Quebec City: Loews Hôtel Le Concorde

Closing in on our fourth and final night at Loews Hôtel Le Concorde, we're reflecting on how pleasant our stay has been. As we mentioned in an earlier post, we snagged this four-star hotel in combination with the flight for an unbeatable price, so we wondered about the hotel and also how we, as bargain guests, would be treated. We needn't have worried.

On our arrival, a friendly check-in clerk found what he said was a good room on the 16th floor. Since it's one of the highest buildings in Quebec City, we have by definition a beautiful view. The room itself is modern, spacious and well equipped, obviously renovated since the property was built in 1974.

We ascended to Astral, the revolving restaurant on the 26th floor after our first full day. A couple of tables are reserved for a bar area and we enjoyed a beer while taking in the few and snapping photos. Liquor prices are high in general compared to what we're used to so the total for two Molsons of close to $15 (eek!) wasn't that far out of line with what we experienced elsewhere and represented a modest surcharge for the view.

The location for us has been just fine, especially with the unusually sunny weather we experienced the first two days. We're immediately adjacent to that "restaurant row" discussed in an earlier post and we've enjoyed several good meals there. It's about a 10-minute walk to the gate to Old Town and that wouldn't be as much fun in rainy or snowy weather. For us it worked out perfectly, and of course the hotel immediately overlooks historic Battlefields Park, where the future of Canada was determined in one brief but significant battle in 1759.

Reviewers note the relatively limited lack of food outlets for a property of this size and scope. Astral Restaurant seems mainly known for its view and its buffet, although they do offer a three-course table d'hôte as well and are mentioned in Fodor's and elsewhere, and there's a restaurant on the main floor as well. For us, it wasn't a big issue with restaurants like Cosmos literally around the corner and the best hotel coffee maker and coffee, Keurig, we've ever experienced right in our own room.

The wireless Internet connection, about Canadian $12 daily, wasn't very fast but we've been able to upload pictures and open multiple windows without a great deal of delay. Sadly, that's a fairly reasonable price for Internet in a four-star hotel. Ironically, it's mainly the budget lodgings such as Super 8 that offer free Internet.

Last night boisterous next-door neighbors disturbed our sleep to the point that Brian called the Front Desk at 4:00 a.m. They promised to send up security staff immediately and things quieted down. We'd never blame the hotel for such a problem, unless it turned out to be common due to the clientele.

In short, we've really enjoyed our stay. The hotel met and even exceeded our expectations.

Would we stay here again? Would we recommend it to others? Yes and yes.