Beyond the City Walls
Where Montreal’s vacation rentals are located and what this says about today’s travel experience
A city is a work of art, but it’s not a museum. It is not there to be looked at from behind a velvet rope. There are no guards shushing visitors. Flash photography is permitted and touching the art is encouraged.
We visit cities not to observe them, but to partake in them.
Cities invite curiosity. We visit to discover what makes that city unique. We don’t go to wait in lines and eat at dreary chain restaurants. Memories are made off the beaten path. We visit a city to find the local experience. Explore everyone’s favourite market. Enjoy a latte and a good book on the patio of a tucked away café. Stumble across a vibrant neighbourhood bursting with boutiques and breweries. We go somewhere else to live like a local.
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody… because they are created by everybody.” -Jane Jacobs
A decade ago, to live like a local took some finesse. But as the world becomes more and more urban, so does the travel experience. Travellers are more interested than ever in the local experience and new travel options make this ever more feasible. Vacation rentals services like Airbnb, Homestay, and Housetrip connect travellers with hosts who live outside the tourist bubble.
Apartment rentals represent a rising share of vacation accommodations in Montreal. Montreal is a popular destination for travellers from the rest of Canada, the United States, France, and elsewhere. Visitors come to Montreal for leisure and business, attracted by its bilingualism and European character. Travellers cite gastronomy and architecture as attractions. More than half use the metro system. Visitors compliment Montreal’s ambience, safety, and big events, like the Jazz Festival and Just for Laughs.
A growing number of visitors say they want to get off the beaten path. Airbnb reports that 89% of their Montreal guests are looking to live like a local on their trip. This involves exploring the charming neighbourhoods that make Montreal such a unique city. Holiday renters spend most of their time in the neighbourhoods in which they stay. Unlike traditional hotels, which are clustered in the tourist and business districts, holiday rentals are found across the city. This translates to economic benefits for working communities that don’t usually profit from tourism.
Location is the single most important factor when booking a trip. What we want to do determines where we should stay. If cities have something for everyone, they also have someplace for everyone. The challenge is finding that place. Nexmoov is a new platform that matches travellers with a place in a neighbourhood with the right vibe for them that is convenient for what they want to do in the city.
A map of vacation rentals in Montreal shows how much travel has changed in recent years. The majority of hotels in Montreal are located downtown and in the Ville Marie borough; the majority of holiday apartment rentals are found in other neighbourhoods. The borough with the most vacation rentals is the Plateau Mont-Royal, itself one of the top five attractions for visitors and home to some of the city’s most exciting neighbourhoods like Mile End.
Though the Plateau is much larger in area than downtown Montreal, these figures are not deceiving. The Plateau has not only the most accommodations in raw numbers, but more than twice as many units per square kilometre than Ville Marie, with over 150 units per km2 compared to about 75 units per km2. Ville Marie still has the second greatest density of rentals, followed by the mammoth borough Rosemont-La Petite-Patire and the tiny enclave Outremont.
Those who haven’t spent much time in Montreal might wonder about this disparity. What does the Plateau have that gives it so many accommodations? For one thing, people. A map of population density in Montreal shows that the Plateau is one of the densest parts of Montreal. Downtown Montreal, despite its heavy traffic during the workday, has relatively few residents. If we’re going to live like a local, we need to stay somewhere with a lot of locals. It’s not surprising that the densest parts of Montreal also offer the most accommodations.
Density is a virtue. According to urbanist Jane Jacobs, it is one of the conditions for diversity, that factor that provides something for everyone in a city. Nexmoov is working on mapping vibe indicators like density to help travellers find the place that is best for them.
We’re backing up abstract labels like “authentic” and “walkable” with concrete data based on factors like block widths, independent coffee shops, and commercial diversity, to name a few.
Founded by urban planners, Nexmoov is interested in what makes cities unique and helping travellers achieve the local experience. Whether you intend to discover the city by foot, car, bike, or public transit, whether you want to rest on a quiet tree-lined street or wake up in the middle of the action, we can point you to the best accomodation options across the city.
