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Booking to spend our Christmas at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Québec City, Canada is one of the best decisions that we ever made. This winter wonderland of a luxury hotel just oozes holiday spirit in December. What a wonderful place it was to spend my favorite holiday of the year! Read on if you’re thinking of making it a Le Château Frontenac Christmas.

Why the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, you may wonder? I have wanted to stay at this hotel since I first glimpsed it in person when I was 15 years old. We were on a family cruise with Holland America Lines, originating in New York and ending in Montreal, with a few days in Québec City. The place is a castle (a real château) – it enchanted me immediately. I had to stay here someday, and that day finally came in December 2016.

A brief note about inclusivity: I’m Catholic by upbringing, I identify as Christian, and I celebrate Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday. However, I believe that if you’re an atheist, Jew, Muslim, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., you’ll still have a wonderful time visiting the Château in late December! No shade to other ideologies here – just speaking from my own perspective as a Christmas-lover!

I was not disappointed. If anything, I had underestimated how great this hotel really was. I felt like a Christmas princess all week in this snow-covered palace! And, what better place than to stay in the most iconic symbol of the city itself – Le Château Frontenac?

Getting There (In A Snowstorm)

Welp, driving to Québec City from New York City on Christmas Eve was not one of my BRIGHTEST ideas. To say the least.

We rented an SUV in NYC (from Laguardia Airport, which we were closer to than JFK) to make the drive up. I knew my Acura TL wasn’t built for snowy roads and we were going to Canada, after all. So, we rented a Nissan Murano and began our trek through upstate New York to the border.

Things were great until we hit a snowstorm around mid-Catskills! It kept snowing all the way until we reached Québec City. It took only about one hour longer than it should have, which was great. However, driving that far and long on snowy roads during a snowstorm means extremely tense shoulders and white knuckles for me.

Just a quick sidenote: drivers between Montreal and Quebec City are insane. We kept getting passed by Toyota Yarises doing 90 mph in a snowstorm. So, be warned!

We arrived in town and began the meandering drive uphill toward the hotel. I was so glad we had the SUV at that point because there are some steep hills in Vieux-Québec. If you’re in doubt, rent the SUV with 4-wheel drive.

Pro-Tip: Join the Le Club AccorHotels (formerly the Fairmont President’s Club) loyalty program for free prior to your stay. You’ll earn points to redeem at the loyalty program’s many branded properties – including Fairmont Hotels, Raffles, Novotel, Sofitel, Swissôtel, M Gallery and Ibis, to name a few. But, you must book directly to receive credit. Stays booked with third parties are ineligible to earn credits, but they have a price match guarantee!

Our Home for the Holidays

The room was a freshly-renovated, large room in one of the turrets of the château – it was amazing! We overlooked the snow-covered slate rooftops of the town below. We booked a Deluxe Room, 1 King Bed, No view, and yet we still had a view. It was awesome being in one of the turrets, too, as our room had an architectural charm to it, as you can see.

The room was huge, the bed was super comfortable and the bathrobes were plush AF. Definitely recommend requesting one of these rooms if you can!

What’s more – the staff left us such a sweet surprise in our room! I wasn’t here on a sponsored trip (I wish!) but they were kind enough to leave us this beautiful holiday dessert trio one afternoon, which we discovered when we returned to our room.

Bonus Content: How to create the luxury Le Château Frontenac experience at home

The toiletries were Le Labo, in the Rose 31 fragrance. So lush. This trip got us hooked on Le Labo! I was delighted to find out that they’re from NYC, so I’ve since become an addict, going into their store location on Elizabeth Street every time I’m back in town.

Christmas Activities at Le Château Frontenac

The most FUN activity at the hotel, for all ages, is the Toboggan Run. All of the information on the Toboggan Run is at that link, so I won’t waste space here regurgitating that info. But, trust me, you want to do it.

However, there’s much more to do on Christmas at the Le Château Frontenac than ride down a snowy chute at breakneck speeds. Try some delicious maple taffy, poured in ribbons on the snow right before your eyes, for only $2.50 CAD.

Admire the many, MANY Christmas trees in the hotel lobby, all decorated differently.

2019’s schedule of holiday happenings at the hotel is live now, which includes special brunches, dinners, and live music at the Château from December 22 through New Year’s Day.

Note that a credit card is required to hold a holiday dining reservation and you should DEFINITELY reserve in advance. We tried reserving for Christmas Eve dinner and it was fully booked by December 20. Insert sad face here.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac offers several dining options for Christmas morning breakfast but we wanted a little splurge, so we ordered some decadent room service for ourselves, to be delivered around 8:30 am. But, by 9:00 am, there was no sign of our breakfast, so Luke called the reception to inquire as to its whereabouts.

Well, turns out they had forgotten about us. BUT (and this is a huge BUT), the hotel went above and beyond to make things right. They gave us the entire breakfast FOR FREE and also ADDED some goodies to it, just for us!

This single experience solidified my desire to return to this hotel again, someday. That’s the difference between okay service and outstanding service. They truly care about making their guests happy.

Breakfast was delicious and the basket of pastries was amazing. One of my favorite parts, however, was the little jars of honey. They come from the beehives/apiary that are kept on the roof of the château! How cool is that?

Cozy Christmas Cocktails: Bistro Le Sam

I really hope they have this cocktail again when you go to Bistro Le Sam, but the Trinitario Flip was my favorite! It was like gourmet eggnog (a flip is a cocktail made with egg yolks). It even won its creator an international bartender’s competition, the Angostura Cocktail Challenge Canada 2016. So, if the Trinitario Flip is on the menu and you like eggnog, order it! It had:

• Rum
• Angostura
• Crème de banane
• Dark chocolate liqueur
• A whole egg
• A good dose of angostura aromatic bitter.

Flips aside, the cocktail bar at the hotel’s less formal restaurant – Bistro Le Sam – was next-level. The bartenders take their craft seriously, and it shows. Luke imbibed the Millionaire’s Martini.

We returned another night and had the berry cocktail, where the bartender made a bowl out of ice shavings and placed some fresh berries and powdered sugar to top the cocktail. Everything had such attention to detail; it truly felt special.

We snacked on the mixed board of cheeses and meats (3 cheeses and 5 cold cuts, priced at $58 CAD as of late 2019), which we agreed was one of the best cheese and charcuterie boards that we’d ever had. For a luxury hotel and for the high quality of the offerings, this was a pretty good deal.

Champagne Toast at 1608 Bar

When the hotel has a sexy, chic wine bar, I make it a point to go to the sexy, chic wine bar! 1608 Bar is just that – a cosmopolitan wine bar nestled in a sparkling corner of the main floor with expansive views of the St. Lawrence River below. Its metallic accents and round design feel sophisticated, but not stuffy. This place was always packed during our stay (and they don’t take reservations), but we managed to get ourselves in one evening for a post-dinner glass of bubbles. It’s open until 1 am on Friday and Saturday night and midnight every other night. There’s food available until 10 pm!

Amenities at Le Château Frontenac

There’s a Starbucks at the hotel, downstairs. Which is fabulous. Get your eggnog latte before you head to the funicular that takes you downhill to the Petit Champlain!

If you’ve indulged in too much poutine (and if you have, I’m proud of you!), you can work it off in the fitness center or at the indoor pool. Or, you can book a massage at the hotel’s spa (Moment Spa) and sweat it out in the sauna afterward!

You can even book a guided tour of the hotel for a discounted price for in-house guests. We didn’t have a chance to do this, but it truly is such a spectacular property, I would do one next time! If you don’t want to do a guided tour, you can take yourself on a tour, and check out all the old pottery, wine bottles, and other items on display in the hallways on the lower level.

Winter Wonderland Christmas? Luxury holiday at Le Château Frontenac? Check and Check.

As I write this, I’m kind of dying to go back to the Le Château Frontenac for this holiday season. We had such a wonderful time and although we were on vacation, it really FELT like Christmas. Sometimes holiday travel makes you feel like you missed the holiday completely. This is the opposite: we fully leaned into the holiday spirit and it was the best thing we could have done.

Planning a holiday trip to Canada? Save this post for later by pinning one of the below images on your Pinterest board!

What about you? Would you book a getaway for the holidays? Thinking of booking a room at the Le Château Frontenac for Christmas or during the holiday season for a wee splurge? Leave a comment and ask me anything!