Review: Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City, Relais & Châteaux

At Christmas, we received a gift certificate to live the “Dinner under the stars” experience at the Auberge Saint-Antoine Relais & Châteaux in Quebec City. The idea is really original and allows you to live a different experience in a beautiful setting.

The Auberge has set up heated mini greenhouses on several of its room terraces. You can have a view of the St. Lawrence River, the Château Frontenac, Old Quebec or the garden courtyard while being sheltered and comfortable.

You can go there just for the dinner experience, but I highly recommend staying overnight, as the experience at this luxury hotel is well worth the extra $150 including breakfast the next day which can also be served in the mini-greenhouse or in the room.

This is a wonderful discovery when you want to celebrate a birthday, or simply to treat yourself and cheer up (in more difficult times) in a magnificent historical site that makes it a remarkable place.

Year after year, the Auberge is awarded important prixes and distinctions as “Best Hotel in Canada”. The sanitary rules have of course been put in place.

The hotel is located within walking distance of many beautiful places to visit in the old city, including the magnificent Petit Champlain district, and within walking distance of the shores of the St. Lawrence River and the funicular that takes us to the Dufferin Terrace. The Museum of Civilization is just a stone’s throw from the hotel.

During our visit, the ice sculptors were in action as part of the activities of the Quebec Winter Carnival, which will of course have a different format this year. We can see that the Scotia Bank is associated with this activity and offers a contest for the month of February during the Carnival under the theme “Sculpture Tour” including a $2,000 prize.

We were quickly greeted by a valet who took care of our luggage and our car. The lobby is very nice and not very busy at this time of year.

Hundreds of artifacts that were discovered on this property during an archaeological dig can be seen throughout the hotel.

We had room 610 which had a magnificent view of the Château Frontenac. However, it seems that room 605 offers a better view as you can see the river and the Château.

In my opinion, every possible comfort aspect is offered at this hotel. Heated floor and heated toilet seat (and bidet) in the bathroom. Very large shower and bath, incredibly soft robes, slippers and even a flosser!

The wardrobe is very large, there is a safety deposit box, a corner with a glass bottle of water, several glasses and wine glasses, kettle and Nespresso coffee with a large choice of tea and herbal tea and coffee capsules.

The mini-bar is currently empty, but we can order some products if necessary by calling the reception or simply add our drinks or other favourite items.

There is also an office area, a fireplace and a large comfortable bed.

You can enjoy the common areas while keeping your mask on and you can also have a drink at the beautiful bar L’Artefact for in-room consumption only.

There is a gym and wellness area which are unfortunately closed at the moment. There is no pool at this hotel, but they do have some larger mini-suites that can accommodate up to 4 people.

In conclusion, it is rare to go to a hotel in our own city, but I really recommend this very pleasant experience at this beautiful hotel. What a great idea!

We were told that they intend to add more mini greenhouses as demand is very high and that they intend to offer the product again for the next winter season. For this year, it will be available until April 30, 2021.

To pay for our stay, in addition to the gift card, I used our American Express Cobalt™ Card using our Amex Select Membership Rewards points at a rate of 1,000 points per $10. I could also have used my Scotia or HSBC Rewards Scotia to sweeten the cost of this very enjoyable outing.

Instead of using our points to travel, we took a vacation close to home!

For another view of this hotel, check out the Traveltips review.