Some recent kudos up on Montréal’s trophy shelf include top ranking as the most reputable and leading event city in the Americas, and first place when it comes to hosting international meetings – so we don’t blame you for wanting to come experience it all for yourself. And if you’re looking for a suitable host city for your upcoming event or meeting, then you’re in luck! Our team of sales managers are at the ready to work with you, and now it’s as simple as 1-2-3 to explore Montréal’s events scene, gather ideas and get the ball rolling using meetings.mtl.org. To make it even easier, we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to get you started.
A quick atlas
Let’s get acquainted! Direct your browser to the Planning Tool and you’ll notice four icons in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
- The magnifying glass takes you to the search function
- The heart keeps track of your favourite venues, suppliers, restaurants and hotels
- The suitcase compiles a list of selections where you can also request a quote from our sales managers.
Registering for a mtl.org profile lets you build and save lists, store favourites and also share all of the above with your colleagues and clients. And better yet, your lists will be waiting there for you the next time you log in, so go ahead and get thematic so you’re already ahead of the curve for the next brief.
Venues they won’t forget
We’re proud of Montréal’s varied list of award-winning and unforgettable venues ready for events and meetings of any size. And with our Venue Planning Tool, you can explore the multitude of options on offer – not to mention save lists of favourites, explore the surrounding areas for other highlights and find the combination of factors that’s perfect for you. Start with exploring the following drop-down menus to find the host location you need:
- Type of venue: Does your event require a convention centre for thousands or a hotel with meeting space for smaller groups?
- Capacity – banquet: Whether your banquet crowd ranges from 150 or less to 1001 and over, we’ve got options!
- Capacity – theatre/cocktail: If your needs run towards theatre presentations or cocktail gatherings, this dropdown’s for you.
- Total surface area: Saying, “I need space!” doesn’t mean we’re breaking up – just let us know how much, from 2,500 square feet or less to 30,001 square feet and over.
- Neighbourhoods: Looking for a quick inand-out space by the airport, or something in Montréal’s bustling downtown core? The neighbourhoods drop-down menu will let you pick and choose.
For example’s sake, we’ve created an event called Our Excellent Event and selected ‘Offsite Venues’ under Type for a cocktail event with 501 to 1000 guests in Old Montréal and the Old Port neighbourhood. From the results, let’s add the local history museum Pointe-à-Callière and groundbreaking VR and performance arts centre Centre Phi to our briefcase list and move on.
Suppliers at the ready
If you’re searching for a DMC or PCO, border crossing advice and assistance, or transportation and A/V, our list of suppliers lists the crème de la crème of event service suppliers. You can even book unique touches to enhance your attendees’ experiences including personalized tours and teambuilding activities to take your event to the next level – all easy to find with our handy drop-down sorting menus:
- Subcategories: Looking for Team building activities, technical support, professional convention organizers or specialist incentive travel services? Find what you’re after – in handy categories – here.
- Neighbourhoods: Search by home base neighbourhood, so wherever your event takes place your suppliers will be close at hand.
For Our Excellent Event, we’ve selected ‘Team building, tours and activities’ in Sub-categories and ‘Customized tours’ and ‘Team building’ under Types in the ‘Downtown’ area selected under Neighbourhoods. A/Maze Escape Games fits the bill and full contact info is displayed, so a quick e-mail gets that booking process started. Next!
Accommodations to make your attendees feel at home
From ornate boutique to trusted budget brands, Montréal’s hotel scene is a true winner with something for everyone that you can even sort by proximity to your selected meeting site. The Accommodations Planning Tool drop-down menus are here to help:
- Subcategories: Looking for a hotel, outof-town resort or have something else in mind?
- Types: Pick between hotels and apartmenthotels.
- Rating: Search by star rating, ranked from 1 to 5 stars.
- Number of units: If you want a megahotel with 501 and over rooms or somewhere smaller with less than 100, select your desires here.
- Amenities: Do your attendees desire a kitchenette, fitness centre or parking onsite? Note these requirements here for results that fit the bill.
- Neighbourhoods: Keeping guests close to where they need to go can make everyone’s life easier, but sometimes you might want a bit of variation which you can locate here.
Our Excellent Event is looking for 4 and 5-star hotels, with less than 100 units, in-room Wi-Fi, a fitness centre and a pool in the heart of Downtown. Looking to pamper our VIP guests, we’ve added the 5-star Mount Stephen Hotel to our briefcase.
Gastronomy that will leave guests asking for more
It’s no secret that Montréal is a food lover’s paradise, and our Gastronomy Planning Tool not only connects you with some of the city’s most beloved eating spots perfect for groups, but also calculates the distance from your selected venue to the table. Get ready to salivate with these drop-down helper menus:
- Subcategories: Check out our hand-selected suggestions of Where to Eat in Montréal.
- Prices: Search by your budgetary requirements, starting at less than $20 to more than $65.
- Types of cuisine: Need special catering to thrill attendees’ taste buds? With options running the gamut from traditional Québec eats to exotic international fare, everyone’s going home with a happy stomach.
- Specialities: Here you can sort by some common dietary requirements – such as gluten-free or vegetarian – as well as find some of Montréal’s beloved breakfast and brunch spots or one of the city’s unique Bring your own wine restaurants.
- Characteristics: Need an entire restaurant, private rooms or accessible spaces? Or perhaps you want to charm your attendees with one of Montréal’s famous terrace spaces. Search those options here and get all your bases covered.
- Neighbourhoods: Where you want to eat can be as important as what you want to eat, so here you can pick the general area of town you want to see results.
Our Excellent Event’s food budget is $45 to $65 per person, and we’re thinking New Cuisine or Mediterranean is the way to go with the option of Gluten-free dishes available. We’re looking to reserve an entire restaurant and think it might be nice to show off other parts of town so left the Neighbourhoods tab open. We’ve selected Montréal’s Maison Saint-Paul where they open bottles of champagne with swords, serving New Cuisine, Asian, Latin American and North American cuisine.
And voila!
Click on your briefcase icon and take a look at what you’ve created, all plotted out on a map where you can see exactly where all of your selections are located. Once you’re satisfied, click to Request a quote and get Montréal working for you.
Now all that’s missing is you! Give the Planning Tool a test drive and reach out to a Tourisme Montréal sales manager today.
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