Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac

Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac is an iconic building situated in the historical site of Quebec City. Ever since I visited the capital city of Quebec many years ago, staying at the Frontenac had been on my bucket list. Thanks to the Fairmont President Club, my one night stay at this property only cost me $72 dollars in total, including a dinner at the Champlain and valet parking.

Exterior of the Frontenac

Intro

In the year of 2018, Frontenac will celebrate its 125th anniversary, so they will have a number of activities throughout the year, find the list of activities here. You can also see a short video about the anniversary here on Youtube.

Exterior of the Frontenac

Check-in

Upon arriving at the hotel, the doorman warmly welcomed our arriving and directed us to the reception desk. The room I booked was the Junior Suite, but I also sent an email to the hotel asking if there was a better suite available. I find it is one of the best ways to get an upgrade or a better upgrade because there is little difference (elite status, and actual spending) for the hotel to allocate rooms to their guests. If you asked early, you would have a better chance to be “taken good care of”.

Unfortunately, at the time of check-in, the receptionist apologized and said that they do not have any better suite available for me unless I spend $2000 to upgrade to one of their signature suites. I was okay with it, I wouldn’t know if that was true because Fairmont and Accor Hotel websites don’t show the suites availability properly.

Room

When I entered the room, I was a little bit disappointed. The suite looked nothing like what’s on their website. It seemed renovated, but the decor and layout give a feeling of “for upgraded guests only”. The suite had two rooms, a small living room and a bedroom, separated by a hallway. The view is spectacular, you can view the St Lawrence River even you are laying on the bed.

Fairmont Fit

I also noticed another little surprise in bathroom. I found my own name on the bottles of Le Labo amenity kits, which is the first time at any hotel I’ve stayed at. In the room, the Fairmont Fit basket has also prepared in the bedroom. One thing I really liked about Fairmont is the consistency of the service on things like Fairmont Fit. While some other chains cannot even provide me a hygienic and functional kettle in my room despite it is in my personal profile, Fairmont is definitely more reliable.  

Bottles with my name on!

Room 2

After settling down in the room, I went out to embrace the Quebec winter. When I returned to the hotel, I booked the dinner at the Champlain restaurant with the receptionist. I was then called by a nicely dressed gentleman who introduced himself as the manager of the front office. He said that he has received my email earlier but the better suite he wanted to offer me was not ready. So he let me check in first so I can get some rest (very thoughtful). So I followed him to the new suite, the Frontenac Suite. It is much bigger than the previous suite I received and the decor is quite refreshed. I thanked him and moved my stuff to this new suite.

The Dinner

I was able to get this five-course meal using my Fairmont credit and it was a great experience!

Conclusion

When I was departing the hotel, I noticed all the heating devices on my car were activated by the bellman which was another impressive moment. I have been different colder places, but none of the bell man ever did this. I guess these details help Fairmont to be special and differ from its competitors. I sincerely feel bad about Fairmont joining the Accor group as a PC member.