right near the rink and the last time, we were in downtown Montreal where our hotel had parking but we drove the car the one day we went to skating (we were mainly there for the Rogers Cup Tennis and took the subway to and from the venue).

So I guess my advice would be if you are going only for the skating, look for a suburban hotel and just drive to and from. If you are combining the trip with visiting Montreal, look into staying downtown.

 

[barbarafan]

Here's why I'm asking .... I am contemplating a trip up to Autumn Classic this fall. And it looks like the rink for Autumn Classic (Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds) is some distance away from the city center. According to online maps, it would take over an hour on public transportation to get to the Sportplexe facility from downtown Montreal. Whereas driving would take less time.

Any advice? I've also thought of staying at a hotel closer to the Sportplexe venue (if there is one).

Hi Claire

The hotels multiples are right off the transcanada hwy around St.Jean blvd. Turn north on ST.Jean until Pierrefonds blvd and make a left onto Pierrefonds blvd.(5 to 15 mins as there r lights)Arena is a few blocks down Pierrefonds. There is a traffic light at entrance to Arena with an arrow for the left turn. On ST. Jean there are MCdonalds St. Hubert bbq..fancy restaurants sushi places Baton Rouge..smoke meat places Starbucks Tims annnd with a little side trip the best poutine in the world at Lafleurs. On the hotel side of St.Jean there is a Wal-mart on the corner with a $ store in the little mall. North on ST. jean you pass a Pharma prix and a Jean coutu for groceries if needed you pass IGA Provigo gas stations SAQ (booze). On the way back you pass Fairview S.C. which has everything .

Pls let me know if you have any other needs.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Here's why I'm asking .... I am contemplating a trip up to Autumn Classic this fall. And it looks like the rink for Autumn Classic (Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds) is some distance away from the city center. According to online maps, it would take over an hour on public transportation to get to the Sportplexe facility from downtown Montreal. Whereas driving would take less time.

Any advice? I've also thought of staying at a hotel closer to the Sportplexe venue (if there is one).

I totally support CatherineM on this one. If you go for the Autumn Classic, go for an hotel in Pierrefonds or around and drive around. Pierrefonds. Buses to and from would take a long unnecessary ride. As a local, I don't think of Pierrefonds as part of Montreal "city" though it is technically since 2002 (with the political thinking of "one island, one city"). (FYI! On the other hand, town of Mount Royal is pretty in the heart of Montreal, but not part of Montreal... Ah, politicks!)

 

[fan]

fyi - i stayed at the sheraton last weekend, it was lovely.

 

[DFO]

I'm also with Catherine M.,BarbaraFan and Chiquita Banana about Autumm Classic competition. There are much more interesting things to do downtown, but if you are there for the skating competition only, traveling from downtown to Pierrefonds is a30-45 minutes ride and traffic could be tough if you are in rush hour. I would choose one of the hotel near the Highway 40 and boulevard St-Jean, 10 minutes from the rink(Holliday Inn, Comfort Inn). But a car (or taxi) would be required unless you want to waste a lot of time with public transportation, this is not an area with subway stations, too far out of the center of the city.

 

[barbarafan]

I'm also with Catherine M.,BarbaraFan and Chiquita Banana about Autumm Classic competition. There are much more interesting things to do downtown, but if you are there for the skating competition only, traveling from downtown to Pierrefonds is a30-45 minutes ride and traffic could be tough if you are in rush hour. I would choose one of the hotel near the Highway 40 and boulevard St-Jean, 10 minutes from the rink(Holliday Inn, Comfort Inn). But a car (or taxi) would be required unless you want to waste a lot of time with public transportation, this is not an area with subway stations, too far out of the center of the city.

If you did come by car lots of parking at the arena...parking at the inns...on the corner of St.Jean & Hymus is the Manoir (a brasserie) which has very affordable breakfasts- I usually get from their spec.menu -bacon(or sausage)egg or eggs served with toast fruit baked beans hash browns and coffee is refilled...for about $7 ish. :lots of other things but that's what I usually get. So it is a 5min wk or 1 min drive from the inns.
I will check out the bus at the arena -I believe it goes to Fairview S.C but maybe it continues over the overpass to the inns. Bus is $3.25 (if you are elderly&have an opus card it is $2.25)
If you want to do a day trip downtown you can take an express bus downtown or 2 a metro...There is also a train downtown which goes to the metro downtown.

Very important....Very nice arena- 4 rinks...sell food (limited selection) however seating in the rinks...polished wood (like a bench) on cement...so no backs like u would have in a chair...Cement steps with no railings...The kids jump all over like jack in a boxes but if you are getting on you need to be very careful...I layer up with sweaters & wear a coat but often sit on the coat to save my butt and I always try to get there early & sit in the top row where there is a railing behind & you do not have to use those stairs.

 

[lexeoe]

amaze that skate canada has yet to issue a PR for this bid win.

 

[canadianskater]

I've stayed at the Holiday Inn in Pointe Claire when I had dance competitions in Pierrefonds. It is so close to a pretty good mall and some good restaurants and Pierrefonds is about 10 mins away.

 

[shutterbug]

@clairecloutier when I attended the Championnats québécois d'été a few years ago, I stayed at the Comfort Inn in Pointe Claire and rented a car at the airport to get back and forth to the rink in Pierrefonds (very easy drive). When I wanted to go sightseeing, I took the hotel’s free shuttle back to the airport and hopped on the express transit bus that drops you off at one of the major subway (metro) stations downtown. Sounds a little complicated, but it worked very well for me. May have been one of the most enjoyable vacations I’ve every taken, just behind the fab time I had at the GPF in Quebec City. I didn’t encounter any language issues at all, and found the metro system very easy to navigate. Definitely plan to head back in 2020!

 

[clairecloutier]

Hey I like the idea of staying in Pointe Claire.

If I go, I may be driving up from the States (long drive but doable, and it would save the cost of a flight + rental car).

Is there a big Metro stop in the suburbs where you can park your car and take the Metro downtown??

 

[barbarafan]

Hey I like the idea of staying in Pointe Claire.

If I go, I may be driving up from the States (long drive but doable, and it would save the cost of a flight + rental car).

Is there a big Metro stop in the suburbs where you can park your car and take the Metro downtown??

Hi Claire.

There is no metro stop in West Island. I have sometimes driven to St. Laurent and parked the car on the street close to the metro and taken it. Depending on how long you wanted to stay downtown you could take car to Fairview S.C park there & catch an express bus downtown & transfer to Metro of where you want to go. As long as S.c is open you would be ok but could get a ticket if you stayed much later...BTW you can walk to the S.C. from the inn. You can drive to a train station and find parking there & downtown train station has metro there.

 

[clairecloutier]

Thanks @barbarafan!

 

[WanderlustTO]

This is good news!

 

[kwanfan1818]

They're selling off all of the swag at big discounts. For orders over $50 CAD before tax, they're including a souvenir program.

The site will calculate shipping to Canada, the US (shipping for my order was $20.45, no tax), and Japan. For other countries, you have to email them for shipping costs.

ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020

ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020

worlds-figure-skating.myshopify.com

 

[kwanfan1818]

And the purple XL T-shirts for both women and men are sold out already

 

[Sylvia]

FAQ: https://worlds-figure-skating.myshopify.com/pages/details

Thanks for bumping up this thread (I started one in the Archives earlier today that not many will see/can access.)

Hope some fans will buy something to support Skate Canada.

ETA: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/skate-canada-releases-2020-annual-report.107358/
From the annual report:

Skate Canada is looking forward to the opportunity to submit a bid to the ISU to host a World
Figure Skating Championships in the coming years. The planning work accomplished for this
world championships is extremely beneficial to the next bid and will serve us well when we next
have an opportunity to host this prestigious event.

 

[Catherine M]

I just bought two shirts--one long, one short. Couldn't bring myself to buy a hoodie when its like 100 degrees outside. Even in "winter" here, I'd never wear it.

 

[Japanfan]

The capacity of those three arenas is far beyond the stated 7,000-10,000 in the RFP.

In the past few years competitions in Vancouver have been held at the UBC Thunderbird arena. I have no idea what its capacity is.

 

[kwanfan1818]

In the past few years competitions in Vancouver have been held at the UBC Thunderbird arena. I have no idea what its capacity is.

It's right on their website:

The venue has 5,033 permanent seats and an ability to house up to 7,000 people for special events including: concerts, sporting events, conventions, speakers, film shoots, and hockey related programs.