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Standing high on a bluff overlooking the mighty St. Lawrence River, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is not merely a hotel located in the heart of Old Québec - it is the heart of it. At Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, guests are guaranteed a memorable and inspiring stay in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with easy walking access to all of the wonderful sites and experiences that Old Québec has to offer.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Accor Hotels.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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Nestled in Old Quebec, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac offers a blend of historic elegance and luxury, though the charm may not extend to all rooms, with some criticized as dated. Its prime location is unanimously lauded, providing stunning views and proximity to attractions. While the hotel's cleanliness receives high marks, opinions on amenities are divided, with some guests disappointed by limited access and crowded spaces.
Service quality varies, and despite the professional staff, instances of slow service have been noted. Many guests consider the pricing steep for what is offered.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Historic
Rooms
Cramped
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Immaculate
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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Hotel located in Old Quebec, for me the best region of Quebec, being considered the city's main tourist attraction, due to its beauty, grandeur and location. Aesthetically speaking, the hotel is wonderful with a beautiful view of the river. The interior is also very beautiful, with all the staff being very polite and friendly towards the guests. We stayed in the room overlooking the river, which made our stay more special, as the view is truly fantastic, especially since that day the river was quite frozen, which made the landscape unique. Honestly, if you don't want to stay in a room overlooking the river, I don't know if it's worth it, as the daily rate is quite expensive. The room was an excellent size, quite large, however I found the bathroom to be quite small compared to the size of the room. Large and very comfortable bed, excellent bedding, as well as the pillow. We had coffee at the Starbucks inside the hotel, so I can't comment on the breakfast, which was paid and not very cheap. We only stayed at this hotel for one day, because the other day we went skiing at Club Med Charlevoix, which is around 90 km away. We took a taxi, a very responsible driver as there was a snowfall that day, (Isa – 418 563-1335) to make the transfer as it was much cheaper than what the hotel recommended. During winter, anyone staying at the hotel has the right to go down the sled located right next to the hotel for free. All in all, a very charming and unique hotel.
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Date of stay: January 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is a luxury hotel. Just looking at the building from the outside you get a glimpse of what you could expect. The architecture is spectacular and the castle-like appearance of the chateau takes you to another level. Any stay in this hotel is memorable.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Superviseur Reception, Service clients/Réception at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
Responded Oct 31, 2023
Good morning 750dimitrisl Thank you for this amazing comment. We are glad to read you had a memorable experience and that it was not your first time living the dream! It will be a pleasure to welcome you back soon! Wish you a lovely day
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We booked a Gold Floor Junior Suite and required 2 separate bathrooms. There are not many of this type of Junior Suite but they noted the request and upon arrival, we were more than pleased with the accommodation having the 2 bathrooms. The concierge staff were very helpful in arranging dinner reservations and providing a forgotten phone charger. Of course the location of the Chateau could not be better for touring around Quebec City.
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Superviseur Reception, Services aux clients/réception at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
Responded Oct 29, 2024
Bonjour, We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us. We are delighted to hear that you have enjoyed your experience in Quebec City and at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac! We will share your comments with our team, as we are sure that this feedback will serve as an encouragement to all of our colleagues as we continuously strive to improve the quality of our services. We hope to welcome you again soon! Kindest regards, Marisa Maurice Front office assistant manager
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I am writing this review to expose the poor customer service I received from Chateau Frontenac, a 5-star Fairmont Hotel. It cost me $474.50 USD and 4 weeks, to get my property returned to me!
It all began very innocently and with good intentions. My wife and I spent our honeymoon in 2007 at Chateau Frontenac staying in a GOLD level of experience. Everything about that stay was magical. The room was very comfortable, the staff was welcoming, and we looked forward to coming back. But due to many life events we were not able to return to Chateau Frontenac for an anniversary of our marriage for 17 years. Then in August 2024 my wife and I were able to make our schedules converge and a trip was planned for our 17th anniversary: a return stay at Chateau Frontenac!
We arrived and the check-in was simple and fast at the 14-floor desk for GOLD level reservations and we were excited to begin our memory honeymoon celebration. As we opened the door to our room, we were so disappointed. The king size bed filled the tinny room. My wife and I are not “large” people, but we found it impossible for the two of us to pass by each other at the foot of the bed! The room was beautiful, but not the size shown on their website; just very small for the price we were paying. It felt like it was half the size of the room from the pictures on the website and our memory of our first stay.
I feel very confident that this mishap would never have occurred if the room safe was in one of the more common locations of either the guest coat closet or the guest dresser near or part of the room refrigerator. I remember that I actually had difficulty locating the room safe when we first arrived. My wife and I have a pretty good routine we use upon check-out (checking the bedside stand has not been part of it because we NEVER use the bedside stand) to prevent leaving things in guest rooms.
Because we are American and this visit to Quebec City was in celebration of our honeymoon, we brought a large sum of cash ($5,000.00) with the expectation of buying a gift as part of our anniversary, but we didn’t use the money because we didn’t find anything that we wanted. Thus, because we never needed to use the money, a perfect storm was created.
The day of our departure came and we repacked or luggage. Moving around the tinny room, taking our cloths from the closet, the dresser drawers and placing them in our luggage had to be done one bag at a time due to the tinny room. Then we performed our exit inspection. We missed the bedside stand placed in the corner of the tinny room between the wall and the bed headboard. This is where they put the guest safe! In the bottom drawer of the bedside table. In hindsight, my wife and I both agree, it was easily overlooked as we did our normal checks the day of leaving.
After the wheels of the plane left the ground, I remembered I forgot the cash! No problem, I thought. Chateau Frontenac is a 5-star hotel and all I will need to do is call them (when the plane lands in the USA, let them know what happened, and they will forward my money to me. And that my friends is NOT what happened!
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Be careful when a room safe is not in one of the more common locations of either the coat closet...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Superviseur Reception, Services aux clients/réception at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
Responded Dec 13, 2024
Bonjour, Thank you for sharing your candid feedback. We truly value hearing from our guests, as it helps us to continuously improve our offerings and service. May you accept our sincere apologies for the inconvieniece. It would be appreciated if you can contact us so we can speak about the situation that has occurred. Best regards, Kim Lareau Front desk assistant manager
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Just as a pre-note, we have stayed at 5 star resorts in Hawaii, Toronto, Montreal, Disney, Jamaica and Costa Rica. Although the Chateau Frontenac is beautiful, I would not describe the room as 5 star compared to the other hotels we have stayed in. We decided to stay at the Chateau Frontenac for our 30th wedding anniversary. I had requested a Riverview King bed room on a higher floor so that we could enjoy the view. With all of the taxes and fees etc. it ended up being over $400.00 per night plus $50.00 per night for valet parking. We were given a room on the 18th floor. Unfortunately the windows in this room were so high and small that I had to stand on my tippy toes to see out of them. So much for the river view! Also, at night two very bright spotlights were on either side of our windows so that even with the double window coverings very bright light came into the room at night. The room decor is very dated and mismatched and there isn't a fan in the bathroom. Also, the noise from the elevators was constant. Staff that cleaned the room did a pretty good job but did not replace the tissue box and we ran out of shampoo on the last day. Bed was very comfortable, however, and we were given a free bottle of Champaign for our anniversary which was really nice. The hotel itself is stunning and the Champlain restaurant had amazing food, although extremely pricey! Unfortunately I cannot give my experience 5 stars.
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Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Superviseur Reception, Services aux clients/réception at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
Responded Dec 13, 2024
Thank you for sharing your candid feedback and thoughtful suggestions. We truly value hearing from our guests, as it helps us to continuously improve our offerings and service. We appreciate your insights and hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future, where we aim to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Best regards, Kim Lareau Front desk assistant manager
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Let's start with the positive; the hotel's location in historic Quebec City is sensational and the building and its interior are stunning. The staff is friendly and the rooms, though small, are well appointed and comfortable. However, this expensive "luxury hotel" fell very short of my expectation.
Because the hotel is an important historic site, it is a major tourist destination for most visitors to Quebec City, making the lobby, at most times, feel more like a busy train station than the lobby of an expensive hotel. There is very limited seating and very little ambiance other than the shuffling of guests and tourists all day long. As in many upscale hotels where I have stayed, there is no lounge music, no quiet places to have a cocktail or a cup of coffee or simply relax after a day of sightseeing.
When you take a tour of the hotel, which hotel guests are expected to pay for, you visit many of its gorgeous salons and meeting rooms, which are off limits to guests, unless you are attending a function. Stair cases are roped off, so it is impossible to even stroll through much of the hotel.
There are limited places for cocktails and the coffee shop is a Starbucks, (not my expectation of a unique experience). On a recent weekday night, there was a 20 min wait for a cocktail in the only hotel public bar. This is a hotel of more than 500 rooms, which also attracts many outside visitors, with very few available public places. On our check-in evening at only 10 PM, the bar was closed and there was no place to get any food.
In addition to high room prices, the hotel charges a "resort fee" for use of inter-net, the pool and gym, whether you use the services or not.
In summary, my suggestion would be to visit the hotel as an outside guest, take the hotel tour, but stay elsewhere when you visit Quebec City. There is no added value or benefit of being a hotel guest here!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Superviseur Reception, Service clients/Réception at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
Responded Aug 15, 2023
Good morning, Thank you for the time you took sharing with us the details of your last visit. We are sorry it was busy and full. We are working our best to give our guests priority in our facilities and are presently working to add spaces and experiences for the futur. As of the resort fee, we are super proud to include guided tours, wine, beer and spirits tasting with our renown ambassadors, treasure hunts for the youngers, yoga and aquaworkout sessions and many more! Do not hesitate to reply to me so we can overlook this together. You can reach me at esther.fortin@fairmont.com Thank you again for your review, Kindly,
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We booked three nights up to and including New Year’s Eve. Incredible property located in center of town close to all major attractions. Architecture and surrounding venues remind me of our previous home is Switzerland. Simply awesome. Concierge (Philippe), checkin staff (Alexandre) and parking staff were fantastic. Gym is small for a 600+ hotel but great. Our room 7117 was spacious and clean. Great view of lake. But the positives end there. Sadly the hotel leadership makes zero effort to differentiate hotel guests from the massive amount of random tourists. Guests paying at least ~$900 per night have no priority reservations (or walk in) to hotel restaurants and can’t even walk into bar without permission. They embrace an all coming strategy which pushing paying hotel guests to massive queue saturated in non guests, people staying at other hotels, and others. We walked down to dinner and were greeted by two young women who explained that we were lucky to get two seats at SAM counter while countless people not staying at hotel filled 90% of seating area. When after dinner we simply tried to walk thru bar we were quickly confronted and escorted out. “We can’t allow anyone to enter bar without permission!” Absolutely ridiculous policy. I really wanted to give a better rating but the leadership simply doesn’t care about guests experience. If we come back to city, which is great, we will stay somewhere else. Why not, as we can always come back here and be treated same as paying hotel guests.
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Date of stay: December 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Overall, a very disappointing stay at this Fairmont property. Doesn’t hold a candle to the sister properties in Vancouver and Banff Springs. The cost of the suite was very high for a small room with a bathroom the size of a coat closet. There was barely enough room for the sink, toilet and shower. The room was also pretty heavily worn. The gym, pool area, and terrace are all very underwhelming. I guess that’s somewhat understandable for a facility this old but it’s not what one expects for the prices being charged. The most annoying part of the hotel is the lobby. It’s open to the public and because of the hotel’s location, history, and proximity to a nearby street performance stage, the place is packed with tourists who aren’t staying at the hotel. Busloads of people get dropped off and come into the lobby to cool off, use the restrooms, and patronize the bars and restaurants. As a guest in the hotel, it is completely overwhelming and really detracted from the experience, especially for the prices being charged. I guess that’s why they have this really weird access control policy to the bar (1608) in the lobby. Moreover, the restrooms serving the restaurant and the bar are also open to the public and they were pretty much trashed every time I went in because of the volume of people using them that aren’t guests at the hotel. Again, as a guest in the hotel, it was really disappointing. On a positive, the 1608 Bar and the Restaurant Champlain are fantastic. Once inside the food and beverage were of the highest quality and the staff was the friendliest on the property. The group meeting space and associated amenities were average at best. I’m disappointed to say that I would not go back to this hotel, especially for the prices they are charging. It is absolutely not a five-star hotel. It’s four stars at best with a lot of annoying characteristics, which is why I give it three stars. The 1608 Bar and Restaurant Champlain are absolutely five star and I will be sure to reflect that in separate reviews. I’m not one to usually write less than positive reviews but I feel like this hotel is not being accurately represented online.
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Date of stay: August 2024
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Location
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Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:If you go during the summertime, especially August, be prepared for a hotel who's facilities get...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I think to be fair I need to say the room’s are a reasonable size and are modern and clean. The bathroom is functional and has a proper shower with both rain shower and a normal shower head on a hose and with decent pressure (6th hotel in Canada and 1st that’s ideal). The bed is comfortable but there is a duvet between two sheets - apparently standard in North America, but the first time we have seen it in at least 40 hotels in North America! The air conditioning is loud as in jet engine loud! The neighbours bedtime entertainment can be heard in sometimes graphic detail! There is a swimming pool but it is taken over by children so hardly a relaxing spa experience. The gym is good and relatively quiet. The Elea bar, which is the terrace/swimming pool bar, seems to be more focused on visitors than guests, is more expensive than the reasonably priced bar and has a worse selection. And it is slow service which is a general complaint- the service is friendly but there is not enough serving staff! The breakfast is good and probably worth the over the top $45. -. But that is the only food you will probably get as the restaurants are fully booked over the weekend so reserve well in advance. Thankfully there is plenty of good food nearby at a40% discount on the chateau restaurants but still it would be nice to report )how good/bad they are but i cannot comment. The ice cream or Glace Du chateau is overpriced and not worth the money unfortunately. The wifi is terrible. It’s okay in public areas but third world in the rooms.
In summary it’s a nice hotel but there is a lot to get right to make it a great hotel and it is a shame they are not doing that. Is it worth staying? Yes for a night or two for the experience or longer if you want to simply get away from the world but there I would leave it.
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The building is grandiose. However, the service does not live up to the stars of the establishment. With a sublime view of the river, the luxury room only offers a small bathroom in which towels for 4 people do not find space, not to mention the toilets directly at the discretion of the residents of the room. Very very noisy heating with incessant blowing. Warning: do not lift any bottle otherwise your account will explode and your bill will increase. As for breakfast: a real treat and a gourmet variety. But if you want to put something aside, we will tell you in person that everything is to be eaten on site! The staff, however, are smiling and very friendly. Except for this lady at the entrance to the restaurant who seems incapable of smiling. However, my son and I enjoyed this stay in this emblematic hotel in Quebec City, where we met colorful people who were proud of their city and their country. So René made us experience the besieged city as if we were there.
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Quebec City area.
PRICE RANGE
C$379 - C$570 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
fairmont le chateau frontenac hotel quebec city, fairmont hotel quebec city, fairmont quebec city, quebec city fairmont
LOCATION
CanadaQuebecQuebec CityDowntown Quebec City
NUMBER OF ROOMS
610
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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