Times below are Montreal time (EST/EDT), which is UTC-4. It seems your local time setting is ““. If you are an online participant at the conference, be sure to get the time right by using a
time conversion tool.

The following information and links are provided to help the conference participants plan their travel. Any pricing information provided is subject to change.

Venue

Le Nouvel Hotel,
1740 Boul. René-Lévesque Ouest O,
Montreal, Quebec H3H 1R3,
Canada

Phone: +1 514 931 8841

Airport

Montreal airport is the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) – 10 miles from the venue.

Transport from Montreal Airport to the downtown area

Taxi

Taxis from YUL to downtown operate on a fixed rate of CAD$50 and are available 24/7 (CAD$57 after 11pm). Taxis can be found at the official taxi stand in the arrivals area. No booking is required, though pre-booking is possible. Visit the official website.

Uber

Rideshare apps like Uber are generally door-to-door and often cheaper than taxis during off-peak hours, typically running CAD$25–40 to downtown. Follow the in-app pickup instructions at the airport’s designated rideshare area.

Bus – STM 747 Express (most economical)

The 747 Express Bus runs 24/7 between YUL and downtown Montréal, with tickets around CAD $11 and a travel time of roughly 40–60 minutes depending on traffic. The ticket also grants access to the Metro system (subway) for up to two hours from the first scan.

There are 2 distinct bus lines. The 747-1 and the 747-2.

The 747-1 bus line will make a stop a few meters from the Le Nouvel Hotel, which would be the easiest. If you miss the stop, reach the last stop then take the Metro green line, toward Angrignon. Stop at Guy-Concordia station.

The 747-2 will connect with the Metro system at the Lionel-Groulx station. From there, take the green line toward Honoré-Beaugrand.

Visit the bus details page on the airport website.

The closest Metro station from the Le Nouvel Hotel is the Guy-Concordia station, on the Metro green line.

Montreal Hotels and alternatives

This section will be updated soon…

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Attached have been such philosophies and practices as traditionalism, Sufism, contemplative Christianity, ecstatic dancing and free love, wineries, acting, and more. Of course, Gurdjieff himself may have been a bit of a bricoleur, hinting for the curious about Tibet, Egypt, hidden monasteries in the Caucasus, providing all sorts of avenues of exploration, argument and identification. None of it has been objectively provable, although people have taken some of the writings, especially Meetings with Remarkable Men, as somewhat biographical. Indeed a movie was made by Peter Brook, appearing to support this view. But Gurdjieff himself stated that his system was from the ’knowledge of the West and the wisdom of the East’ not any particular place. 

Gurdjieff has had many legitimate heirs, students who have taken his teachings in their fullness out to many more.  Among those are Jeanne De Salzmann, Wim Nyland, JG Bennett, Jane Heap, George & Helen Adie in Australia, John Sinclair, Lord Pentland, Pierre & Vivian Elliot, Rina Hands and many, many more. Today, a good deal of those who profess to follow Gurdjieff’s teaching  come to it through reading In Search of the Miraculous by Petr Ouspensky, as well as the above practitioners, many of them authors in their own right. So, who reads Gurdjieff anymore in his original writings, something he stated was a necessary component of this Fourth Way work? Indeed, the magnum opus, Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson, was written to ‘bury the dog’ exceedingly deep. It contains nearly 1300 pages of sometimes unintelligible neologisms, run-on sentences and fantastic characters who tell stories with no discernable plot. In today’s lexicon, it would be called a hot mess.

The movements, the series of choreographed exercises to music, has been extensively used by both legacy groups and appropriated by those with less knowledge, as they are a way of working on radical attention that produces some of the palpable energy needed in inner work. One can see examples on YouTube , some true to form, some awkward, and some pure silliness, drama and fantasy, obviously without the inner teachings that are transmitted orally. Indeed, Gurdjieff at the end of his life called himself a ‘teacher of dancing’, as if the movements were the icing on his multi-layered cake that brought all together in a whole. I can attest, having just returned from a movements intensive with young people in this Work which was, for many, their first experience. Those youngsters made connections to their practices that hitherto fore had been inaccessible and the energy was infectious. It was delightful.

However, Beelzebub remains opaque to many and yet it is the one of the ‘Obligolnian Strivings’ (Gurdjieff’s 5-part explanation of the teaching when humans were normal) that one must read it as it contains: “The conscious striving to know ever more and more about the laws concerning world-Creation and world-Maintenance” This is the formulation that Gurdjieff put in Beelzebub, which he wrote while recovering from an automobile accident. Indeed, this huge piece of writing was the center for many years of Work effort by the group surrounding Gurdjieff in Paris. Louise March, part of the team that was dictated to and who rewrote, translated, parsed and then rewrote again, said emphatically that Gurdjieff was the ‘master of exactitude’, demanding that his teaching, while deliberately obscured, was complete in the text.

To the groups that surrounded Gurdjieff following its tentative completion, chapters were read aloud. There was no reported commentary by the author. However, there are anecdotal reports that the book was discussed late at night in cafes and hotel rooms as well as pondered as was encouraged. Each student took away their own impressions of the text, sharing with others and many later in life wrote books with their impressions, conclusions and interpretations. Many of those ‘grandchildren’ of Gurdjieff, to whom the book is addressed, have read only those books as Beelzebub remains a far field and perhaps a life-long pursuit and there are simpler, more accessible accounts.

However, there are those who insist—as did Gurdjieff in ‘Meetings’, that the later accounts are in fact, journalism per se. This is not to disparage those efforts which, to many, have been useful. But indeed, they are not the words of the progenitor of the Fourth Way. Is there a reason now, in the world of ‘cut-and-paste’- teachings and AI to actually go back and see what was said, see what it means to oneself and see what it takes to gather this experience?

Because experience it is. Although Gurdjieff’s writings are contained in four books, Herald of the Coming Good (withdrawn by Gurdjieff), Meetings with Remarkable Men, Life is Real Only then, when ‘I am”, and All and Everything, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, it is the latter that daunts many a reader. Yet, this work, (called the Work) implies that efforts must be made and that the laws needed to learn one’s place in the scheme of things are contained in the book itself, although buried deeply. To literally delve into the book requires patient work.

Obviously, those New Age gurus around would not associate themselves with Gurdjieff’s name unless there were real meat to be had. All the nutrition is not contained solely in the movements, or the ideas, although, like the proverbial layered cake, each has its force and each provides an element in the panoply. Not all the practices can be found in a book. But the efforts required to be a reader and share with others those efforts have special rewards, not just found in the text but in the action of doing.

Of course, there are still traditional groups who read the text assiduously, although they too, are aging out in many places. They are also hard to find in some areas of the world. Online groups who try to teach the book as “the Work” are without the context that physical proximity provides, nor can they truly provide that richness of the companion practices, of physical work, movements classes, group sittings and face-to-face thematic discussions. However, something can be conveyed when working with those to whom the parsing is a practice as well as an effort. Most require some sort of introduction and do not recruit.

However, there is one venue yearly which is open to everyone. The All and Everything Conference, three days of studies, individual and group into the writings, finished last month. Begun in 1996 in the UK as ‘Companions of the Book” this conference has been going for 28 years now. Alternating between Europe and the US, it is a place where people can gather, listen to individual papers into the writings of Gurdjieff and participate in group readings with facilitators. The papers and question and answer sessions are rich in far-ranging discussions and shared insights. However, it is the groups study sessions of particular writings of Gurdjieff that can be a boost to the effort needed to tackle Beelzebub.

As again, Louise March, in her book, The Gurdjieff Years, recalled Gurdjieff as ‘the master of exactitude.”  It is not just the text, the fractured story and the characters and their conversations that are the root of the teaching but the complex syntax, run-on sentences, weird made-up words from a variety of languages and linguistic morphology. There are those who profess that the very act of reading aloud gives a deeper understanding as the very sounds have effect—these are works of multilayered experiences beyond the usual ‘this means this’ associative thinking.

So why read Gurdjieff? Perhaps because the water at the spring is purer than downstream. You choose where to drink.

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The following information and links are provided to help the conference participants plan their travel. Any pricing information provided is subject to change.

Venue

The Queens Hotel
New Station Street City Square,
Leeds LS1 1PJ,
United Kingdom

! If you book your accommodation at The Queens Hotel, please inform them that you will be attending the conference so they can provide snacks and drinks.

Airports

The closest airport is Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) – 8 miles from the venue however does not offer direct flights to the US.
Manchester Airport (MAN) is located 55 miles from the venue , it is a major international airport , easily accessible by train (from the airport itself) or car, and offers direct flight to 10 cities in the US including NYC, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and more.
Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) (Now Teesside International Airport), Humberside Airport (HUY) and East Midlands Airport (EMA) are smaller regional airports offering a smaller selection of flights and are located 61 miles, 74 miles and 85 miles accordingly.

Transport from Leeds Airport to Leeds City Center

• Taxi (£20–£30)
• Uber (£15–£30)
• Bus – Flying Tiger Bus Service (Number 757) Route Number: FLYER A1, operates regularly between the airport and Leeds train station which is right by the venue (£2).

Transport from Manchester Airport to Leeds City Center

• Train – the train station is located in the airport itself, TransPennine Express offers direct services between Manchester Airport and Leeds (£5-23).
• Taxi  – The journey typically takes around 1 hour, Expect to pay around £100-£150 for a standard saloon car.
• Uber (£80-£100)
• Bus – There are several bus options available from Manchester Airport to Leeds City Center, with National Express being the most common provider. The journey takes approximately 2 hours and costs around £15-£22.

Leeds Hotels and alternatives

Charges are based on projected costs for the 4 nights between April 30 and May 4, 2025, from Booking.com. Hotels closest to the venue are listed first. Distance is measured by car unless otherwise stated. Links are provided to the official websites of the hotels or their operators.

The Queens Hotel (The venue) ★★★★

City Square, Leeds, LS1 1PJ, United Kingdom
+44 113 243 1323
Estimated rate: $593
https://www.thequeensleeds.co.uk/

Park Plaza Leeds ★★★★

Boar Lane, City Square, Leeds, LS1 5NS, United Kingdom
+44 333-400-6144
Distance:   0.1 mi/3 min by foot or 1.8 mi/8 min (car)
Estimated rate: $538
P – Off-site public parking is available (20% discount with code PPLDS20), pre-booking is required.
https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/park-plaza-leeds

Quebecs ★★★★

9 Quebec Street, Leeds, LS1 2HA, United Kingdom
+44 113 244 8989
Distance: 2 min 0.1 mi by foot or 0.2 mi by car
Estimated rate: $656
P – Limited on-site private parking is available (£20 per day), reservation is not possible.
https://quebecshotel.co.uk/home/

Novotel Leeds Centre ★★★★

4 Whitehall, Whitehall Quay, Leeds, LS1 4HR, United Kingdom
+44 113 242 6446
Distance:   0.2 mi/5 min by foot or 2 min by car
Estimated rate: $586
P – On-site private parking is available (£15 per day), reservation is not possible.
https://all.accor.com/hotel/3270/index.en.shtml

Dakota Leeds ★★★★★

8 Russell Street, Leeds, LS1 5RN, United Kingdom
+44 113 322 6261
Distance:   0.2 mi/5 min by foot or 0.5 mi/4 min by car
Estimated rate: $928
https://dakotahotels.co.uk/leeds/

Leeds Marriott Hotel ★★★★

4 Trevelyan Square, Boar Lane, Leeds, LS1 6ET, United Kingdom
+44 113-236-6366
Distance:  0.3 mi/6 min by foot or 1.6 mi/9 min (car)
Estimated rate: $607
P – Off-site public parking is available (£17.50 per day), no reservation is required.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lbadt-leeds-marriott-hotel/rooms/

Radisson Blu Hotel, Leeds City Centre ★★★★

The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 8TL, United Kingdom
+44 113 236 6000
Distance: 0.3mi/8 min by foot or 0.8 mi/6 min (car)
Estimated rate: $781
P – Off-site public parking is available (£19.18 per day), reservation is required.
https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-blu-leeds

Crowne Plaza Leeds, an IHG Hotel ★★★★

Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4DL, United Kingdom
+44 113 531 3200
Distance: 0.4mi/4 min
Estimated rate: $587
P – On-site private parking is available (£17.50 per day), no reservation is required (some room reservations include the parking at no additional cost).
https://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/leeds/leeuk/hoteldetail

Malmaison Hotel Leeds ★★★★

Sovereign Quay / Bridge End, Leeds, LS1 4AG, United Kingdom
+44 113 426 0047
Distance: 8 min 0.4 mi by foot or 1.6 mi by car
Estimated rate: $704
https://www.malmaison.com/locations/leeds/

ibis Leeds Centre Marlborough Street ★★

23 Marlborough Street, Leeds, LS1 4PB, United Kingdom
+44 113 396 9000
Distance: 0.7mi/5 min
Estimated rate: $343
https://all.accor.com/hotel/3652/index.en.shtml

ibis Styles Leeds City Centre Arena ★★★

Wade Lane, Leeds, LS2 8NJ, United Kingdom
+44 113 831 4530
Distance: 1 mi/7 min
Estimated rate: $552
P – Off-site public parking is available (£10 per day), no reservation is required.
https://all.accor.com/hotel/9687/index.en.shtml

Hampton By Hilton Leeds City Centre ★★★

1 Gower Street, Leeds, LS27BP, United Kingdom
+1-800-426-7866
Distance: 1.3mi/8 min
Estimated rate: $456
P – On-site public parking is available (£20 per day), no reservation is required.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lbaukhx-hampton-leeds-city-centre/

Lodging alternatives

Alternative lodging websites like Vrbo or Airbnb can also be checked for availability near The Queens Hotel, in Leeds.

Times below are United Kingdom time “BST”, which is UTC+1. It seems your local time setting is ““. If you are an online participant at the conference, be sure to get the time right by using a time conversion tool</a >.