Business Lounge; An Old Port Hot Spot That Won’t Disappoint
Located in Montreal’s Old Port district, Business Lounge offers an ambiance similar to the many nightlife establishments nearby. At first sight, one would feel like having just walked into a bourgeois’ dining room. However, its level of elegance and class make this venue stand out from the rest while still offering drinks at affordable prices.
Its modest entrance opens up to a narrow and deep, dimly lit room. The doorman and efficient bartenders greet you in a friendly manner, a characteristic seldom seen in Montreal’s busy hot spots. With two floors open on a Saturday night and the many festivities being held in the neighborhood, there was no problem in finding a seating place for all sized parties. The interior decor reminisces of the centennial-type architecture complete with dark wood wall paneling, burgundy velour banquets and black iron chandeliers that give a somber, yet intimate mood. The latter also enhances a feeling of intoxication without having to down half a bottle of Grey Goose. The dark vintage furniture contrasts with the bar’s metallic industrial look. This change in décor is interesting and mixing up your surrounding made the venture for drinks that much more exciting.
A quaint dance floor placed near the bathrooms serves for the select few who chose to get their groove on in an establishment best suited for sit-downs and friendly conversations. With good music pumping throughout the place without it being over-drowning, Business Tapas & Lounge is a spot I highly suggest to check out whether it’s for a quick drink with a partner, a night out with a large group of friends, and everything in between.
Pros
- Friendly staff
- Good prices
- Elegant décor
- Many mirrors on the walls (for the ladies)
Cons
- Secluded location
- Small dance floor
- Slightly younger crowd (age 20-25)
Montreal Needs Better Shisha Lounges
Is it just me or is every shisha/hookah lounge in Montreal a ghetto? What happened to smoking in a respectable atmosphere, such as Stogies or Whiskey Cafe? I don’t know about everyone else, but the majority of the lounges in Montreal are a dump in my opinion. Honestly now, the place I last went to (which will go unnamed for now) had the stench of body odor in the air. Surely this isn’t the establishment”s fault, but there should be some ventilation going on in there. Another place I once went to on Decarie Blvd. looked like a broken down fast food restaurant that basically served tobacco. The worst place I’ve been to had holes in the walls with a small couch trying to hide them. Clever. Bravo.
The nicest lounge I’ve been to that definitely had some class was called Suite 3930 on St-Laurent boulevard. It was nicely decorated, the staff was friendly and the music wasn’t loud at all. You could actually sustain a conversation with a friend without having to shout in each others ears. The prices were decent too, and the shisha itself was the best I’ve had in Montreal (besides my creations…). The owner eventually made his business private and only approved certain guests to come in (basically a private shisha lounge, a first of its kind). Sadly, this place literally disappeared the following day when I tried to go for a second round of smoking after being 6 months or so open. Their phone lines were cut off, doors bolted shut, curtains over the windows… it was all tell-tale signs of abandonment. I suspect the owners fled the country for whatever reason(s), most likely avoiding taxes or they might not have had the appropriate smoking licenses in place to run such a joint.
For the longest time, a friend of mine and I discussed the possibility of opening up our own shisha lounge for kicks. We’d design the place to be comfortable, modern and overall be fresh. Comfortable couches and chairs would be the norm (ones with cushion at that) proper ventilation all around to keep the air circulated & clean, have a dress code in effect, and definitely serve the finest tobacco out there: Al Fakher of course. Montreal wouldn’t know what’s coming to them, and we’d seriously have a nice niche going, serving more mature and higher-end clientèle. Of course, this dream got shattered once we found out that we couldn’t get a smoking permit anymore. Too bad.
Moomba: yeah, I know, it’s in Laval
When it first opened, Montreal promoters used to hold bets on how long it would take for Moomba to close down. Funny thing is, Moomba outlasted not only the clubs those promoters represented, but the promoters themselves! The fact is that Moomba redefined clubbing and introduced the supper club concept in the Montreal area.
The question is: What is the secret to Moomba’s success? I think it’s a combination of many things:
- Good food and good music
- Large, spacious and nicely decorated
- Free and abundant Parking: It’s in a shopping center, so that explains it
- Bouncers who actually do their job: You will never see teeny boppers in this joint
- Great shows and special events that are always out of the ordinary
- Great management and the ever-so sociable Jack
There are probably some other reasons that I’m forgetting or ignoring, but this place is all about Montrealing, even if it’s not physically on the island.
Altitude 737 – What the hell happened?
I don’t want to sound like a ” back in my days” kind of person but what the hell happened to 737? This place is the prime location for a club in Montreal and for some reason it has become a dump! In case you didn’t know, this club is on the top floor of the Ville Marie building, the highest peak in Montreal; the one with the rotating light on it.
The people running this place are simply incompetent ! I stopped by the place the other day and the place looks like its been vandalized. This used to be one of the only clubs in Montreal that looked good even when the lights were on! There are dozens of promotion teams out there that I’m sure would love to fill this place up with Montreal’s hottest and sexiest. Somebody should take over this place and run it like it deserves to be run. All it takes is a good DJ, a reputable promoting team and the location will do the rest. The sooner this is done, the better. Summer is on the way and I can already see the hundreds of people partying it up on that huge terrace, which believe it or not, even had a pool in it !