We stayed at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in late June/early July on a promotion with the Casino Charlevoix.

Almost everything from the check-in to the concierge service was efficient. We opted for valet parking on the first night; however, they mis-labeled our car keys and it took a while for valet to retrieve our vehicle.

Our room didn't have a fantastic view of fleuve St. Laurent, but it did have a view of a beautiful courtyard. The room itself was large and clean. The washroom was clean and bright. A complaint of mine is that we stayed in an area of the hotel that took a small distance to get to the elevator.

The concierge was helpful, friendly and knew many of the attractions and artisans in the area.

Brunch on the first morning was part of the package. The hot meals were good, and the fruit was fresh. Had we "paid," it would have been $21 per person...just a little too steep for my liking. I would recommend driving into the nearby town, La Malbaie, for some nights of dining, as the in-hotel restaurants are rather pricey. Particularly, there is a wonderful creperie and a casse-croute (chip wagon) in town that are fantastic.

We just returned from a three night stay at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu. We originally booked 5 nights but after 24 hours we realized that we had made a big mistake and decided
to cut our losses and drop two nights. I guess the lenient
cancellation policy is one of the few breaks they offer to guests
in this hotel, because every single amenity is charged to the hilt
as part of a nickel and dime policy. As if paying absurdly
inflated prices for the room and the simplest of meals were
not enough, we found ourselves faced with steep rental charges
when we inquired about bike use-$12 per hour per bike.
Even the tennis courts cannot be used by guests without paying a $15 per hour court fee. Give us a break!!! When I inquired at the sports centre into the possibility of their matching me up with a partner for tennis thestaff seemed interested only in offering
me to play with the pro at an additional fee of $15 an hour on topof the court fee. They finally took my name and room no.
at my
insistence and promptly forgot about it. I never heard from them
again.
We are past customers of Fairmont hotels and were shocked
at the abysmal quality of the food in their two more informal
restaurants- the Bistroand the St. Laurent dining room.
Both offered a la carte or buffets and both were barely edible.
The salad bars looked tired and devoid of creativity.
Wonderbread straight from the supermarket shelf was
offered for breakfast and the hot egg dish was
synthetic scrambled eggs from a mix used in prisons
and boot camps. These are just a sampling.
By the second evening things reached the point where we thought room service might be a better option. The dinner
arrived cold. The room service personnel on the phone
repeatedly got things wrong for the breakfast order as their
understanding of English was surprisingy spotty.
I had to explain to them what hot oatmeal is in both
English, French (my French is quite good) and body
mime as well but they still managed to bring Corn Flakes
instead.
The only positive feature was the deluxe river -view room which
was exteremely spacious with a very comfortable King bed.
The outdoor pool was disappointingly small for a hotel this size and noumbrellas for shade were provided
around the pool.
We returned disbelieving and resolved that our honeymoon with
Fairmont is over. Save your money and go elsewhere.

We didn't have a reservation in advance, and the check-in person was able to put us in a beautiful room on the 5th floor at a very fair price. The property is beautiful - right on the St. Lawrence with gardens all around. The room was large, especially its bathroom. The bedding and linens were comfortable. Everything was clean.

Beware the additional charges! Everything seems to cost something or request a tip of some kind. The mini-bar and breakfast choices are pretty outrageous, and you can hardly bring in your luggage without TWO porters assisting you.

Being July, the rooms were "on air conditioning", so there was no way to heat the actual room. We called to inquire, and a maintenance person brought up a space heater. The first heater was too noisy to allow sleep, so they brought a better, quieter one. It just seemed odd for such a fancy place. The bathroom has its own heating unit, but the room's unit would only produce cold air, which they said was true of all rooms at that time.

The casino is right next door, and it was packed with people. There is also a golf course, but neither are "our thing." There are four restaurants; we only had a small meal at the Bistro, which was fine, but the service was slower than it should be when sitting outside. We enjoyed the live music in their lounge. They had an outdoor fire with was nice to sit around in the evening.

The resort is a destination in itself, and there isn't much else to do in the area. There are several restaurants in the area, although I'd say you'd need to use your car to get to them.

I would recommend it for that price for that room.

The Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie (181 rue Richelieu) is a high-class hotel in the beautiful Charlevoix region. While it can accommodate children (it does offer a kid’s club), it caters mainly to the adult crowd. A casino is right next door after all. Other activities include tennis, swimming (in salt water both indoor and outdoor all year round), golf, and hiking among others.

It was not my first visit to this hotel in particular and to others of the Fairmont chain. This time, I had reserved our room four months in advance by phone and had gotten good service as usual. Three weeks before our arrival date (mid-may), I checked on their website and saw a better price. I immediately phoned and got the room changed without any charge or fuss. The price difference was $50/night less. In exchange, I had given up the view on the St-Lawrence for a view on the gardens, which was fine with me. After all, I wasn’t planning to gaze out the window very much. In May, their rates started at 189.00 without breakfast and $229 with breakfast for two adults.

We arrived mid-evening and were given our room right away. Parking is free outside. On week-end nights, you might end up parking further away as the hotel and casino share the parking facilities. The room was their basic one: 2 double beds, plush carpet, fluffy pillows, nice furniture, bathrobes, mini-bar, big t.v. Beside the coffee maker and cups, there was an new addition: wine glasses. So we were able to open our bottle of wine and drink it in style. The next morning, we went down to the breakfast room, the one with the view on the St-Lawrence River. Beautiful. I never tire of the sight. Far away, we could see cargo ships passing by and the other bank of the river. We were shown to our table and right away a waiter appeared to offer the juice of the day, coffee, tea or hot chocolate (the kid’s favorite, although I had one too the second morning). Then we marched to the buffet. The hotel’ specialty, the maple butter crepes, was in abundance, along with Belgian waffles, croissants, three or four kinds of bread, cereals, fresh fruits, four kinds of juices, omelets (prepared to your specifications), etc. The choice was nice, the food very good and the service excellent. The whole experience made us feel pampered.

We had already used the pool that morning as I like to swim early when the pool is empty (opening hour: 7 a.m.). So we opted for a game of mini-golf on real grass. As we were at the beginning of the season, the grass was not as nice as I had seen it on previous visits but we could still get in a good game. This mini 18-hole is quite different from the usual commercial mini-golf. It actually feels like a real golf course.

Afterwards, we drove to the Parc des Hautes Gorges de la rivière Malbaie. It took us an hour to get there because the roads are winding and narrow. We parked the car at the welcoming office, paid the $7/fee/person and took the shuttle (school bus) to our destination (15-minute drive). The bus stopped at regular intervals dropping off or picking up people. Some were returning to their campsite, others were starting on one of the trails, the most popular being the one leading to the top of the highest cliffs in Eastern Canada. I had done the trek a few years ago and the view at the top was great and quite rewarding after all that climbing. This time, we were going kayaking. I had reserved our kayaks a few weeks ago on the park’s website [--]. We were lucky as there was no wind that day and the waters were calm. So we got four hours of great fun going up the river lined by the cliffs, with only the birds for company and the occasional cyclist on the trail alonside the shore. It’s a good thing we had covered ourselves with suntan lotion, the sun was fierce for mid-may.

In the evening, we tried one of the local restaurants, the Crêperie le Passe-temps (1270 blvd de Comporté, La Malbaie), which offered waffles and crepes, either as a meal or dessert. The selection was adequate (no table d’hôte), the service good, the food well-prepared and presented. Average price per person: $30 including one entrée, main plate and drink.

The next morning was a repetition of the first with the same generous buffet and great service. Then we had to leave at 11 a.m. Again, the reception employees were extremely courteous.

Over the years, the Manoir has never disappointed me. It’s a great place to go for a relaxing week-end in a luxurious environment. The local town of La Malbaie and immediate surroundings does not however have much to offer as entertainment. A few good restaurants, one movie theatre (French only), some art galleries, one small art museum sums it up. One hour away in Tadoussac, you can go whale-watching. Several companies offer 3-4 hours trips in small and large ships in the summer, depending how close you wish to see the whales and how wet you are willing to get. As well, you can go cruising in the Saguenay fjord or hike on one the numerous trails of the Saguenay park. So it is the beauty of the region that will bring you back again and again, not its commercial attractions.