Talking Allergies

We are planning a trip to Montreal soon. We hope to stay close to downtown. I have been searching online and have been surprised at how many pet friendly hotels there are. We do not want to stay in a room where pets have stayed. We also want to have a fridge and microwave in the room. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
We are looking forward to eating at Zero 8 as well!
Thanks,
Kate

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

Dear Kate.

The Hotel Du Fort is a nice little boutique hotel in downtown Montreal that has some nice specials. There are microwaves and mini-fridges in the rooms.

I'm not sure about their pet policy, so you'll have to ask. http://www.hoteldufort.com/room-suites/index.cfm

If you have any other allergy questions while you're here in Montreal, just send me a PM through this site. (I run the local anaphylaxis support group) Have a great time!

Montreal has a number of full suites hotels that we have stayed at that have full kitchens, living room and bedroom (s) . There are also supermarkets within walking distance and they are all downtown. If you search apartment hotels you can find one that suits your needs and budget. Here are three that we have stayed at:

Embassy Suites Hotel : http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/ ... c/index.do

My favourite. It is like staying in Europe. Older building, high ceilings but all renovated.
Philips Square http://www.squarephillips.com/ They have three other hotels that are full suites hotels.

There is also the Residence Inn: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/y ... -downtown/

If you are out by the airport there are additional full suites hotels

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Mary

Thanks so much for your help. We did a lot of searching online. It was easier to find hotels with fridges and microwaves than we thought but we were surprised at how many hotels were pet friendly. Our daughter had pneumonia earlier in July so we don't want to risk anything affecting her lungs. We decided to stay at the Hilton downtown. It was comparable in price to most others and it is 100% smoke free and no pets allowed. We are looking forward to eating out at Zero 8! We have been cautious about eating out and traveling so far but we know that we need to start expanding our comfort zone!

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

a timely thread---i'm planning a trip to Montreal this fall, and I too will need to cook for myself.

Would love to meet you while you're here, Helen, if we're both available. Are you able to eat at Zero-8?

hi andrea, I'd look forward to meeting you. My trip is work-related, but I'm hoping to be able to stick around an extra day or so. I don't generally eat restaurant food, but I'm happy to eat in any restaurant where I'm able to bring my own. I'll send you a message with my email address and the dates I'll be in montreal.

We ate at Zero 8. We were glad of the food but the service was exceptionally slow. If you are taking kids be ready to have entertainment for them. Also the waiter did not like his tip so he came up and asked about it- just so you are not taken off guard!

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myself: seasonal allergies, chemical sensitivities
son 2007: allergic to sesame and raw eggs
daughter 2009: no allergies
daughter 2011: severe eczema, no allergies

We had a great time in Montreal. We ate at Zero 8 for dinner 2 nights in a row. My daughter loved it! We took pictures of her with all of her dishes. She had the biggest grin in each picture. She especially loved the "lava cake" dessert. I marveled at how they made such rich delicious mousse without soy or milk (coconut milk). As she ate I heard, "Can you make this at home Mom?" The service was fine when we were there. We ate early each night though and it wasn't too busy. The kids just enjoyed looking around and taking in the restaurant experience.

We visited the new science center which was fun and had so many interactive activities for the kids. We went to the planetarium and took a horse and buggy ride around the old city.

The one thing that we didn't like about Montreal was the number of smokers that we had to walk by on the streets. I am not used to being on busy city streets I have to admit but there seemed to be so many people smoking everywhere. As we walked down the street to get to and from the restaurant, it seemed like we were walking through a constant stream of second hand smoke from people walking beside us or sitting on patios. We had to turn off the street after a short time because I was worried about my daughter breathing in all of the smoke.

It would be wonderful if Zero 8 opened up a second restaurant in Toronto!

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

Great to hear this and thanks for the hotel recommendations. I am *hopefully* planning on visiting either Montreal or Quebec City in 2011. Being from Chicago, and being a member of this board, it is apparent that Canada is much more allergy-friendly than the U.S. Kudos for being so accommodating overall and as a culture. I'm looking forward to my planning my trip next year and I will probably be asking for recommendations closer to my trip.

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-N
Allergic to: shellfish, corn, pork, cabbage, onion, spinach, melon, black pepper, cow's milk, dust mites, general dust, ragweed and feathers
Sensitivity to: Egg whites, cinnamon, vanilla

I'm looking to head to Montreal for the first time before long. I'm also looking for a smoke free,'pet free hotel, preferably something outside the downtown core (I prefer easier parking and plan to do some touring in surrounding areas anyway, so the inconveniences of downtown probably outweigh the benefits). I've typically had the best luck with the Marriott chain (all smoke-free), and definitely with newer hotels.

Montreal's smoking rates are definitely way down in the past decade, but I'm always nervous when I hear people say smoking is more prevalent there. I find it very prevalent in Hamilton/Niagara compared to other places I've lived and travelled lately, more prevalent yet scares me a bit....

My single worst allergy on the tests is tobacco, and my lifetime experience tells me cigarette smoke is to be avoided at all costs. It's easier now than in the past, except when it comes for finding housing, at least in Ontario, where provisions for enforcing non smoking clauses in apartments, Townhomes, etc. is quite weak.

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My allergy story -- early/mid 30s male, allergic to tobacco (and cigarette smoke), grass, mold, weeds, cats, horses, cows (really!).

Queen Elizabeth hotel (Fairmount) has a "casual" restaurant and they will cook for food allergies - they've done it for us before and we're going again in March and they said talk to the kitchen when we arrive.

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myself: seasonal allergies, chemical sensitivities
son 2007: allergic to sesame and raw eggs
daughter 2009: no allergies
daughter 2011: severe eczema, no allergies

Queen Elizabeth - some rooms are smoking...

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myself: seasonal allergies, chemical sensitivities
son 2007: allergic to sesame and raw eggs
daughter 2009: no allergies
daughter 2011: severe eczema, no allergies