We stayed one week at the Auberge de la Vieille Tour in November 2000 through Air Canada Vacations. At the airport, we were kept waiting over 30 minutes for the prepaid shuttle. Apparently, we were waiting for more guests that never showed up.

At the hotel, the clerk welcomed us with a cold face cloth which we really appreciated. It was very hot and humid even in the lobby. Then, we were told that we'd have to wait for a room. It was frustrating that the clerk didn't know when the room would be ready. In the meantime, the hotel offered a locked storage room near the main desk for everybody's luggage.

There are lots of small hills on the property. The rooms are a good up and down hill walk from everything else on the property, so bring your running shoes.

The hotel has transportation by van from the main lobby to the hotel rooms. Unfortunately, we could not find a non-smoking room. Our search was exhausting! The cleaning staff and driver of the hotel van were unfriendly and uncooperative. Hotel staff informed us that "it is a non-smoking room if you don't smoke in it", so we took the ashtray out of the room and opened the sliding door for a couple of hours. Also, we noticed a lot of smoking in the lobby, especially by airline staff staying at the hotel.

The outdoor breakfast buffet was very good and had a lot of selections, i.e. crepes, omelettes, fruits, croissants, breads, juices, etc. Coffee with hot milk was really good. However, by the second day, we found that our table was still not receiving prompt coffee service. We thought that this was due to our speaking English. To remedy this, after I caught the server's attention, I shrugged my shoulders and raised my palms in the air a couple of times to make her laugh, (universal language) and from then on she started serving us coffee at breakfast promptly.

The manager's welcome cocktail involved a personal introduction, handshake with the manager, and a selection of hors d'oeuvres and wine.

The hotel beach area was cleaned every morning. A strange loud noise coming from the beach woke us up one night. We never figured out what caused the noise.

The hotel restaurant was very expensive, including drinks and desserts. Also, we couldn't find anyone from the staff who could speak English. Most of the guests were from France. If you can speak French, then it's a good place to stay.