Montreal with no car and a desire for IKEA

July 18, 2007 5:20 AM

In Montreal for business with no car - how to get to IKEA and then post what was purchased?

There are so many things at IKEA that they won't ship. Since my husband is in Montreal for business, I'd like him to go over and pick up some of the things I've been craving. He said he'd go if I could do the logistics for him, as he's busy with work.

Problem: No car and the current size/weight regulations of the airlines.

Because I'm not familiar with Montreal nor the French language, I'm finding the navigation of the STM impossible. How can he get from the Omni Hotel Mont-Royal to IKEA (9191 Cavendish Blvd)? I'm just looking for the stops nearby & connections here. Thankfully, I can read the schedule times. :-)

Then, is there any place nearby from which he could post the packages to the US? (I'd like him to get at least one flat-packed furniture item, so proximity is very important.)

Thanks!

posted by TauLepton to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

The STM does have an English translation of the site, also they have a great tool for helping you plan your trip: Tous Azimuts.
You can do a text search & use the hotel address as the starting point, I would suggest the destination point to be an intersection: Cavendish & Cote-Vertu. The last 2 weeks of July are "construction holidays" here & some of the buses are less frequent. He can walk south on Cavendish from that intersection for about 5/ 10 minutes or so to reach IKEA (it is just over the highway overpass... there is a sidewalk the whole way, I've walked it many times. I live in the area & do not have a car.)
As for a Canada Post location from there, I know there is one in the Uniprix (pharmacy) in Place Vertu mall (at Cavendish & Cote-Vertu); he could take a taxi to IKEA with the item.
posted by Laura in Canada at 5:51 AM on July 18, 2007

from IKEA with the item.
posted by Laura in Canada at 5:53 AM on July 18, 2007

Try this link: http://www2.stm.info/azimuts/carte.wcs?eff=OD&lng=a

This trip planning system (in english) allows you to enter point of origin address, destination address and then calculate the trip (given date and time of desired trip). Use the "text search" option on the left (it's much easer than to try to point things out on the map).

There seems to be many possibilities, but none that doesn't involve some walking. As you may know, Ikea tends to set up in out of the way places. difficult to reach by any means other than car. As for mailing the stuff, same problem.

On the other hand, Ikea stores will do home delivery for things bought at the store. So he could get things delivered at the hotel and find a way of shipping them from there.

Finally, the Omni Mont-Royal looks like a pretty top scale place. You could probably contact their concierge service to help you plan things.
posted by bluefrog at 5:56 AM on July 18, 2007

The Omni is a top scale place. The VPs of the company happen to be in Montreal at the moment & are staying there. So, the travel person just booked everyone from the company in there. :-) Lucky husband!

Thanks for the links - having a trip planner in English is very helpful but named in French, not so much.

And Laura - Taxi! Of course!
posted by TauLepton at 6:23 AM on July 18, 2007

To the OP, are you in the US or Canada?
If the former, I am just curious why you cannot get Ikea items from an Ikea store in the U.S., as the purchasing and shipping from Canada appears to involve rather complicated logistics for your husband. Items can be ordered online from Ikea, and they say most items from the 2007 catalog can be delivered.
posted by needled at 6:40 AM on July 18, 2007

Home delivery from the store to the hotel won't work out since it could take up to 3 weeks for them to deliver the stuff from the store.

To save your husband the hassle of waiting for a cab and finding a place to ship the stuff, you might want to call the store ahead of time and find out if they will be able to arrange shipment (through UPS or other carrier) from the store. If not, since the site lists the box dimensions, it should be pretty easy to pre-plan and schedule the shipment with UPS (or other carrier).

It is going to be pretty expensive to ship the stuff from Montreal to the US. Before you go through the trouble and expense, you might want to try calling IKEA customer service and asking them if you can place an order by phone, either through their call center or through a store in this country, and have it delivered to you.
posted by necessitas at 7:19 AM on July 18, 2007

This may be an aside but if you post links or pictures to the IKEA items you've been eying, it's possible AskMefi'ers can find similar items in US stores that are close to you and/or ship. With the high cross-border shipping fees, you could probably find a more expensive US-based store and still break even.
posted by junesix at 7:46 AM on July 18, 2007

Are you near a metro area with an active Craigslist community? Craigslist's "for sale" listings are just filled with Ikea furniture. Sure, a lot of that stuff is used, but you can often get furniture in "like new" or otherwise very well maintained condition. Might be worth checking into (and you could save some serious money, too!) ...
posted by jacksides at 9:53 AM on July 18, 2007

To get to Ikea from downtown by public transit: "Take bus 202 from Du College metro station, or bus 100 from Cremazie metro station. " (That's from the Ikea website.) A lot of people want to go to Ikea so asking the driver to tell you where to get off the bus will not be surprising.

Since we do not know where you are it is a little trickier to suggest shipping methods. Yes, he could call Diamond Taxi (514-273-6331) and ask for a minivan. If you're anywhere near an inter-city bus station, the Parbus system is one of the cheaper ways to ship things around, but simply getting from Ikea downtown to Station Centrale will cost something like $50, especially as he will need to pay the driver extra for helping with loading and unloading the taxi van.

Shipping furniture items by mail will be ridiculously expensive and I'd have to chime in with the others who are saying there's got to be a better way for you to get the pieces you want.
posted by zadcat at 12:01 PM on July 18, 2007

If I were him I would take the Peel metro station (one street west and one block south of the Omni) westbound to Lionel-Groulx station, walk directly across the platform and take the train north to du College station. From there take the 202 bus. It'll drop him off at Côte-de-Liesse and Cavendish, which is just a couple minutes' walk from the Ikea.

Call the store directly about shipping. I've had local shipping from a different store -- all I did was buy everything and walk it over to the shipping counter -- and I'm sure they can arrange non-local shipping in much the same way. Don't worry, the attendants will be able to speak English even if they answer the phone in French only.

Let me recap the metro directions for you:

Métro map

Walk to Peel metro station, at the corner of de Maisonneuve and Peel. Take train westbound (train will say "direction Angrignon"). This is on the green line. (There is only the green line out of that station.)

Get off at Lionel-Groulx station. Walk directly across platform and take the orange line train northbound ("direction Côte-Vertu") .

Get off at du Collège station. Take the 202 Dawson bus (it'll only be going in one direction since du Collège is the terminus). [schedule]

Get off bus at Côte-de-Liesse and Cavendish. (He can ask the driver to call out the stop for him.)

posted by loiseau at 12:10 PM on July 18, 2007

You'll have to walk a bit after you get off the bus but you can pretty much see the IKEA from there. I do it all the time.
posted by furtive at 3:35 PM on July 20, 2007