When we were arranging a trip to Montreal, we sure never expected that there would be major consequences for going in the winter.
I mean, we expected some uncomfortable consequences, such as freezing our butts off outdoors every day.
We weren’t expecting balmy weather or anything. We realized that the weather might be stormy and icy. What we never anticipated, however, was the possibility that it would be more costly to go in the winter. Who would want to go during the darkest, coldest months of the year, afterall? Well, no one. And that’s partially because the cost of staying in the city skyrockets as the temperature plummets. When we started looking at hotels, the prices seemed rather high compared to other cities and the figures we had seen in Montreal before. I wasn’t’ sure if there was a major concert or festival happening that might drive up the interest in renting a hotel room, but in fact, it was nothing of the sort. The large increase in price was due entirely to the low winter temperatures… because the hotel has to compensate for the cost of heating. Apparently they don’t get great deals from the energy company and have to worry about their clients using too much heat in their facilities. If there is a ton of heat pumping into every room, the hotel’s bills increase hugely until the air temperature evens out again. I didn’t understand how it could be such a significant energy expense for them… until I arrived and realized how cold it was. I truly abused the heater in our hotel room, running it at maximum speed and heating power. Thank god it was already included in the price of the room.