RCyyz

Just completed a couple of stays at the Hotel PUR. In no particular order:

- Platinum recognition was perfunctory on the first stay. I booked and received a normal room on the 18th (top) floor.
- Bathroom amenities in the room were nice enough. I rather liked the moisturizing cream.
- The bathtub is rather high and present problems for mobility-challenged individuals to get in / out.
- There's a Nespresso machine in the room with 3 different coffee pods. I prefer tea myself and just used the machine to make hot water. I suppose I could have asked if they had tea pods but I just used my own teabags.
- Room layout is a little odd but efficient. The desk forms the headboard for the bed but both are functional. I was pleased with the easy access to numerous electrical outlets. One outlet also had a couple of USB sockets on it eliminating the need for chargers.
- The clock radio by the bed is iHome and had an old-style dock connector on it.
- The bed was quite comfy and I had a good night's sleep.
- The location of the hotel is fine. It's not in a fantastic part of town but it's not sleazy nor unsafe. That said, there's not much in the area. Depending on the route you take, it's about a 1.5 km walk to the old part of town.
- Breakfast in the restaurant is s-l-o-w. The first time there I ordered some viennoiseries. I placed my order at 08h03. At 08h17 I was delivered a basket containing 1 croissant, 1 pain au chocolat and 1 apple tart. They were warmed up, but I find it inexcusable that it took that long for something this simple. The second time I was in the hotel I ordered their normal breakfast of 2 eggs over easy with bacon & toast. I placed my order at 07h01. At this point there was 1 other person in the restaurant. At 07h19 my order came out. (And there were now 3 people in the restaurant including me.)
- The second time at the hotel I received a "suite" on the 17th floor. This was really just 2 normal rooms with a connecting door. The second room had no bed but instead had a leather sofa and a couple of other chairs. While I appreciated the extra space and the free upgrade, it was nothing special.
- After my first stay, my invoice was not emailed to me. I had to ask for a print out when I was there again. After my second stay, the invoice was emailed to me automatically.
- The staff that I saw were invariably polite and helpful. They really do seem to try their best.
- There's a wine dispenser in the main lobby. I think you're supposed to buy wine cards at the front desk if you want to try anything.
- There's also a pool table in the main lobby.
- The decor of the hotel, particularly the lobby, is artsy cool. For example, they have large pictures of people dressed in suits but the head is an animal such as a deer or a dog. This kind of artwork is not to my taste so I found it rather silly. Obviously YMMV here.

Would I stay here again? If it wasn't SPG I would not. For my needs, the Hilton is more convenient for location and of course, for that sense of pure romantic history you can't beat the Fairmont. The Hotel PUR is a decent enough property but on the whole I think it's unfortunate that this is the best SPG can put in YQB.

karenkay

thanks RCyyz for the review. any more recent stays at the quebec city PUR? i'm considering it for five nights on points (one free) before the rates go up as part of a longer quebec city stay...are there walkable restaurants? i can't quite figure it out from other reviews, thanks!

dcstudent

I can't speak about staying at the Pur, but if you're looking for a Starriott hotel with lots of restaurants within walking distance the Marriott is your best bet. That said, unless you're wedded to a Starriott property on this trip, the Fairmont is amazing (but $$$$$), and there are a number of very good boutique hotels in historic buildings in the old walled city.

escape4

Unless you are short on points, I would book Marriott not PUR. The Marriott is in a great location for a tourist while PUR is in a rough neighborhood (relatively speaking) of the city. If you thought PUR is a good deal at 30k pts before it goes up to 35k pts in a couple of days, then I would argue Marriott is an even better deal because it's going up from 40k to 50k. So book Marriott for 40k instead of PUR for 30k because it's only 33% more and cash rates at Marriott are often almost double PUR; personally I do not think PUR is a great deal on points.

To answer your other question, yes there are several walkable restaurants from PUR. In the immediate area it's not exactly the nicest restaurants (given the neighborhood) but the Marriott is only a 15 min walk away and around there you will find lots of great restaurants. So easily walkable, yes.

DCF

Low Roller

The Delta Quebec is actually going down in points from 40K to 35K. It's a good hotel just a few minutes walk outside the walls of the old city. It has great views overlooking the city walls, river, and the beautiful Quebec legislature building. It was renovated not too long ago and the now quite nice. I definitely choose it over PUR for location.

karenkay

thanks for all the replies. traveling with our small dog this trip, so that does change things (although fairmont is still possible with a $50 a night surcharge) but i'll check the other options out.

we're staying at an airbnb just down the street from the fairmont for a few nights also, so this isn't the only chance we'll have to see quebec city. i kind of liked the idea that saint-roch is gentrifying, but having lived in cities where that's the case i know 'gentrifying' can have many meanings. in terms of walkability, gritty is fine, scary isn't.

RCyyz

I've now done 4 or 5 stays at the Hotel PUR and another 2 or 3 at the Delta. For my purposes, I tend to prefer the Delta for both location (it's closer to where I need to go) and for the lounge. I hasten to add that the lounge is nothing super special; I just like having a place where I can grab a quick soft drink or cup of tea and of course have breakfast in the morning. The breakfast is generally a continental affair, but they also have scrambled eggs. The rooms in the Delta are reasonably modern and have a variety of connectors built in to the desk area so if you need to plug your laptop into the TV, you can easily do so. There's also a wired internet connection available which I personally like. The main downside of the Delta is that their one restaurant is at best, uninspired. Fortunately, Old Quebec City with its many restaurants is a mere 600m or so walking distance.

The Hotel PUR on the other hand retains its quirky personality. I've learned that the conference rooms are on the second floor. In the neighbourhood of the hotel you can find some semi-interesting restaurants and one pretty good one called L'affaire est ketchup. IMHO it's well worth going to that restaurant to sample their creative and tasty fare served in a humble setting. Just beware that the kitchen is very open so cooking smells permeate the whole place. I had to wash my shirt when I got back to the hotel - an extra effort I deemed worthwhile as the meal I had was memorable. On my 3rd stay at the Hotel PUR I was upgraded from my normal basic room to the Presidential Suite which I obviously appreciated. It was an especially nice upgrade since I was there for 3 nights.

In a previous post I commented that service at the Hotel PUR restaurant is extremely slow. Well, it still is. For breakfast I've stopped going to the restaurant and instead tend to grab something at the AL van Houtte coffee shop which is accessible from the lobby of the Hotel PUR. van Houtte is also slow, but they are at least faster than the hotel restaurant. I did order (dinner) room service once from the restaurant and it arrived in what I felt was a reasonable time of 20 min. Typical of room service the price was expensive for what I got but it was a rare night where convenience outweighed price.

monsieurcumulus