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.

I stayed at the Queen Elizabeth four time in 2006 I decided to try the Manoir Richelieu. I had an early check-in which was great. However, the hotel was empty and they gave me the smallest room they had... So, I asked to see other rooms. They showed me a "deluxe room" a ex. "gold room" (no more gold services) and another "fairmont room". Of course, we would have to pay more for the deluxe or the gold room. But, there was absolutely no difference between them. So, we took the other fairmont room which was a little bit bigger. But, all their rooms looked like holiday inn rooms. I must say that I stayed at an Econolodge with better rooms.

Bad things:
- Old rooms, not luxurious
- Holes in blankets
- Long to be answered when we call to the reception
- Long before they took ou plates near the door (we called two times)
-Very old furniture, scrached table, broken desk...
-Wake up call with a pre-recorder msg (at this point I prefer my cell phone)
-Titles around the pool were missing
-The pool should be repaint
-Bed not comfortable
-Over-priced breakfast for what it provides

Good things:
- Nice staff
- Nice view
- Temperature of the pool excellent

So, the hotel should be modernized. It is not a five star hotel and not up to the fairmont standards. They do not try to "fidelize" their clients. Do not offer to uprade you to another room even tough the hotel is empty and even if you're a good member of their loyalty program. I was really deceived by this hotel. It is not worth the price 200$ per night.

Stay away from this hotel!

The hotel was beautiful and the rooms were very comfortable. The hotel advertised that there was a tea room and a cigar room, but had neither, that was disappointing for our group. The staff was not friendly but were helpful in booking us a reservation at a nearby restaurant. The view in the sitting room/bar on the main floor was gorgeous. The drinks were very expensive, as was the food. The pool area and game room was very nice. The pool was salt water, so that was a treat for my boyfriend. We played mini-golf one morning and had a nice time, with an amazing view of the river. A good hotel for a family, as there were a lot of childrens events and many activities to do.

We drove from Quebec City and I would suggest this drive as it was a gorgeous trip with many gastronomic stops along the way. Many foodie tourist stops between Quebec City and Malbaie. yum!