Railroad Forums 

  • Cheap Hotels near subway, and passenger rail

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Canada. For specific railroad questions, see Fallen Flags and Active Railroads categories.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Canada. For specific railroad questions, see Fallen Flags and Active Railroads categories.

Moderator: Ken V

 #934030  by njtmnrrbuff
 
Hello All,
In August, I have a trip planned to Ontario and Quebec. I don't know if this is the correct forum for me to post this, but I need advice on reasonably priced hotels within walking distance of subway and passenger rail stations(i.e. Amtrak, VIA Rail, GO transit).
I'll want to stay in the following cities and/or metropolitan areas: Niagara Falls, Toronto and Montreal or its suburbs, and Downtown London.
I'm not going to have access to any automobile. If I choose to stay in the suburbs of Toronto or Montreal, I'd prefer to stay within walking distance of a subway station. As far as staying near commuter rail goes, maybe somewhere along GO's Lakeshore West Line, but it would have to be in one of the last few suburbs before Toronto.

Thanks for the help.
 #934183  by MikeCDN
 
Welcome to Canada's Corridor! I hope that you stay in London first as the other places are far more excitiing. No disrespect to London.

London has fairly cheap hotels in vincinity of the VIA station. They also have a good bus system. So getting around isn't a problem. As well, I suggest eating at the Keg as it's in the old CP Station and you can see trains that constantly whip by.

In Toronto, nothing is affordable. There are a few backpacker hostels there that are affordable if you are okay with that. As you mentioned, you can take GO Transit out to the suburbs to find affordable accomodations. I strongly suggest that you stick to the Lakeshore Line as the trains run hourly seven days a week. Oakville does have a Holliday Inn near its GO Station. You may want to check places such as Pickering and Burlington as well.

Unfortunately, I cannot comment on Montreal or Niagara falls as I'm not too familiar with these places. However, I have had some fun times in each of these cities. They have lots of things to do.

I also suggest visiting Quebec City. It has a great bus system, extremely cultural, great accomodations, great food, and amazing sight seeing by foot.

Mike
 #934266  by NellieBly
 
Well, I found a semi-reasonable hotel (I think it was a Novotel) within a couple of blocks of Toronto Union Station, but that was a few years ago.

In Montreal, I'm told that staying out in Dorval is a good strategy. There is commuter rail on the CP and of course VIA rail trains stop at Dorval as well, so there's a way to get into town even on weekends. Check if there are cheap hotels near the train station. I seem to remember someone posting that there were.

Downtown Montreal isn't cheap, although a quick check of Orbitz turned up a few sub-$100 per night rates not too far from downtown.
 #934282  by njtmnrrbuff
 
Guys, thanks for the rundown. I went onto hotels.com, and saw that are aren't a whole lot of cheap hotels in Downtown Toronto and Montreal, but I saw some. No nothing, less than $100. They are within walking distance of some sort of rail transit. If I stay in the suburbs, if possible, I would appreciate being 15 or less miles away from either Toronto or Montreal. I'll look into Dorval.
I see that the hotels in Dorval are cheaper than downtown, but some in downtown are just as cheap as there. I checked the AMT commuter rail schedule, and on weekends, the service is very erratic. I briefly looked at a bus map of that area, and saw that there are buses that run to various Metro Stations that aren't out of the way.
 #935543  by jwhite07
 
When I'm in Toronto, I generally stay at the Days Inn Toronto East Beaches, at Queen Street and Kingston Road. A few miles east of downtown, but the streetcar is right outside the door and it's maybe a 10 or 15 minute ride. Another option may be the Bond Place Hotel, right in the thick of it in the vicinity of Dundas Square. Neither place may meet your under $100 a night tolerance, but it's a challenge to find a room less than that in ANY city.

I went to Montreal for the first time last summer. We stayed at the Sandman Hotel in Longueuil, across the river from Montreal proper but literally across the street from the Longueuil-Universite de Sherbrooke Metro terminus. It was an ideal place to stay (we drove there and parking was free), but the easy access to Metro was the key. Rates were reasonable given the urban location, and we got a free and quite excellent breakfast buffet and a couple of bar chits as part of our deal.
 #1076992  by SLR 393
 
The AMT leaves from Lucien D'Allier Station at the Bell Center and as you noted has a varied schedule. A more expensive ($13.80 one way) way but with a lot more options to Dorval is the airport express ticket from Gare Centrale - same cost Dorval - Gare Centrale. Bonus is riding along the line into the station and through Cape yard. It is about a 20 minute ride out to Dorval.