Fairmont Chateau Frontenac Quebec City = Iconic Building

In various parts of the world, there are several hotels which are in the city center, but how many of those hotels are considered THE city center?  You cannot go to Québec City and avoid the most famous and most recognizable landmark of the city which is the Fairmont Château Frontenac, found on most postcards of the city.  I stayed for the first time and was positively impressed by various aspects of our stay and I can highly recommend the hotel, regardless if one has elite status with Accor or not.  The Fairmont hotel is without any doubt the best luxury hotel in Québec City.

Except for the lack of free breakfast which is a weakness of the Accor loyalty program generally speaking, the Platinum treatment was otherwise relatively good.  At this time of year it’s low season for hotels in Québec City so occupancy was not particularly high.  I booked the entry level room and got a multiple-category upgrade to the Deluxe River View room type which is one category short of the studios.  The room type I received was selling for approximately 50% more than what I booked, the room was noticeably larger than the standard room, and at this property “deluxe” rooms are remodeled, so the upgrade was far better than properties who only upgrade by one category to a “view room” with the same square footage, equally outdated, and which are only selling for a very modest price premium over the basic room.  

The remodeling of our room was well done particularly the bathroom which is not large but is far superior to the bathroom we had at Fairmont Manoir Richelieu just one week prior.  The only mild negative is that I wish there was a stand-alone shower rather than a shower in the bathtub, but at least it was a rain shower.  However not surprisingly for an older hotel, water pressure was not the best.  In the bathroom we had large bottles of Le Labo products with my name printed on the bottles which was a nice touch, similar to what they do in Fairmont Montebello for Platinum members.  The layout of the room was a bit odd because the bathroom was immediately to the right when you enter the room rather than being next to the bedroom) but I liked the angled-shape ceiling and the view from the room was quite nice, overlooking the terrace above the St.Lawrence river.  There is currently some construction going on outside the hotel partially blocking the view, and as an apology they gave us a bottle of wine.  I would note that the scaffolding was in front of rooms starting immediately after our room, so our own view was not even blocked but we got the gift anyway.

The three restaurants / bars of the hotel have also recently been renovated and we used our welcome drink vouchers at the Sam Bistro.  The cocktail of the day was White Cosmo which was excellent and prepared by a barman who clearly knew his job, and much better than the cocktails we received at the Fairmont Manoir Richelieu.  The atmosphere and décor of the place is very attractive and for people eating in the restaurant there is a bright room with large windows with the view of the river. 

Overall this hotel is one of the best Fairmonts we have visited in Canada.  The Fairmont the most similar in style to Château Frontenac would be Banff, and I would put Château Frontenac a notch above Banff in my opinion.  Other than breakfast not being free like it is at other hotel chains for elites, the rest was positive: platinum treatment is decent with room upgrades, the dining venues are nice, and some rooms are renovated. Last but not least, at Château Frontenac you are staying in the most famous building in the city with all its history that comes with it, plus the location cannot be beat to visit Québec City as a tourist.  There is generally a price premium required to stay at Fairmont relative to other options, but personally I think it is worth it.  Unlike some cities where Fairmont has no competition, in Québec City there are other hotel chains like Hilton and Marriott which possibly contribute to Fairmont not resting on its laurels - I was quite happy with the product Fairmont offered given the price tag, at least in low season.