Hostel Stays On Tour Dates?

[Necromancer23]

I'm looking to go from Toronto to Montreal and spend a few days soaking up this fine city's joie de vivre while attending Wednesday's show with great seats at a reasonable price. This seems far more appealing than taking the Go-Train into post-nuclear-fallout-zone Hamilton, pay large for an ok or worse ticket, and have to scurry on home prematurely and leave Copps by 11:15 and take cab to bus station to catch the last Go Bus to Toronto.

 

So I'm wondering if any of you have tried making a mini-vacation out of seeing a live show in a place far from your local area? In 2007 a buddy and I did a crazy road trip where we saw the Roger Waters Dark Side Of The Moon show 3 times in one week: Quebec City (Monday), Ottawa (Wednesday), and Montreal (Thursday). Needless to say we had a total blast and we both agree the QC show was the BEST CONCERT EVER! We had hardly any time to check out these places (especially Ottawa) and we stayed in motels for QC and Ottawa. Since it was June and university students were off for the summer for Montreal I booked us a 2 bedroom apartment at one of McGill University's off campus residences and it was only about $75 per night for both of us. Unfortunately, I can't do this again as right now students are still doing exams and haven't left the dorms yet.

 

I looked around at a bunch of Montreal hostels on hostels.com and this really seems to be the way to go! Staying in motels and the McGIll residence in 2007 we hardly met anyone along the way, whereas with hostels based on the pictures it looks like you'd meet piles of people from all over the world to hang out, dine and party with! The going rate is you can book a private room at a hostel with a friend for about $50 a night each or take a shared room for about $25-$35 a night. One hostel is about a 10 minute walk max. from the Bell Centre, so I'm gonna do it!

 

My only concern is my snoring. I can and probably usually do snore pretty badly (remember the trembling glass of water in Jurassic Park? Exactly - that was me snoring, not a T-Rex) and I'd hate to disturb others sleeping nearby. A couple of hostel forums suggest at least warning people you snore so they can get earplugs. I say not only warn people but also buy a few sets of earplugs and offer them freely to all nearby people to have bedside in case needed. Furthermore, ask people to be totally honest with you the next day whether you disturbed them much. If the consensus is you're intolerable to sleep near even with earplugs then profusely apologize to all affected, buy them breakfast or lunch and go get a private room for subsequent nights.

 

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to this trip! Has anyone else done any hosteling (especially in conjunction with concerts) and can offer any advice or caveats? Also any pet boarding tips would be much appreciated too!

[ewblank]

Hey there - this isn't very Rush related - but if you're concerned about your snoring - try these:

 

http://www.breatheright.com/

 

They're snore strips you apply to the bridge of your nose. You should be able to find them at any pharmacy in the city. A small box will run you about $10. My wife won't get into bed with me unless I have one one ;-)

 

Cheers and enjoy Montreal!

 

ew

[JohnnyBlaze]

That's considerate of you... but snoring probably isn't a high consideration for folks crashing at hostels. Also, if I were staying at hostel and the dude next to me offered me earplugs because he said he snored, I'd politely say, "No problem. It's okay" and think he was up to no good while I slept in total deafness. Get the private room if it's that big of a concern. Just sayin'.

Have a good trip

[Snaked]

Edited April 19, 2011 by Snaked