Post 30 goes to Montreal: Observations, overview and recommendations.
A full proper trip to Montreal.
My last post was about my first ever trip to Montreal and how much it haunted me. While I do have some field reports ready to go, this post is going to be about Montreal as a city in regards to traveling and game. There is a lot we have to get to.
Why I am doing this.
This report is personal to me. I looked around all over the web and asked around in game communities but could not get any good information about Montreal and its game scene. In some ways, I felt quite lost and misled. Overall, it seemed like local guys were protective of information regarding good logistics or they just gave the wrong information. I wanted to right that.
Initial impressions.
The first thing I noticed while staying near Old Port is the homelessness in Montreal, it was quite awful. My Airbnb ended up being one on the ground floor and I did not realize just how bad of a decision it was. Montreal has a serious drugged out homeless problem that is almost on par with San Francisco and rivals NYC. In many ways, this was so depressing to see.
One difference I noticed in the homeless in Montreal versus the US is just how diverse they were. In the US, most homeless drug addicts tend to either be black guys or white guys. In Montreal, I saw homeless drug addicts that were white women, Asian women, Indian men, and even an Asian guy.
Compared to Budapest and Prague, Montreal was quite dirty. Compared to most US cities though, I’d say that Montreal was relatively clean.
The people of Montreal were also quite nice despite it being a big city. While in NYC, Miami, or most major US cities everyone seems to be on edge and closed off to talking with strangers, I notice during the day (key takeaway), this was not the case in Montreal.
One thing I love a lot about Montreal? The coffee shop culture. So many good coffee shops to get work done in with fine coffee and good food!
Recommendation for lodging.
I thought that the AirBnB I got in the area I did was a steal because it was relatively cheap. I even hit up some local Game guys in Montreal and one of the leaders told me how the living situation is prime logistics and everything. Little did I know of just how bad the homeless situation in Montreal had become.
The situation was so bad that I could not sleep out of fear of some homeless junkie breaking into my AirBnB on some nights. I recommend vetting out your living situation to ensure you are not living on the ground floor of any building.
In downtown and near Old Port, Montreal is flooded with drugged out homeless people. While they do not necessarily harm anyone, you just never know. If you can get an AirBnB in Old Port itself, that would be more ideal than anywhere near downtown.
As much as I dislike St Laurent - Sherbrooke crossing, which I will get to later, you will find that there are far less homeless people. Once you get past Rue Milton, the homelessness tends to die down. You can see the map below if you are lost on what I mean.
The Saint Henri area also didn’t have as many drugged out homeless people as the area I highlighted above. Overall though, homelessness has become a lot worse in Montreal after COVID.
When to come.
A lot of people recommended that June is supposed to be a great time to be in Montreal but I disagree with this. I found that June brought about a punishing heat wave this time around and a lot of rain. I’d say you are better off coming earlier in April or May but then again, I am someone who hates intense heat (despite being in South Florida).
The first time around, Ron and I went near September when all of the college kids were in town but I found September more pleasant. It helps to be able to walk around Mont Royal without having a ton of bugs try to bite you.
The women and dating culture.
Montreal has a lot of Middle Eastern women so if that is your thing, you are in luck. I also noticed a fair bit of French descendants since it is Montreal but it also has a lot of Anglo women from Anglo Canada. From what I was told, a lot of Anglo women tend to be near the McGill area or wherever the colleges are.
Overall, I’d say if you have a thing for fine brunettes and Middle Eastern women, come to Montreal. I am not much of a blondes guy myself so I found that the women of Montreal were overall more to my liking.
Local men and other game guys have told me to be a bit weary of Anglo women in Montreal as a lot of them are prudes and will even go as far as to potentially ruin your name if an approach goes awry. While I did not encounter this, I did encounter certain bad behaviors amongst women in Montreal that I will get to.
Recommendations for game.
If you wanted tourist recommendations, you could easily get those from most sites. In terms of game, I finally realized how Ron and I did Montreal the wrong way. For Montreal, your focus needs to be solely on daygame and online game. I am going to talk more about Montreal nightgame and why it is a waste of time as this post goes on. If you are a Strip Club guy, you definitely need to check out Montreal.
Observations.
Before I got into the nitty gritty of game, I did want to talk about some observations I had.
Minorities, especially Asian and Indian guys, can do quite well here.
I do not think I have been to any other city in North America where I saw so many Asian and Indian dudes with above average looking white girls. The local white women seem to have a weakness for guys who have that Middle Eastern/Mediterranean look. Black guys will also do quite well in Montreal. Let me put it this way, your race will not stop you from getting laid here.
Language barriers.
Some women in Montreal do not speak good English or if they do, they speak broken English. If you want to reap the most benefits out of Montreal, it is time to start learning some French. You can read the history of Quebec and Canada itself but the only thing you need to know is that a lack of French is going to limit your results.
Potential sex shaming and cliquey culture.
Montreal has its share of far left crazies who find PUA and cold approach to be harassment. If you are going to do it, I have been told to do it away from the “McGill Ghetto” which attracts a lot of outsiders from Anglo Canada. On the other end, it is also considered the Vegas of Canada so there is that.
Online.
Due to being banned from Hinge and still working on getting back on it and the major apps, I have been relying on Seeking Arrangements. My tactic is to just find women who are using it as a dating site, they are in the minority but the few who are there are quite chill. I have noticed that on some Seeking dates, I spend less than I ever did on Hinge, Tinder and Bumble dates!
The big dating app in Montreal, however, was Facebook Dating. All local guys I spoke with talked about how it was the main app to be on and one where all of the attractive women were on. If you plan on going to Montreal, I recommend using Facebook Dating.
Daygame.
Outside of online game, daygame is going to be your main area of focus. Montreal is a great city for daygame and I found that the women were quite nice if you went up to them during the day. Ideally, you start to daygame around 4 PM or so. Here were some of the spots I found decent for daygame:
Old Port
Old Montreal
Saint Catherine Street after 4 PM
Saint Catherine is said to have the highest traffic out of anywhere else in Montreal but it is sort of like a Time Square of the city in some ways. Old Port and Old Montreal have a lot of tourists walking around who are there for a short stay but I did number close a local.
The other area I saw being mentioned a lot but did not get to check out is Peel St. From what a knowledgable local Game guy told me, it is where the classiest women of Montreal are out and about.
If you are in Montreal for a bit of time, your priority outside of online game needs to be on daygame.
Nightgame.
In my opinion, Montreal is one of, if not, the worst cities in North America for nightgame. I have not been to any other city where venue after venue was a sausagefest and the guys combative. I’ve nightgamed countless times in Miami, NYC, and various cities and had zero issues but in Montreal, I almost got into a fight because a guy bumped me on purpose. Nightlife in Montreal truly brings out the worst in locals, especially the women.
My advice to anyone looking to do nightgame in Montreal, practice de-escalating confrontations or learn how to fight. Since it is Montreal and not Philadelphia, New Orleans, Miami, Detroit, Boston, San Diego, LA, Chicago, NYC, or even Toronto, the bar is pretty low for self-defense. We are talking about pansies here who are more bark than bite and would get smashed in any other city that is actually gritty. From what a wing I met from Philadephia told me: “A clean jab is usually enough to bring out the French in the local men”.
On the other hand, I am not the kind of guy to get into street fights so just practice de-escalation.
In no other city in the world have I noticed since a stark divide in how women act during the day versus the night. French Canadian women are truly some of the nastiest creatures at night and not in an arousing way either!
Here are some venues and areas that get talked about that any bold nightgamer can check out.
Saint Laurent past Sherbrooke.
The large closed off road for pedestrians and flooded with college-aged kids. Overall, the area has a reputation of being the wildest part of Montreal where fights breaking out is not uncommon. The venues are all sausagefests and have long lines. The crowd is mainly college girls with their cliquey friends who enjoy turning down any guy bold enough to talk to them.
If you are to try anything, I recommend street game. The venues themselves are way too packed and become nightclubs full of pissed off dudes and not enough women to go around. You can imagine how that goes!
Here is a fight video short for your view.
The best way to put it is this way, Saint Laurent is to Bourbon Street (New Orleans) what the CFL is to the NFL. In other words, Saint Laurent is Bourbon Street for those who are too cowardly for Bourbon but are just going around looking for fights.
International District.
One notable venue here is a nightclub called “Flyjin”. I got in line and immediately felt a bad vibe. The place was a sausagefest when it came to the line and the quality of women was overall abysmal outside of a few stunners. I noticed that there were quite a bit of American tourists in the area and the vibe overall was upscale.
I did not even bother with the venue but walking around the streets, some sets could be found. I will go easy on this area since I got out of here fast.
Saint-Henri.
Yes, Saint-Henri, yet another prime Montreal neighborhood. Back in May, a venue opened up in this area called “Riverside”. For any of my Miami folks reading, it is like a wannabe Wharf back in the day (now called Regatta). Riverside deserves its own mention so let me do just that.
Riverside.
Let me start by saying that this is one of the worst venues I have been to in all of North America, yeah, it was that bad! The selling point is that it is more outdoors and that is true but as soon as you come into the venue itself, it is all tightly packed tables. As you can see, this is less than ideal for approaching. On top of this, the place was a sausagefest.
Your best bet to do any sets is towards the back but let me start by telling you that I have not met more rude and arrogant women anywhere else in the world to date. Granted, it was just one night but you could just feel the smug, entitled, and disrespectful behavior through and through. On my way out as I was waiting for an Uber, a drunk guy bumped me from the back and then when I made eye contact, he challenged me to a fight at which point I laughed hysterically.
The guy dared to beat me down until his friends came in. One thing I will say is that Riverside had staff that were decent people but the clients and people at Riverside itself were the embodiment of human garbage.
Saint Catherine.
Saint Catherine is home to a few sports bars and one Happy Hour spot called “Furco”. Once again, the place was largely empty and like any other Montreal nightgame venue, a complete sausagefest. The few women around were average looking at best and had nasty attitudes when approached.
However, if there is a sporting event on, the bar called “La Cave” can be quite the wholesome place. For game however, I cannot think of good venues on Saint Catherine and it does get somewhat seedy at night.
Strip Clubs.
If you are a normal guy like me rather than the self-righteous pickup dweeb, you like a nice strip club. Overall, I found Montreal strip clubs better than Atlanta but below Miami in terms of quality of dancers.
Here are a few strip clubs I can speak on.
Cabaret Kingdom.
Avoid this place at all costs. You go inside and find that the average woman has mosquito bites for boobs and there is very little you can actually do. Quite a few Ukrainian dancers trying to scam you and the quality of dancers is awful. To make matters even worse, the outside of the club is flooded with homeless junkies asking for money.
Chez Paree.
Chez Paree is a strip club which I talked to a few tourist and local guys about. The quality of dancers is far higher than Kingdom but apparently it is a tougher door and more rude bouncers. Overall, it is considered the cream of the crop of Montreal Strip Clubs.
Kamasutra.
Kamasutra is one of the best strip clubs I have been to in the US. The quality of dancers was the best but the door is tougher. My advice is to get there early and get one of those cards the promoter walking around nearby hands out.
Takeaway.
I want to come back to Montreal as this trip was amazing. My trip ended with two lays in a week and could have been more if I had picked my living situation better. I will write more about my personal experience with Montreal in the coming posts.