Montlake is a generally quiet neighborhood in central Seattle. It is bounded to the north by Portage Bay and the Montlake Cut section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, to the east by the Washington Park Arboretum, to the south by Interlaken Park, and to the west by Boyer Avenue E. Capitol Hill is on its south and west sides, and the University of Washington lies across the Cut to the north. Washington State Route 520 cuts through the northern tip of Montlake, isolating four blocks from the rest of the neighborhood.

Montlake has one church, the Greek Orthodox St. Demetrios, and is the current home of the Museum of History and Industry, as well as the Seattle Yacht Club. Also distinctive are the Old Seattle-style brick and wood frame homes of the early 20th century, particularly those bordering the Montlake Community Center. The Montlake Community Club has a distinguished history of grassroots activism--some would say NIMBY-ism. One of their most notable achievements was to help end the R.H. Thompson expressway project of the 1960s. The plan was to run a second north-south freeway through the city, parallel to Interstate 5 but cutting through the heart of Ravenna, Montlake, Madison Valley, and the Central District, taking out the western section of the Arboretum in the process. It was designed as a bypass around Downtown for through traffic. Interchanges with Washington State Route 520 and I-90 were planned and the 520 interchange was partially built, but the project was halted before construction progressed too far. Never-used on- and off-ramps still stand at the north end of the Arboretum as a reminder.

Montlake saw a spike in housing prices and the demolition or renovation of several smaller homes starting in the late 1980s, as tech-boom babies bought up properties in the neighborhood because of its charm, good schools, and central location.

The neighborhood's main thoroughfares are Boyer Avenue E. (northwest- and southeast-bound), 24th Avenue E. and Lake Washington and Montlake Boulevards E. (north- and southbound), and E. Lake Washington Boulevard (east- and westbound).