Reviews of Les amis de la montagne (Tourist Attraction)

Yasmine

Great little coffee shop + a clean restroom!

Roger

Great a bit of history and cold water fountain in the basement.

Nelson Therriault

(Translated) Always to revisit. (Original) Toujours à revisiter.

Nadia Rea

Decided to take my children (both under 6 y o) to skate and the queue was really long, and not to mention it was -25 with the wind shield this past weekend. They already had their skates, but I was told I had to queue up to get 2 red bars for my children. After having waited +1hr, we finally got on the ice, and my kids couldn’t skate because at that point they couldn’t feel their toes. I explained it was inhumane to have young children queue up that long. It’s ok being out in the cold while you’re moving, but we were stood queuing. I returned the bars including the skates I decided to rent for myself literally 5 mins after we got on the ice. And they were also reluctant to give me my money back. Why can’t there be 2 queues? 1 queue for skates and 1 queue for bars. It was unfair for my kids to queue up just to get a bar each. They could see I was alone with 2 children. They could have easily turned this negative experience into a positive one.

Élise Lanciault-Breton

(Translated) A trip to Mount Royal has never been so educational and rejuvenating! I recommend to all tourists and also to all Montrealers (being Montreal myself, I learned a lot about my own city) (Original) Jamais une escapade sur le Mont-Royal n'aura jamais été aussi éducative et ressourçante! Je recommande à tous les touristes et aussi à tous les montréalais (étant montréalaise moi meme, j'en ai beaucoup appris sur ma propre ville)

David TEXIER

(Translated) Thank you to Pierre for sharing with us, on snowshoes, his love for Mont Royal (Original) Merci a Pierre de nous avoir fait partager, en raquettes, son amour pour Mont Royal

B M

Awesome tube riding, and skate ring

Jacques Robert Lavoie

(Translated) I know La Maison Smith well since I walk every week in Mount Royal Park. But since this year many things have changed on the restaurant side. Finally, a cash register on the terrace quickly facilitates payments. This is the only good point. The menu has changed but it is often served lukewarm even cold (veggie burger) and super packed. Ok less crockery but more plastic and without offering us a trash can for recycling. Really disappointed with Friends of the Mountain. (Original) Je connais bien La Maison Smith puisque je marche toute les semaines dans le parc du Mont-Royal. Mais depuis cette année bien des choses ont changées côté resto. Finalement une caisse enregistreuse sur la terrasse facilite rapidement les paiements. C'est le seul bon point. Le menu a changé mais c'est souvent servi tiède même froid (burger végé) et super emballé. Ok moins de vaisselle mais plus de plastique et sans nous offrir une poubelle pour le recyclage. Vraiment déçu des Amis de la Montagne.

Jean-Philippe Laberge

(Translated) Super educational exploration with passionate animators (Original) Super exploration éducative avec des animateurs passionné

sisyphe

(Translated) I paid $ 30 for a cross-country ski lesson with no response! every time I called them they would tell me anything. (Original) J'ai payé 30$ pour un cours de ski de fond sans acune réponse! à chaque fois que les appellais ils me disaient n' importe quoi.

Gwenaelle Jouan

Nice historic house with all the commodities : shop, restrooms, Café, exposition.

Tommy Vo

okay snow tubing experience. the queue could have been more regulated at the top because people were cutting

Andrea John-Smith

Inside Maison Smith after a loong walk from the bottom of Mont Royal by McGill University, we enjoyed much needed beers, lovely cafe fare and a pleasant atmosphere. Great way to finish our Mont Royal hike before grabbing the number 11 bus back down to the Mont Royal neighborhood.

graham lawes

Awesome!!!

Khaled Joober

Keep the good work

Cloé

Terrible service at the coffee shop.

Vanic ULUKUK (Timmoco)

Thats the place you park your car before go up to the mountain.

Christian Lecuyer

(Translated) Smith House is a place to go to the bathroom without more, counter service is lacking. It is not a good representation for tourists. (Original) La maison Smith est un endroit pour aller aux toilettes sans plus, le service au comptoir est manquant. Ce n'est pas une belle représentation pour les touristes.

Vincent Cutillas

Great little place to visit while being in Mt Royal

Zhou Toby

(Translated) Children's paradise (Original) 小孩的乐园

Nathalie Duguay

(Translated) A jewel in our city! The friends of the mountain work hard to keep our mountain and to familiarize us with it. Hat! (Original) Un joyau dans notre ville! Les amis de la montagne travaillent fort pour conserver notre montagne et nous familiariser avec elle. Chapeau!

Miranda Stavrides

Difficult reason for being there (loss of my partner) but beautiful location and helpful staff.

Tommy Bernier

(Translated) Magnificent snowshoe hike on Mount Royal. Nice family activity. (Original) Magnifique randonnée en raquette sur le mont Royal. Belle activité familiale.

Philippe BAILLY

(Translated) Great welcome, very pleasant terrace and good food. (Original) Super accueil, terrasse très agréable et bonne nourriture.

younes belaafari

(Translated) A magnificent view of downtown Montreal ???? (Original) Une vue du centre de Montréal magnifique ????

Natalia Banasik-Jemielniak

I had a sandwich which was good but overpeiced

Oriana Bortolazzo Percoco

(Translated) Is very interesting but the restaurant is very expensive (Original) Est très interesante mais le restaurante est très chère

Chris Payne

I love the whole concept of this group of dedicated people. Who else will preserve this Montreal treasure?

Guy Achard

(Translated) Amateurs with a condescending attitude. This is what I experienced this morning at the counter of the chalet after waiting 15 minutes in line in an atmosphere of general discontent with my two children, 2 and 5 years old ..... this big boy refuses me another waffle and me asks to redo the line while my daughter cries and right after giving me the completely cold hot chocolate (twice in a row). He adds a layer of it by requiring me not to stay next to the counter (where there is no one). I will spare you the rest of his remarks. Remove these young people !!!! I-don't care and better close that counter. (Original) Des amateurs à l'attitude condescendante. Voilà ce que j'ai vécu ce matin au comptoir du chalet après avoir attendu 15 minutes en file dans une atmosphère de grogne générale avec mes deux enfants de 2 et 5 ans .....ce grand garçon me refuse une autre gaufre et me demande de refaire la file alors que ma fille pleure et juste après m'avoir donner le chocolat chaud complètement froid ( deux fois de suite ) . Il en rajoute une couche en m'exigant de ne pas rester a côté du comptoir ( là où il y a personne ) . Je vous épargne le reste de ses propos. Retirez ces jeunes !!!! du je-m'en-foutisme et mieux vaut fermer ce comptoir .

William Raillant-Clark

Café is incredibly poor value for money, and worse than that, the service is completely disinterested. Our waitress literally walked off and disappeared, and our beverages never arrived. The only time I've ever felt like walking off without paying the bill (which we obviously never received either,) but instead we queued up like good Canadians behind 10 other people and eventually managed to pay.

leslie l

Beautiful park. Nice cafe. Bathrooms currently not working. There are porta potties.

Étienne Guertin

(Translated) I am 100% for the Friends of the Mountain conservation mission of Mount Royal, and the recent installation of fences to promote the regeneration of several areas. On the other hand, being called out to me during my jogging by a volunteer who begins by asking if I 'think I am better than the others' and who continues by telling me that he finds me 'arrogant' because I take an unfenced track to make room for people walking, it is quite ordinary as a method of raising awareness. (Original) Je suis 100% pour la mission de conservation du Mont-Royal des Amis de la Montagne, et l'installation récente de clôtures pour favoriser la régénération de plusieurs zones. Par contre, me faire interpeler pendant mon jogging par un bénévole qui commence en demandant si je 'me pense meilleur que les autres' et qui enchaîne en me disant qu'il me trouve 'arrogant' parce que j'emprunte une piste non-clôturée pour laisser de la place aux gens qui marchent, c'est pas mal ordinaire comme méthode de sensibilisation.

Guillermo Castellanos

Warm, family friendly and good food choices

Leo Seyer

(Translated) A beautiful little museum, souvenir shop and small counter where soups and other sandwiches are sold (Original) Un beau petit musée, magasin de souvenir et petit comptoir ou sont vendu des soupes et autres sandwichs

Holly Hughes

Beautiful

Jason WD

These people are some of the most self righteous I have come across. We had a conversation with them about bikes on the mountain and their opinion was basically “we can’t cater for every trendy fad that comes along”. Closed minded and self serving. The mountain is a man made public park, not an ecological environment to be saved.

yacine aiche

(Translated) Very nice park (Original) Très beau parc

AviBenJames

Snow tubing here is pretty good for the kids. No to much.

Pierre Desrosiers

(Translated) Nice place for piknik tires (Original) Belle endroit pour pneus piknik

Stop Motion Production Entertainment

Amazing place!!!!

Clelio Neto

Good espresso, but don't expect much more than that

Justin Ye

Nice little outdoor cafe for those going to Mont Royal.

Hesham “Hechkok” Elsaghir

A cosy place in the mountain to relax use the bathroom and have a warm hot chocolate and a sandwich

Lau rent

(Translated) Nice studios for rent in little out of the center (Original) Des studios sympa à louer en peu à l'écart du centre

Gregory Gallagher

Les Amis de la Montagne is home to the non-profit group mandated to preserve Mont-Royal, and as such designs activities such as forest cleanups, bird-watching excursions, skating challenges, and environmental workshops. The onsite museum is the perfect place to learn about the amazing biodiversity preserved here, replete with time capsules, chronology of events leading to the creation of the park by Olmstead, and a collection of period photography, wildlife taxidermy, maps, and scientific facts, figures, and curiosities. the onsite Boutique is the perfect place to buy mementos found nowhere else, including creations of local photographers, writers, and artists. For this reviewer, the asset which continues to surprise me and guests I bring to the Café Les Amis de la Montagne, is the consistent quality, range of offerings, and ambiance of an eatery with no oven, little preparation space, and a continuous stream of customers expecting restaurant service from a tiny team trying to do their best. I have patronized this beautiful fieldstone building, featuring a gorgeous terrace during summer, many times in every kind of circumstances, i.e. snow storm, monsoon rain, hurricane wind gusts, tour buses, school classes, and food critics ad nauseum, and I have never had a bad meal, cold coffee, or careless attitude. What I have experienced causes me to share the great news of the Restaurant Pavilion at Beaver Lake being taken over by Les Amis de la Montagne and their resident culinary magician, Gabrielle Acherman, who will spin her magic in a location sadly in need over the last years. Congratulations to all Les Amis de la Montagne for caring for our mountain for locals, tourists and future generations.

Quinn H

Poor food quality

Cebou Boulard

(Translated) Very good. Staff very welcoming but a bit pricey. (Original) Très bon. personnel très accueillant mais un peu cher.

Hugh Jean-Claude

(Translated) Peaceful, perfect for the family (Original) Paisible, parfait pour la famille

Nicolas Waguet

(Translated) At this moment, the only functional water fountain is here (toilet level), good to know. (Original) En ce moment, la seule fontaine a eau du parc fonctionnelle se trouve ici (niveau toilettes), bon à savoir.

mark mendelman

Very helpful

Suzie Dufresne

(Translated) Always nice to go for a walk (Original) Toujours agréable d'aller faire un tour

Yannick Pahl

(Translated) They should be called the Friends of Cars on the Mountain, since they oppose the closure of the transit of tanks on the mountain. (Original) Ils devraient s'appeler les Amis des voitures sur la montagne, vu qu'ils s'opposent à la fermeture du transit des chars sur la montagne.

Richard Desrochers

Service was nice, the espresso was good but the food was very bad for that price.

Sophie Goulet

(Translated) The slowest service in the world. No more available on the menu. Rudicle. What a bad impression for tourists. (Original) Le service le plus lent du monde. Plus rien de disponible sur le menu. Rudicule. Quelle mauvaise impression ppur les touristes.

Chase M.

Always a great experience at this place.

Tom X

Tourist info, cafe, water fountain and washrooms.

alaila2011 alailai

Very slow

Eddy Resler

(Translated) The path Olmsted a marvel you climb the mountain without efforts we are privileged to have this beautiful mountain (Original) Le chemin Olmsted une merveille tu montes la montagne sans efforts nous sommes privilégiez d avoir cette belle montagne

Yoann Lussier

(Translated) The preservation of a public place is not done by snapping your fingers and it is thanks to this voluntary association that Mount Royal keeps so proud. The hard work and the annual cleaning chore give back to the Park its letters of nobility. (Original) La conservation d'un lieu public ne se fait pas en claquant des doigts et c'est grâce à cette association bénévole que le Mont-Royal garde si fière allure. Le travail acharné et la corvée de nettoyage annuelle redonne au Parc ses lettres de noblesse.

Hugo Haumichtot

Best café atop Mt Royal w/ exhibition on geology.

Marco Caron

(Translated) An incredibly closed-minded organization, essentially made up of financiers and communication people who take ownership of Mount Royal Park and do not want to know anything about sharing access to mountain cyclists. We use the environment as an excuse, but we are not open to consulting planning solutions such as those designed for cities of comparable size such as new york or toronto. Moreover, in sustainable development, we must consider all entrants and exits, therefore, prohibiting access to the mountain, leads us to make an hour or more by car to get to equivalent sites. If we could open the dialogue to the development of a site where the impact is minimal, we could greatly reduce the production of greenhouse gases linked to training outside the island, initiate young people to a new sport and bring a new kind of tourism to the island. We could even organize events or races there. Instead, we prefer to keep the status quo and spend money from public funds to pay police officers who could be used elsewhere. (Original) Une organisation incroyablement fermée d'esprit, essentiellement formée de financiers et de gens de communication qui s'approprie le parc du mont royal et ne veut rien savoir d'en partager l'accès aux cyclistes de montagne. On utilise l'environnement comme excuse, mais on est pas ouvert à consulter des solutions d'aménagement comme celles conçues pour des villes de grandeur comparables telles que new york ou toronto. D'ailleurs, en développement durable, on doit considérer l'ensemble des entrants et sortants, de ce fait, interdire l'accès à la montagne, nous amène à faire une heure ou plus d'auto pour se rendre à des sites équivalents. Si on pouvait ouvrir le dialogue à l'aménagement d'un site ou l'impact est minimal, on pourrait diminuer grandement la production de gaz à effets de serre reliée à l'entrainement à l'extérieur de l’île, initier des jeunes à un nouveau sport et amener une nouvelle sorte de tourisme sûr l’île. On pourrait même y organiser des événements ou des courses. Au lieu de ça, on préfère garder le statut quo et dépenser de l'argent des fonds publics pour payer des policiers qui pourraient être utilisés ailleurs.

Jacques Couture

(Translated) The mountain, its trails, the lake and the Chalet du Mont-Royal are very beautiful places to visit, which we do, my family and I, occasionally (every year or two). So one of our "mandatory" stops is Maison Smith, in October 2018. What a disappointment when we saw the menu completely changed and ridiculously expensive! $ 9.00 for a grilled cheese and $ 6.00 for a tomato soup????The last time we went there was summer 2016 and we had eaten on the terrace and the menu was more varied, with more reasonable prices and good service. Well we just went out and continued our hike without having dinner immediately. Ridiculous to want to steal the visitors and tourists ansi! I understand why in the Chalet there were so many families who had brought lunches with them .... ☹ (Original) La montagne, ses sentiers, le lac et le Chalet du Mont-Royal sont des endroits très beaux à visiter , ce que nous faisons, ma famille et moi, occasionnellement ( à tous les ans ou deux ). Donc un de nos arrêts "obligatoires" est la Maison Smith, au mois d'octobre 2018. Quelle déception lorsque nous avons vus le menu complètement changé et ridiculement cher! 9.00$ pour un grilled-cheese et 6.00$ pour une soupe aux tomates????La dernièrement fois que nous y sommes allés est l'été 2016 et nous avions mangé à la terasse et le menu était plus varié , avec des prix plus raisonnables et du bon service. Et bien nous sommes tout simplement sortis et avons continué notre randonnée sans avoir diner immédiatement. Ridicule de vouloir voler les visiteurs et touristes ansi! Je comprends pourquoi dans le Chalet il y avait tant de familles qui avaient apporté des lunchs avec eux....☹

Amal Midoun

(Translated) At Smith House, the cups were dirty. Despite the remark to the waitress, she poured us into a messy cup! Not even an apology. Finally we ask him to serve us in a cardboard cup. 20 minutes later, another group had the same bad experience. What is very serious is that the waitress is indifferent and did not even deign to check the cups before serving the customers !!!! In addition the waitresses are not at all pleasant! In 25 minutes, there were at least 5 people who were dissatisfied and disappointed with this pitiful service. It’s a shame because the prices go up, the quantity in the cups decreases and the quality degrades alas! and above all we have a hygiene problem !!!! (Original) A La maison Smith, Les tasses étaient sales. Malgré la remarque à la serveuse, elle nous ressert dans une tasse malpropre! Même pas d‘excuses. Finalement on lui demande de nous servir dans un gobelet en carton. 20mn plus tard, un autre groupe a eu la même mauvaise expérience. Ce qui est très grave c’est que la serveuse est indifférente et n’a même pas daigné vérifié les tasses avant de servir la clientèle!!!! De plus les serveuses ne sont pas du tout agréables ! En 25 mn, il y’avait au moins 5 personnes non satisfaites et déçues par ce pitoyable service. C’est bien dommage car les prix augmentent, la quantité dans les tasses diminue et la qualité se dégrade hélas ! et par-dessus tout on a un problème d’hygiène!!!!