9 Top Quebec City Hotels for a Weekend Getaway

No list of Quebec City hotels can be called complete without the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. It’s nothing short of an iconic landmark, a part of the very fabric of this historic cityscape and a chapter in Canadian history. In the 19th century, as the national dream of a coast-to-coast railway was nearing completion, William Van Horne – the General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway – imagined a string of grand hotels across the country to attract and serve travellers. The Frontenac is one of the great originals at the dawn of Canadian tourism.

In the years since, these rooms have hosted royalty, presidents, prime ministers and stars from Queen Elizabeth to Winston Churchill. Today, the Frontenac’s 611 guest rooms and suites, health club, spa and indoor pool make for an urban resort characterized by traditional elegance. Four on-site restaurants – including a classic wine and cheese bar – offer options from breakfast buffet to afternoon tea and fine dining. The best way to make a stay at the Frontenac exactly perfect is to arrive by train just below the hotel in the lower town.

Step outside the Château Frontenac and what catches the eye across the small Place d’Armes green space is the red roof of Auberge du Trésor and its street level Bistro 1640, which spills onto the sidewalk beneath a long, green striped canopy. The menu is inspired by local ingredients and the cocktails are the imaginative creations of contemporary mixologists. With a view of the Frontenac, these tables make for dining infused with old-world class.

Inside, the exposed stone walls in some of the guest rooms date from 1713 when a one-storey house was built on this site for the king’s surveyor Jean Lerouge. The 22-room inn has the feel of a boutique hotel, the experience heightened in those rooms with a view of the Château Frontenac.

Perhaps the only hotel in Quebec City to surpass the Frontenac and the Trésor as an historical gem is le Monastére des Augustines. This former monastery is the site of the continent’s first hospital north of Mexico. The hotel retains its historical roots in much more than just its name.

Upon check-in, guests are requested to turn off their phones and other electronics, not just to maintain an atmosphere of tranquility in the hotel, but to help promote an inner peace for guests. That quest to quiet the mind continues in the rooms, which are without TVs. In the dining room, the menu is built upon organic ingredients supplied from local producers in season, all with the promotion of health in mind.

Professionals offer holistic health consultations, a range of massage therapies, meditation workshops and other health services, including follow-up consultations after the guest returns home. The on-site museum is well worth a look, the 40,000 artifacts telling the story of this and the other eleven hospitals where the Augustinian Sisters provided, as they saw it, healing for body and soul.

A healthy environment is the goal at the Hôtel de Vieux-Quebec. The proof of its commitment is in the five out of five score from the Hotel Association of Canada’s Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program in 2018 and previous environmental awards.

From the locally made furniture to the rooftop solar panels and garden – including beehives – the hotel strives in every possible way to meet its commitment to reducing its impact on the environment. The fruits, vegetables, herbs and honey produced on the roof are featured in the bistro restaurant – Le Tournebroche – downstairs. The Vieux-Quebec is the only hotel in the country to use 100% biogas produced from natural processes rather than fracking, helping make the Vieux-Quebec carbon neutral.

The Vieux-Quebec is easy recommend for these and many other elements of its environment-friendly practices, but it also attracts guests because it’s within the ramparts of the old city. Reminders of its location can be found within its elegant rooms, many of which have stone walls and wood floors.

Still within the stone ramparts of old Quebec, there’s a romantic, adults-only getaway in what was once a 19th century mansion. In fact, the Clos Saint-Louis calls itself the most romantic hotel in Quebec City. That’s quite a claim, given that old Quebec might be Canada’s most romantic neighbourhood. Still, it has good reason for the claim. Furnished with Victorian antiques, the rooms are luxurious havens, some with cozy fireplaces. The attic rooms with vaulted ceilings, exposed beams and skylights are favourite hideaways.

To enhance the romantic atmosphere, the hotel offers packages, including one with a horse-drawn carriage ride and afternoon tea at the Château Frontenac, and another with a couple’s massage and four-course dinner. In the dining room each morning, fresh house-made butter croissants are the stars of a full breakfast.

This 24-room boutique hotel is all about artistic expression. Located in Quebec City’s arts and culture district, the C3 Hotel Art de Vivre itself is a virtual art gallery with artwork by some of the city’s finest artists and works on loan from the Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec across the street.

One package offered by the hotel includes admission to the museum. Each room is an original; luxuriously appointed and uniquely adorned with contemporary, striking works of art. The rooftop patio commands panoramic views over the arts and culture district of the city with galleries, theatres, restaurants and bars where nightlife thrives.

For the business traveller looking for a touch of luxury, Le Bonne Entente has it in spades. The 160 rooms and 60 suites at the five-star BE Hotel, as it’s nicknamed, are each appointed with the business traveller in mind, including a comfortable office desk, free Wi-Fi and a safe. The BE is unique in that it stands on eleven acres of gardens and gorgeously landscaped grounds along with an outdoor pool and hot tub. Many of the rooms look out over these magnificent grounds.

Three restaurants – including the four-diamond steakhouse and the California inspired Napa Grill – and access to the renowned Golf La Tempete provide ample opportunity to conduct business in the most enjoyable of settings. When guest’s thoughts do turn to work, the on-site corporate catering service proves invaluable. On weekends, the Endless Brunch at the MC Lounge complete with smorgasbord, sparkling wine, cocktails and music is as suited to the needs of business travellers as it is for couples, families and gatherings of friends.

So many hotels excel in their restaurants, it’s nearly impossible to say that one stands above the other. On the other hand, the French Canadian farmhouse-to-fork philosophy at Chez Muffy, at the Auberge Saint Antoine, cannot go unmentioned – venison and beetroot tartar anyone? The setting – a renovated 1822 maritime warehouse in the city’s old port district – is a hint to the importance the kitchen places on working with fishermen, farmers and other producers.

The second on-site restaurant, Bar Artéfact, offers a glimpse into the past with displays of historically significant objects dating back to the 17th century. Both present inspired menus based on local ingredients, including those grown at the hotel’s garden not far downstream in the St. Lawrence River on l’île d’Orléans. There’s no shortage of wine pairing choices, given that the cellar holds some 12,000 bottles of wines by 700 producers in 14 countries. The best after dinner reward is retiring to one of the 95 rooms and suites in this historic boutique luxury hotel.  

Easily the most unique accommodation experience in Quebec City, if not the continent because it’s the only one of its kind, is a night at the Hôtel de Glace. That’s right, a hotel made of ice. Of course, rooms are only available seasonally. In fact, they only exist in winter. Entrance is through the Grand Hall to the hotel’s rooms and suites, each decorated with original sculptures.

Learn how the hotel is constructed by joining the guided tour dedicated to revealing the secrets to its architecture. Afterwards, order a drink from the bar to experience sipping a cocktail from a glass made of ice. The hotel changes its overall theme every year, which attracts many a return visitor to Quebec’s famous Ice Hotel.