The hotel offers all the amenities you could ever hope for including indoor pool, health club, three restaurants, underground parking, and an ice-skating rink.

The hotel retains its turn-of-the-century charm, with a distinct French-Canadian twist. The tasteful decor and the exceptional service provided by all the employees ensures guests of a very pleasant stay. Part of the charm of the rooms themselves is the intimate feeling offered by the smaller size.

The main lobby bar is an excellent place to relax in the evening after a day of sightseeing or skiing at the nearby hills. The bar is very classy, yet casual attire is fine. The view of the St. Lawrence is breathtaking from the large bay windows.

Although the hotel has 618 rooms, it is very popular and early reservations are recommended for busy tourist seasons. The Chateau is the finest hotel in enchanting Vieux Quebec!

In all, the Frontenac boasts over 600 rooms, but as with many classic hotels, rooms can vary widely in shape and size. Our lucky group landed three rooms on upper floors. My room on the 17th floor was at the very top of the tower, and offered a panoramic view of the waterfront and up the river to Levis and Ile D"Orleans. When our friends found their non-smoking room on the 5th floor smelled strongly of stale cigarettes, the hotel offered them a complimentary upgrade to a Gold Level room. Fairmont’s Gold Level offers guests the small hotel experience, even within much larger properties, by providing a separate check-in area and private lounge with dedicated concierge services. Continental breakfast was provided each day in the lounge, which overlooked the river and city from the 14th floor of the tower.

As for the deatils: Decor was classic upscale hotel, with plush carpeting, muted patterns, and nice appointments. Bathroom was a bit small and lacking in counter space. Each morning of our stay I ventured to the 6th floor Club Frontenac where the swimming pool wing offers guests (and a limited number of locals) an attractive pool and soaking tubs/Jacuzzi. The mens locker area also offered a eucalyptus steam room- just the thing for clearing my head after evening libations in La Rotonde!

Our room was everything I could have wanted, impeccably clean, well furnished with two double beds, a chair and ottoman, desk, bench and TV with plenty of English speaking channels. We had a corner room with view out to the river; we had only paid for city views so I was very excited. Our bedspreads were toile and we had featherbeds under them. I loved our cushy robes and Alex managed to commandeer one for himself even though he looked like Yoda with it on.

Our bathroom was not large but it was marble and had plenty of towels and a nice selection of amenities. While Al and Alex hit the pool and exercise equipment, I took a few minutes to catch my breath. While I was there, turn down service arrived with three bottles of water and some cookies. It was a pleasant surprise.

You can have a delightful shopping experience without ever leaving the Chateau. Not only are there several shops right off the lobby but if you go to the terrace level there is a whole mini mall of very upscale and expensive shops.

We didn’t eat at the Frontenac restaurants, but we did order room service. Since there was no table in our room, we did wonder how we would eat it when it arrived. We needn’t have worried; it came on a rolling table with goblets of water, fresh flowers, and delicious food. Again, I was impressed.

The main draw of the Frontenac besides its superb service is its location. You walk right out the terrace level and you are on the Terrace Dufferin. We stay in Quebec every year and all the hotels we have stayed at are beautiful and within an easy walk of the old city but this was the best location ever. It made it possible for us to enjoy site seeing even in the last two hours of our last morning. I would love to stay here again but not until the American dollar gains back a little of it’s lost value. The price of our room went up $30 in 3 weeks because of the devaluing of the US dollar. The rate I got however, was a rate I called the Fairmont 800 number and asked about. It was not advertized and it was $100 cheaper than the rate I was originally quoted.

Parking is either valet or self park, same price. Be warned this garage is under construction and if you are driving an SUV or a minivan, you will never make the corners.

A tour guide told me that it is the most photographed hotel in the world and I can well believe it. It looks like something you’d find in France’s Loire Valley. Its location is spectacular - seemingly perched atop the city walls with the St. Lawrence River practically at its doorstep.

My room was in the original part of the hotel and had a view of the courtyard. All of the 621 guest rooms are decorated differently and my queen size bedroom was done in blue and cream. The room was cozy with a large desk and chair as well as a small table and chair beside the dormer window. The mini bar had the usual selection of alcohol, soft drinks and snacks. A very welcome addition was complimentary milk and cream for the coffee maker (none of the horrid powdered creamers - thank God).

The light in the closet came on automatically when the door was opened - I had to play with it a few times, just for fun. The bathroom countertop was marble and there were lots of towels as well as an assortment of toiletries including bubble bath and full size bars of soap rather than the tiny "sample" size. I especially liked the large wall mounted magnifying mirror on a swivel stand which was great for applying makeup.

If there was any draw back it was the fact that both elevators were at the other end of the floor so I had quite a long walk to my room. The hallways seemed a bit dull because of the dark wood and wall sconce lighting but it fit with the atmosphere of a turn of the century hotel.

The fitness area, on the 6th floor, had a large pool, separate hot tub and full size gym including treadmills, bikes, step machines, weight machines and a good selection of free weights. My favorite part was the mentholated steam sauna and I had it to myself early one blissful Monday morning.

The hotel has a gigantic lounge with views of the River, a couple of restaurants and many shops and gift stores with a wide assortment of elegant but expensive items.

I took a 50 minute guided tour of the hotel and learned much about its history as well as viewing some of the rooms and conference areas. Cost of the tour was $6.50 per person and the guides were dressed in period costumes.

Room rates at the hotel start at about $200. (CDN) and increase according to the view with river view rooms being the most expensive.