We stayed at Nicholas' Airbnb for 8 nights while attending the Banque Nationale ATP Open tennis tournament.
The positives:
- location: easy biking distance to Parc Jarry where the tournament was hosted
- the food: there is a wide selection of very good restaurants nearby
- the bed was very comfortable
- good internet service
The things that could be improved:
- the seating: the futon was uncomfortable to sit on, the beanbag chair was too soft/too low for older folks like us and the bench was very soft. This might not have been a big deal if we hadn't had to spend as much time in the apartment as we did while tournament play was suspended due to rain.
The negatives
- Parking: the free street parking that Nicholas notes in his listing is misleading: all of the parking spaces on Nicholas' street are either 1) reserved for residents with a parking permit 2) reserved for deliveries to local businesses during business hours or 3) hourly pay spaces (which can only be paid for at a maximum of 3 hours at a time via the city's parking app). While there are varying evening, overnight and Sunday hours when parking is "free" in these zones, Montreal's efficient parking enforcement makes it very expensive to make a mistake (we received an $80 parking ticket within 2 hours of our arrival). We found the most hassle-free parking solution to be the city's nearest 24-hour parking lot on Saint Andre St. ($12 for 24 hours) but this was over 2 miles from the apartment. This worked for us only because we'd brought our bicycles.
- Nicholas' communication: we asked him a total of two questions. The first question (about the street parking - which we asked prior to arrival on our first day and felt was time sensitive - received a slow (next day), terse and unhelpful response. The second question (asked toward the end of our stay) he didn't bother answer at all.