Stay at the Pension House when you visit Montreal

Where do you crash when you’re playing a show in a random city?

Some friend’s couch/floor/balcony.

Where do people stay on the Plateau when they’re visiting Montreal?

Expensive bed and breakfasts.

That’s changing. For months, the people who brought you Casa del Popolo and Sala Rossa have been labouring away on a new addition to the family. And finally, The Pensione Popolo is open!

Pensione Popolo is a new hotel just upstairs from Casa. I love the atmosphere of smaller hotels and hostels. They remind me of my first year out of high school when I travelled Europe and alternated staying on people’s floors and at international hostels. Both types of crashes have their good points (meeting interesting people from all over the world, getting one local person’s take on the best places to go) and they have their potential drawbacks (dirty, chaotic, unsafe, etc.) I think Pensione Popolo brings together the best parts of all the options for staying with strangers in a strange city. Another Montreal spot that combines restaurant, cafe, and lodgings is Hostel L’Utopik on Sainte Catherine, which also hosts shows from time to time, though it caters more to the backpacking crowd. (Dorm rooms are $20 a night.)

Notable features of Casa’s newest baby:

• four rooms, decorated in the style of “your friend’s apartment,” charming and simple, prints by local artists on the walls, secondhand furniture
• free tv, coffee machine, shared kitchen on separate level
• Casa directly downstairs with delicious coffee, sandwiches, soup, and booze
• hotel guests receive free passes to shows at Casa while they’re visiting
• checkout is at 2pm

And it sounds like Casa is going to start to serving breakfast!
Rooms at Pensione Popolo start at $30/night (taxes in) for a double bed in a single room and go up to $50 for two double beds and a private bathroom.

It’s definitely the best way to go if you want a comfortable stay in the Mile End or Plateau Mont-Royal and aren’t visiting with parents. Every city needs one of these!

Make reservations by phone: 514. 284. 2863, or by email: info [at] casadelpopolo [dot] com

It seems like all I do these days is comment on the new places opening up in Mile End. But here I am. I rarely leave. I would love a vacation. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to find out about the new developments in the part of town I call home. Anything exciting/depressing/curious happening in your part of the arts world? Email your stories to: tessa [at] indyish [dot] com and maybe I’ll post them on the blog.