East Coast Road Trip: From Clemson to Montreal

Today, we ventured back to Montreal for the last days of this wide-ranging trip.

Leaving the Hotel du Vieux-Quebec was hard as it was such a nice place to stay. And since we wanted to return the car in Montreal (as there’s no need for a car in the city), we needed to return it by 2pm as that’s when the Avis location closes on Saturdays.

But first, you gotta love the French wordings for common everyday items. These were our supplied shower potions…

Heavy rain was predicted in the northeast including the region surrounding Montreal due to a system coming up directly from the south along with tropical storm Phillip working its way northwest from the Bermuda area. They’re scheduled to collide at some point – hopefully overnight when we’re sleeping.

Google Maps routed us back to Montreal on a highway that’s south of the St. Lawrence River. When we’d driven to Quebec City a few days ago, we took highway 40 which is north of the river. We’re glad that we were routed this way as we experienced the best fall color to date on this trip.

At first, we didn’t encounter any rain but as we moved further west, it became increasingly heavy which required the high-speed wipers and slowing way down for safety and visibility.

There seems to be a lot of road construction happening around Montréal so some roads were closed. Further complicating matters is the fact that it seems like the highways and roads near the city are like a bowl of spaghetti. Add on torrential rain and flooding and Google Maps was completely confused about how to get to our destination. After several attempts taking various routes with white knuckles in the downpour, we finally arrived at the David Hotel centrally located in Old Town Montréal close to many attractions.

https://www.simplissimmo.ca/en/categories/the-david-hotel

The registration and entry process for The David was challenging and somewhat frustrating. Earlier today, I needed to complete a registration process online which included providing all of my information again including a credit card for a $500 hold (despite the fact that I’d already paid for the room via credit card); I had to upload a picture of my driver’s license; I had to upload a selfie of myself holding my driver’s license; and then I had to individually click on each of their “shalt not do” requirements (see below for a sample). I feel like finding some confetti!

The other frustrating experience was the actual entry into the building. This is a hotel with no staff on hand to assist. Everything is done electronically so you’re sent a 4-digit code to enter the building and another 9-digit code to enter the room.

Since check-in is at 3pm but we needed to return the car before 2pm, I’d emailed the hotel several days ago to ask if we could drop our bags off early so we wouldn’t have to schlep them from the car rental dropoff location. They said that would be fine as there would be a staff member on-site.

Unfortunately, by the time we got there around 1, I hadn’t received the codes yet and there was no one on the premises to help us.

Fortunately, I was able to reach a customer service rep and she was able to walk me through the process. Early check-in was a $20 additional charge which I was fine paying considering the weather and the fact that we needed to return the rental car soon.

We got into the room, schlepped our bags up and drove over to the Avis spot which was less than 10 minutes away.

When we arrived, the nice gal behind the Avis desk told me that she’d been trying to reach me but I never got her calls as they were blocked. She said that they were having an issue with their garage where they store their rentals and asked if I could bring the car back to another location about a mile or so away. They were open until 6 so there was no rush but I wanted to get the car returned so that we could start to explore the city. Better yet, it was closer to our hotel so the walk back was shorter. Note to self: find rental return places that are open later in the day. We could’ve spent a little more time in Quebec City if I’d planned better.

The return was seamless and we were on our way in Montreal!

A little rain but it was not cold, we were prepared for the weather and there was no wind so the walk through the city back to our hotel was very pleasant.

On the way back, we stopped at this market right around the corner from The David and picked up a quiche and baguette (what’s more French than that?) as I hadn’t eaten all day and was famished.

The David is perhaps the most unique hotel we’ve ever stayed in.

Entering through the dark and basic door, you really don’t know what to expect on the other side. Until you see this.

Earlier, when we were walking around and casually looking for possible dinner spots, we saw this place and made a 7pm reservation.

We hung at the hotel a bit and headed over – just a few minute walk.

The David is really a very centrally-located, unique hotel right in the thick of things. Our room was incredibly spacious and nicely appointed. Just wish the registration and entry process was improved.