Where to stay in Québec city: Hôtel Château Laurier [REVIEW]

While staying at Alice’s brother in Montréal, we decided to explore and go to Québec city. There, we spent two complimentary nights at the Hôtel Château Laurier. We have to say it was a great choice to go around and really enjoy this beautiful city.

Lire cet article en français

Review of our stay at the Hôtel Château Laurier in Québec city in March 2018

The location

Hôtel Château Laurier is ideally located on Place George V. It’s not in Old Québec, but we found that we actually preferred to be a bit further away. First, Old Québec is not that big (and very windy), and only a walk or a few bus stops away from the hotel. Second, we prefer not to be right in the center of the touristic area – we already have that at home, and prefer to be at some distance from the noise and the crowded streets while we’re away. Third, we found the location was actually very practical and central: it took us equal time to go find vegan restaurants on East Saint-Joseph St. and Saint-Jean St. or go to the beautiful Observatory than to get to Old Québec.

The hotel is also neighbour with the newly (almost ready to open) renovated (after being partly destroyed by a fire) castle of the Québec City Armoury, a beautiful view to wake up to!

Moving around

In terms of transportation, there is a bus stop right outside the hotel that links to the train and bus station (Gare du Palais) as well as the historical center. A bit further away (10min walk) is a bus stop where a lot of lines pass through and where you’ll be able to catch the bus to the Montmorency Falls. The hotel is close to Ciel (a rotating restaurant and bar who offers a view of the city which we didn’t visit), the Observatory (that we loved), the Plains of Abraham (where we didn’t go because it wasn’t the best time) and the RTC office where you’ll be able to buy day passes for the bus.

The check-in

The check-in was a breeze. Thanks to the great staff who greeted us warmly, the process was fast and efficient. We felt welcome right away and everything was explained to us very clearly. In the lobby, you will also find a concierge (who provided us with a map of the city when we enquired about where to buy bus passes), the bell desk and the entry to the bistro St-Hubert. The entrance of the hotel is also beautiful, with cozy armchairs, and a piano.

The hotel

The hotel offers 282 rooms (7 different categories, including one called « L’Adaptable » specially imagined to suit people with restricted physical abilities), as well as a saltwater indoor pool and Finnish sauna, outdoor spas, and a fitness room open 24/7. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time nor what we needed (swimsuits and workout outfits) to try any of them but we checked out the swimming pool and we regretted not being able to give it a go. Definitely bring a swimsuit when you go! We completely forgot to go by the convenient store located inside the hotel (v e r y practical!) and we realise they might have had everything we needed. Well, next time! After a day walking around the cold city, it would have been close to Paradise to have a few strokes… But our room way made up for our forgetfulness!

Our room: La Luxueuse

Located on the 6th floor, our Luxueuse room was very spacious and felt warm and cozy the second we stepped a foot in it. With an entrance with a bench to take off our shoes and coats before storing them in the wardrobe, and a very spacious bedroom with a wall of windows, a king size bed and what seemed like a dream bathroom… it was easy to fall in love with our new home for a couple of nights! Something we were expecting but worth mentioning: in terms of cleanliness, the room and the bathroom were spotless (so was the rest of the hotel as far as we’ve seen).

The bedroom

In the bedroom stood a very comfortable king size bed with soft sheets and comfy pillows, a comfortable sofa and armchairs, a coffee table perfect to have a glass of wine and plan our days in Québec city, a desk with a comfortable ergonomic armchair, a good-sized TV, a safe, lots of cupboards and drawers to unpack, a mini-fridge, a kettle with complimentary tea sets, an ice bucket and wine glasses, large windows with a nice view on the Armoury, and a working gas fireplace. Yep, you read that right. That fireplace was on the top 3 of what we loved the most in that room and just for that it would have been worth it! The large painting over the bed also contributed to give the room its homey and warm atmosphere.

Very important to us: the wall of windows had light curtains for the day, and thick ones for the night. The night ones were perfectly good for sleeping: thick enough that we could fall asleep (even if there wasn’t a lot of light coming from outside at night) and that the sun wouldn’t wake us up before our alarm went on (and there was a nice shiny sun when we were there, so believe us when we say they were efficient).

The bathroom

If you only took one half of the bathroom into account, you’d say it was your classical immaculate and practical hotel bathroom. A sink with a huge mirror, space to put all your toiletries, enough fluffy towels to satisfy anyone, a hairdryer (essential to us who have long hair!), a good shower with eco-friendly soap, shampoo and conditioner dispenser (plus space to put your own), the usual complimentary bathroom set, and toilets of course.

But then the other half of the bathroom was even better, and it was our favorite. There stood a build-in « therapeutic » bathtub: a cozy jacuzzi with relaxing lights, a scented candle (so good) and… sliding doors opening to the bedroom. It was really hard not to spend our time in the bathtub and actually get outside, believe us!

Other perks at Hôtel Château Laurier

Electronic wine bars

The hotel offers electronic wine bars (yes, you read right) on two floors and in lobby of the hotel. There was one on our floor (6th), in front of the elevator. It’s a very cool idea: you have bottles of different wines inside a vending machine (except much classier), choose if you want a tasting, a half-glass or a glass, insert a pre-paid card in the machine, hold your glass under a tap and tada: your glass of wine! And you didn’t even have to order it, how cool is that?!

The breakfast

Alice being a lazy late sleeper, and Simone always hungry, he’s the only one who went to get breakfast at the hotel on the two mornings we were there and was completely satisfied by the buffet. Thanks to the late check-out time (12pm), he could even enjoy a good breakfast on the last day instead of rushing to leave. He had a great time both mornings, free to choose from a large and abundant buffet for the most important meal of the day!

Accessibility

The hotel offers accessible services to people with restricted physical ability and was rewarded the Keroul Honour in 2014. Mentioned earlier, the category or rooms called « L’Adaptable » is equipped with bath benches and ramps and the overall furniture and layout of the rooms are thought to make them accessible (with a wheelchair, for example).

Convenience store

We mentioned it briefly earlier and didn’t visit it, but there is a convenient store on site. How great is that?! Maybe in Rome (because it’s warm and sunny) or Tokyo (because they are convenient stores at every corner) you don’t mind going in and out of your hotel and wander around in hopes of finding a store somewhere to buy something you need – even though you were lounging on the couch in your fluffy bathrobe – but we would have minded a lot if we had to in freezing Québec city!

Complimentary high-speed Internet

The wifi worked perfectly well with no issue during the whole length of our stay.

Only regret ?

Booking only two nights!!

Thank you so much to Hôtel Château Laurier for hosting us during our two nights stay!
As always, all thoughts and opinions are completely our own.