I’ve mentioned my favourite hostel Montreal Centrale in my post about Montreal itself, but I have decided it deserved a special mention. Montreal Centrale was, by far and away, the best hostel I have stayed in in the Northern Hemisphere. During my time there (around 2 weeks in total) I met fantastic people, formed strong friendships, and had a great time. I helped in the Bar, organised pub crawls, cooked, moved furniture, lounged on couches and relaxed in the back courtyard.
Their setup is fantastic. The place used to be a hotel catering for “dubious business types” and has recently changed tack to catering for travellers and backpackers and the budget conscious. This is great because the hostel still has great hotel throwbacks, like clean rooms with TV’s and DVD players and ensuites in each, clean fresh linen, a pile of towels (hand, face, body) waiting for you on your bed at check in, great service and a pleasant atmosphere. The staff are very friendly always willing to come for a drink and entertain the clients.
I can’t thank Francisco, Joshue, Anna, Ben and the rest of the crew enough. If it weren’t for their welcoming smiles and open arms this hostel would have faded into my memories like so many others before it. They have created an environment that is extremely difficult NOT to make friends and meet people in and that is perhaps the most important part of any hostel experience. I met some people I wont ever forget here, and I owe a lot to the staff for enabling me to do so. Should I ever return to Montreal, which I definitely hope I do, Montreal Centrale will be my residence of choice.
If you’re wondering the significance of the image above, this awesome piece of art is what I marvelled at each morning across the road from the entrance of the hostel. Montreal is full of awesome graffiti.
