Fairmont Tremblant
Nov 20, 2011, 7:36 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: Hhonors Diamond, Fairmont Platinum
Posts: 371
Fairmont Tremblant
As a longtime Hilton fan, this is my first stay at a Fairmont property. As I noticed it doesn't have its own thread, I decided to share my observations.
Location:
Its located about 130km (81 miles) north of Montreal which will take you about 2 hours depending on traffic. It also about 140km (87 miles) north east of Ottawa. Its located in the Laurentian mountains at the base of the Mont Tremblant Ski Hill. Any mountain view rooms will offer beautiful views of the mountain; our corner room offered a view of the waterfall cascading down the mountain as well as deer every morning.
This is largely a popular skiing destination but offers hiking trails and plenty of other things to do during the summer. Rates are typically lower outside of the ski season.
The hotel is just on the other side of the Mountain from the Mont Tremblant Casino. There is a free bus shuttle that can take you there, or you can walk through the small village and take a enclosed (and free!) chair lift over the mountain to the casino.
Checkin & Parking
There is no free or even self park on site. A few hundred feet down the street there is a free municipal lot. Otherwise your only solution onsite is valet parking. I'm unsure if they park any of the cars inside, but otherwise valet parking consists of them moving your car a few feet and parking it outside the front entrance round point.
The bellman asks for your name on arrival and by the time I had my bags out of the car they had my valet tag ready and everyone seemed to know my name.
At the front desk there was no lineup and our room keys were already.
The Room
I would have liked to try a Gold room, but there were none available. Our room was located on the 6th floor (the hotel has 7) in the corner with a great view of the mountain. The room was classified as ''Deluxe King NS Spacious Room'' +/- 400 square feet with a sofa bed. Being near the top the ceiling has a dormer look. The room is equipped with a flat screen TV and the sofa opens up into a bed. As we arrived late it was very dark, so the color is off a bit.
View from the room
Hard to see on the small image, but deer eating on the mountain side.
Meals
They have themed buffet meals at night including a seafood and sushi buffet one night a week. As the village is right out the door we ate the majority of our meals there. You can find everything from a steakhouse, to Mexican, to Italian if you wish.
The only meal we ate in the hotel was the breakfast buffet. A large selection of pretty much anything and everything you could want. Expect to pay about 70$ for two with taxes and tip though.
Gym & Pools
We didn't get a chance to use the onsite spa, but they have a small well equipped gym with free weights, cardio and weight machines. There is a steam shower in the gym.
There is a huge selection of indoor and outdoor pools and spa's. Inside you have a hot tub and combination small lap pool and plunge pool. Outside there's a warm pool, a therapeutic pool with air and water jets and a hot tub with water jets. The therapeutic pool is essentially a much larger hot tub that's a few degrees cooler than the hot tub and has a section with air jets in the floor as well as a section with water jets.
There is a second hot tub outside in the far back up a few steps, it tends to have less people.
Conclusion
I loved the area and I loved the hotel. I'd gladly return to the area and it piqued my interest in Fairmont enough to try two others before Christmas. However during peak tourist season I find the rates slightly exaggerated, in the spring I was able to book a 2 bedroom suite at the Hilton down the street for less (much) than a standard room at the Fairmont.
Location:
Its located about 130km (81 miles) north of Montreal which will take you about 2 hours depending on traffic. It also about 140km (87 miles) north east of Ottawa. Its located in the Laurentian mountains at the base of the Mont Tremblant Ski Hill. Any mountain view rooms will offer beautiful views of the mountain; our corner room offered a view of the waterfall cascading down the mountain as well as deer every morning.
This is largely a popular skiing destination but offers hiking trails and plenty of other things to do during the summer. Rates are typically lower outside of the ski season.
The hotel is just on the other side of the Mountain from the Mont Tremblant Casino. There is a free bus shuttle that can take you there, or you can walk through the small village and take a enclosed (and free!) chair lift over the mountain to the casino.
Checkin & Parking
There is no free or even self park on site. A few hundred feet down the street there is a free municipal lot. Otherwise your only solution onsite is valet parking. I'm unsure if they park any of the cars inside, but otherwise valet parking consists of them moving your car a few feet and parking it outside the front entrance round point.
The bellman asks for your name on arrival and by the time I had my bags out of the car they had my valet tag ready and everyone seemed to know my name.
At the front desk there was no lineup and our room keys were already.
The Room
I would have liked to try a Gold room, but there were none available. Our room was located on the 6th floor (the hotel has 7) in the corner with a great view of the mountain. The room was classified as ''Deluxe King NS Spacious Room'' +/- 400 square feet with a sofa bed. Being near the top the ceiling has a dormer look. The room is equipped with a flat screen TV and the sofa opens up into a bed. As we arrived late it was very dark, so the color is off a bit.
View from the room
Hard to see on the small image, but deer eating on the mountain side.
Meals
They have themed buffet meals at night including a seafood and sushi buffet one night a week. As the village is right out the door we ate the majority of our meals there. You can find everything from a steakhouse, to Mexican, to Italian if you wish.
The only meal we ate in the hotel was the breakfast buffet. A large selection of pretty much anything and everything you could want. Expect to pay about 70$ for two with taxes and tip though.
Gym & Pools
We didn't get a chance to use the onsite spa, but they have a small well equipped gym with free weights, cardio and weight machines. There is a steam shower in the gym.
There is a huge selection of indoor and outdoor pools and spa's. Inside you have a hot tub and combination small lap pool and plunge pool. Outside there's a warm pool, a therapeutic pool with air and water jets and a hot tub with water jets. The therapeutic pool is essentially a much larger hot tub that's a few degrees cooler than the hot tub and has a section with air jets in the floor as well as a section with water jets.
There is a second hot tub outside in the far back up a few steps, it tends to have less people.
Conclusion
I loved the area and I loved the hotel. I'd gladly return to the area and it piqued my interest in Fairmont enough to try two others before Christmas. However during peak tourist season I find the rates slightly exaggerated, in the spring I was able to book a 2 bedroom suite at the Hilton down the street for less (much) than a standard room at the Fairmont.
Nov 20, 2011, 12:52 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2009
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Thanks for posting the review and particularly taking the time to upload the photos.^
Haven´t been to that part of Canada, but looks pretty nice indeed...
Haven´t been to that part of Canada, but looks pretty nice indeed...
Nov 20, 2011, 2:09 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Programs: DL PM, HH Diamond, Fairmont Prem, SPG Gold, Priority Club Plat/IC Amb, AmEx Plat
Posts: 10,839
Great post. I stayed here last year and enjoyed it. OP, if you have 5 stays in a calendar year, you could achieve Premier status. Don't know if how many stays you have already but it may be worth it to you. One of the easier hotel programs to get status.
http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/MembershipBenefits/
http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/MembershipBenefits/
Nov 20, 2011, 3:40 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: Hhonors Diamond, Fairmont Platinum
Posts: 371
Great post. I stayed here last year and enjoyed it. OP, if you have 5 stays in a calendar year, you could achieve Premier status. Don't know if how many stays you have already but it may be worth it to you. One of the easier hotel programs to get status.
http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/MembershipBenefits/
http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/MembershipBenefits/
Nov 21, 2011, 12:19 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 5,825
Is that a Canadian AMEX Plat offer?
Yes, they are nice but there are not a lot of them... I am shooting for Platinum with Fairmont, but will still have my Marriott and Hyatt elite status for the majority of my hotel stays.
Yes, they are nice but there are not a lot of them... I am shooting for Platinum with Fairmont, but will still have my Marriott and Hyatt elite status for the majority of my hotel stays.
Nov 23, 2011, 4:06 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: Hhonors Diamond, Fairmont Platinum
Posts: 371
Nov 25, 2011, 1:03 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,108
I'm from Montreal and not a fan of this Fairmont... I stayed over one night for a wedding and found it too resorty and disneyfied for my taste. I guess all of Tremblant is pretty commercialized, but this hotel doesn't feel like other Fairmont properties in Canada. There's also much better dining options off the mountain, particularly nearby in the old village of St-Jovite. The Quintessence (another Fairmont property I believe) lakeside just below the mountain, is preferable in my opinion, if I had to stay in the area. It's less of a zoo with tourists and crowds, and a bit more secluded, if that's possible for Tremblant. The rooms and surroundings on the water are also nicer. And there's no shopping malls beneath!
Nov 29, 2011, 7:20 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 17
...The Quintessence (another Fairmont property I believe) lakeside just below the mountain, is preferable in my opinion, if I had to stay in the area. It's less of a zoo with tourists and crowds, and a bit more secluded, if that's possible for Tremblant. The rooms and surroundings on the water are also nicer. And there's no shopping malls beneath!
Aug 21, 2012, 6:14 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: Hhonors Diamond, Fairmont Platinum
Posts: 371
Just a little update. I was back at the Fairmont Tremblant this week for several nights.
Parking
With taxes, the valet is $23.63 a night. The municipal lot is relatively close, only a few hundred feet from the hotel. (in front of the Hilton Homewood Suites). Parking has to be paid from 7am to 9pm and would cost you about half if you wanted to avoid the valet charge, but you'd have to be up at 7am.
"Resort Fee"
I missed this the first time around, but the Tremblant Business association adds a royalty charge of 3% to the rooms in order to cover the upkeep of the village. Its not included in the room rate and ran me 13$ a night. I only noticed this early this year when at the Hilton.
The business association also adds a % the to the bill of all the food in the restaurants outside of the hotel as well. Its in small print on the bottom of the menu's but otherwise isn't mentioned.
Rooms
Oddly enough, for a hotel built in 1996, you have to book relatively early in order to get a king bed. Otherwise availability often only shows Queen rooms. You'd think being recent it would have been easier to design all the rooms for king beds.
I booked the one bedroom queen suite:
Located throughout the hotel, the One Bedroom Suites have one fully private bedroom and a separate sitting area with a sofabed.
Room Size: 390 sq.ft. to 415 sq.ft. / 36 sq.m to 39 sq.m
Bed Type: One King or one Queen bed
View: Hotel entrance area or partial lake view
The room was one the third floor over the front entrance with a nice view of the lake over the tree's. A higher floor would have had an even nicer view.
You'll notice from my earlier comments on the King Deluxe from last year, the rooms are basically the exact same size. Except I had a smaller bed, and paid $100 more a night. About all you gain is a few square feet that is used on a corridor into the room and there's a wall between the sofa section and the bedroom. The bathroom also had a rainfall shower head as well as a handheld, but it was still in a regular sized bathroom and was a combo tub/shower.
This is the first Fairmont suite I've stayed in where you got the small versions of Rose 31 toiletries. All the other ones always included the larger bottles.
If you don't need that privacy, go with the Deluxe King which are corner rooms. You'll save money, get a great view, a larger bed, and have about the exact same sized room.
Platinum Amenity
I have cheese on my profile. This was by far the nicest cheese platter I've ever received in my room. Normally its a small plate with a small piece of cheese.
Parking
With taxes, the valet is $23.63 a night. The municipal lot is relatively close, only a few hundred feet from the hotel. (in front of the Hilton Homewood Suites). Parking has to be paid from 7am to 9pm and would cost you about half if you wanted to avoid the valet charge, but you'd have to be up at 7am.
"Resort Fee"
I missed this the first time around, but the Tremblant Business association adds a royalty charge of 3% to the rooms in order to cover the upkeep of the village. Its not included in the room rate and ran me 13$ a night. I only noticed this early this year when at the Hilton.
The business association also adds a % the to the bill of all the food in the restaurants outside of the hotel as well. Its in small print on the bottom of the menu's but otherwise isn't mentioned.
Rooms
Oddly enough, for a hotel built in 1996, you have to book relatively early in order to get a king bed. Otherwise availability often only shows Queen rooms. You'd think being recent it would have been easier to design all the rooms for king beds.
I booked the one bedroom queen suite:
Located throughout the hotel, the One Bedroom Suites have one fully private bedroom and a separate sitting area with a sofabed.
Room Size: 390 sq.ft. to 415 sq.ft. / 36 sq.m to 39 sq.m
Bed Type: One King or one Queen bed
View: Hotel entrance area or partial lake view
The room was one the third floor over the front entrance with a nice view of the lake over the tree's. A higher floor would have had an even nicer view.
You'll notice from my earlier comments on the King Deluxe from last year, the rooms are basically the exact same size. Except I had a smaller bed, and paid $100 more a night. About all you gain is a few square feet that is used on a corridor into the room and there's a wall between the sofa section and the bedroom. The bathroom also had a rainfall shower head as well as a handheld, but it was still in a regular sized bathroom and was a combo tub/shower.
This is the first Fairmont suite I've stayed in where you got the small versions of Rose 31 toiletries. All the other ones always included the larger bottles.
If you don't need that privacy, go with the Deluxe King which are corner rooms. You'll save money, get a great view, a larger bed, and have about the exact same sized room.
Platinum Amenity
I have cheese on my profile. This was by far the nicest cheese platter I've ever received in my room. Normally its a small plate with a small piece of cheese.
Jan 12, 2013, 6:39 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: Accor ALL Diamond, AC Aeroplan 25K, Nexus/GE
Posts: 2,731
I'm just back from a 5-night stay at the Fairmont Tremblant, and we loved it.
We stayed on the Gold floor, and the service was fantastic, which I think was a combination of the great staff and low occupancy. When we checked in on Sunday, there was only 3 occupied rooms on the gold floor, including us. By Wednesday, we were the only guests remaining on the floor, and remained the only guests until Friday morning when a few people checked in.
It was like having our own private lounge and our own private concierge. The Chef asked us what type of food we wanted in the lounge each day. On some mornings, rather than putting out the full hot buffet, we simply ordered off the menu and they brought us the meals to our lounge. Otherwise, they kept the food stocked and fresh for us.
While there is a lot to see and do in the pedesterian village, there were a few activities that we arranged that required a short transport. The hotel valet tooks us wherever we needed to go in their new 7-series BMW. We just let the gold concierge know where and when, and everything was taken care of.
The outdoor hot pools were fantastic after a day of skiing. Unfortunately, the pools were closed for one day of our stay while they cleaned snow and ice from the hotel roof above the pool deck, but otherwise, the pools were available to us.
We loved the ski in/ski out that this property offers.
We also used the Amerispa. While the treatments were nice, it doesn't compare to the Willow Stream at the BSH.
The evening snow tubing right next to the hotel was another great activity they offer.
We never tried the hotel restaurant, other than some appetizers in the lounge, so I can't comment on it. There were so many places in the village within walking distance, that we didn't go hungry. Some evenings, we were content with the food in the gold lounge and simply skipped dinner.
The room itself was nice with a nicely updated bathroom. It wasn't large, as we just booked a gold room and not a suite, but it was still a lot larger than many standard King rooms at the older Fairmont properties. The view from the top floor is very pretty. We could see both the ski hill and the village from our room above the pool area. We didn't mind not having the suite, since we spent a lot of time either out exploring or just sitting in what was basically our private lounge!
We will definately make a return visit before the winter is finished.
If anyone is planning a trip here, I do recommend the week after New Year's. The prices are good, and the New Year's crowds are all gone.
We stayed on the Gold floor, and the service was fantastic, which I think was a combination of the great staff and low occupancy. When we checked in on Sunday, there was only 3 occupied rooms on the gold floor, including us. By Wednesday, we were the only guests remaining on the floor, and remained the only guests until Friday morning when a few people checked in.
It was like having our own private lounge and our own private concierge. The Chef asked us what type of food we wanted in the lounge each day. On some mornings, rather than putting out the full hot buffet, we simply ordered off the menu and they brought us the meals to our lounge. Otherwise, they kept the food stocked and fresh for us.
While there is a lot to see and do in the pedesterian village, there were a few activities that we arranged that required a short transport. The hotel valet tooks us wherever we needed to go in their new 7-series BMW. We just let the gold concierge know where and when, and everything was taken care of.
The outdoor hot pools were fantastic after a day of skiing. Unfortunately, the pools were closed for one day of our stay while they cleaned snow and ice from the hotel roof above the pool deck, but otherwise, the pools were available to us.
We loved the ski in/ski out that this property offers.
We also used the Amerispa. While the treatments were nice, it doesn't compare to the Willow Stream at the BSH.
The evening snow tubing right next to the hotel was another great activity they offer.
We never tried the hotel restaurant, other than some appetizers in the lounge, so I can't comment on it. There were so many places in the village within walking distance, that we didn't go hungry. Some evenings, we were content with the food in the gold lounge and simply skipped dinner.
The room itself was nice with a nicely updated bathroom. It wasn't large, as we just booked a gold room and not a suite, but it was still a lot larger than many standard King rooms at the older Fairmont properties. The view from the top floor is very pretty. We could see both the ski hill and the village from our room above the pool area. We didn't mind not having the suite, since we spent a lot of time either out exploring or just sitting in what was basically our private lounge!
We will definately make a return visit before the winter is finished.
If anyone is planning a trip here, I do recommend the week after New Year's. The prices are good, and the New Year's crowds are all gone.
Feb 28, 2013, 3:12 pm
#13
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 56,446
Fairmont Tremblant Reveals Refurbished Guestrooms this Summer
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/2/prweb10445516.htm
For the 16th year, Fairmont Tremblant continues to offer its clientele the best in hospitality in Canada. The 5-star hotel has been voted one of the top Canadian meeting and conference facilities by the readers of Meetings and Incentive Travel magazine and remains one of the top ski destinations in Eastern Canada.
An investment of $4.5 million
Further to its 2011 and 2012 convention centre embellishments, Fairmont Tremblant, located at the foot of mont Tremblant in the Laurentian mountains, will soon undergo a $4.5 million refurbishment project of its 314 luxurious guestrooms and suites. A total of 187 units will be completed by the end of June 2013 with the final phase of the guestrooms scheduled for spring of 2014. All the guestroom corridors were already redone, as well as the mezzanine and convention hallways. Last year, the property also improved digital climate control devices, replaced all mattresses and installed rainfall showerheads in all rooms for an enhanced guest experience.
This project, led by Groupe Marchand, will be carried out under the supervision of Tom Dvorsky, project manager and engineer with Groupe Marchand. The interior design will be signed by Stephanie Smith, designer and owner of Element Inc.
A contemporary, mountain-chic feel
Always innovating and working to improve the product and service, Fairmont Tremblant’s new guestroom design follows today’s hottest trends. Evoking the “home sweet home” atmosphere, the new color palette promotes relaxation, with a touch of modern grays that create an understated cool elegance. Designers also incorporated black-and-white action photos of sports to replace the artwork above the bed to give guests a sense of the destination and outdoors.
For more information or reservations, please call 1-866-540-4415 or visit http://www.fairmont.com/tremblant/.
For the 16th year, Fairmont Tremblant continues to offer its clientele the best in hospitality in Canada. The 5-star hotel has been voted one of the top Canadian meeting and conference facilities by the readers of Meetings and Incentive Travel magazine and remains one of the top ski destinations in Eastern Canada.
An investment of $4.5 million
Further to its 2011 and 2012 convention centre embellishments, Fairmont Tremblant, located at the foot of mont Tremblant in the Laurentian mountains, will soon undergo a $4.5 million refurbishment project of its 314 luxurious guestrooms and suites. A total of 187 units will be completed by the end of June 2013 with the final phase of the guestrooms scheduled for spring of 2014. All the guestroom corridors were already redone, as well as the mezzanine and convention hallways. Last year, the property also improved digital climate control devices, replaced all mattresses and installed rainfall showerheads in all rooms for an enhanced guest experience.
This project, led by Groupe Marchand, will be carried out under the supervision of Tom Dvorsky, project manager and engineer with Groupe Marchand. The interior design will be signed by Stephanie Smith, designer and owner of Element Inc.
A contemporary, mountain-chic feel
Always innovating and working to improve the product and service, Fairmont Tremblant’s new guestroom design follows today’s hottest trends. Evoking the “home sweet home” atmosphere, the new color palette promotes relaxation, with a touch of modern grays that create an understated cool elegance. Designers also incorporated black-and-white action photos of sports to replace the artwork above the bed to give guests a sense of the destination and outdoors.
For more information or reservations, please call 1-866-540-4415 or visit http://www.fairmont.com/tremblant/.
Jan 18, 2014, 7:31 am
#14
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YYZ
Programs: Accor ALL Diamond, AC Aeroplan 25K, Nexus/GE
Posts: 2,731
Just finished another 5-night stay on the Gold floor of the Fairmont Tremblant. They gave us the same room we had last year, #730, which was very nice.
Below are some photos of the view from the room. We could see the lake, the village, and the ski area.
When we arrived, they hadn't taken down the Christmas decorations in the lobby, but they were removed the next day.
Here is a photo of the gold lounge.
It was a great stay, with some nice skiing conditions. We had booked the room last summer, so got a great price on the room by booking early, and got one night free on a 4+night stay as the standard deal on the Amex rates. Combined with a discount on some gift certificates purchased through lifeexperiences.ca, we ended up paying less than $200/night for the 5 nights in a gold room. They also gave us a 5PM checkout on the Friday.
There seemed to be about 5 other couples on the floor during most of the week. We stayed a week earlier last year, and it was even more empty. However, when checking out on Friday, they mentioned that the hotel was completely sold out for the weekend. When flying out of YTM for our flight home, the inbound aircraft seemed to be nearly full, while there was only 4 people (including us) on our plane going back to YTZ on Friday night. Definitely book mid-week when staying at Tremblant during ski season (and avoid school breaks). You'll avoid the crowds and get great service and better room prices. According to the lounge staff, the lightest times are mid-week in January and mid-week the last week of March. Avoid any weekend, and avoid the week of Feb 15 and the first 2 weeks of March, and you should avoid most of the crowds.
Below are some photos of the view from the room. We could see the lake, the village, and the ski area.
When we arrived, they hadn't taken down the Christmas decorations in the lobby, but they were removed the next day.
Here is a photo of the gold lounge.
It was a great stay, with some nice skiing conditions. We had booked the room last summer, so got a great price on the room by booking early, and got one night free on a 4+night stay as the standard deal on the Amex rates. Combined with a discount on some gift certificates purchased through lifeexperiences.ca, we ended up paying less than $200/night for the 5 nights in a gold room. They also gave us a 5PM checkout on the Friday.
There seemed to be about 5 other couples on the floor during most of the week. We stayed a week earlier last year, and it was even more empty. However, when checking out on Friday, they mentioned that the hotel was completely sold out for the weekend. When flying out of YTM for our flight home, the inbound aircraft seemed to be nearly full, while there was only 4 people (including us) on our plane going back to YTZ on Friday night. Definitely book mid-week when staying at Tremblant during ski season (and avoid school breaks). You'll avoid the crowds and get great service and better room prices. According to the lounge staff, the lightest times are mid-week in January and mid-week the last week of March. Avoid any weekend, and avoid the week of Feb 15 and the first 2 weeks of March, and you should avoid most of the crowds.
Last edited by CanadaDH; Jan 18, 2014 at 7:50 am
Jan 18, 2014, 8:36 am
#15
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
Great review! Thanks for the insight and especially the pictures. Seems with the renovation, its a great place to visit when in the area.^