Situated in the heart of Old Quebec, in a stunning neoclassical building that once housed the National Bank Of Canada’s first headquarters, lies the 71; a luxurious four-star boutique hotel that is ideal for business trips, family vacations, or romantic retreats. A mellow ambiance reigns in the hotel, with smooth lighting, soft and comfy couches, candles, neutral and pastel tones or warm colors. The Espresso lounge turned out to be one of my favorite rooms in the hotel: huge windows flood it with natural light; a large wooden table sits in the centre of the room, with big, velvety, baby pink pouffes circling it. Against the walls rest shelves with purchasable products that can be found in guests’ rooms, such as L’Occitane toiletries, chocolates, pillows and bathrobes. On the other corner of the lounge, next to the Espresso counter that contains a Nespresso coffee machine, luxury and herbal teas as well as flavored water, is a small newsstand. This room’s energy inspires creativity. And I like to think that beautiful ideas were born there, from seeing on numerous occasions a bunch of young people with their laptops passionately discussing business.
We stayed in a Deluxe Suite with a spectacular view on the Saint Lawrence River and the impressive Château Frontenac. The bed and pillows felt like a slice of heaven underneath my already relaxed body; curling up under the soft and comfy duvet felt like a dream. The Italian rain shower was a major hit. As a matter of fact, the entire bathroom design was a hit: the unusual use of dark colors and bright lighting was pleasantly surprising and created a gorgeous and very chic atmosphere.
Needless to say, waking up to the view of the river on a beautiful day was absolutely priceless.
I loved the high ceiling and hardwood floors. The suite was equipped with a Nespresso machine, bottles of water, a workspace, two TV’s, free Wi-Fi, fridge, umbrella and sound system with DVD player.
The view from our suite
Complimentary continental breakfast is included with room reservations in the hotel. It takes place in the hotel’s restaurant, which happens to be a popular Italian eatery in town, Ristorante Il Matto. As an advocate for clean eating, I was overjoyed to see all the healthy options available for breakfast and literally talked about it all day and to everyone I engaged a conversation with. The cherry on top? The coffee was delicious. Let me say that again: the coffee was delicious. And I am holding myself back from using bold capital letters writing this. Obviously we were in an Italian restaurant so it had to be good, right? We tried the lattes, cappuccinos and espressos and savored every sip ’til the last drop.
The restaurant
Dried fruits, nuts, granola
The fruit salad did not seem to have any industrial sugar added. Looked like freshly cut fruits, to my biggest pleasure.
There were many other options that weren’t photographed such as hard boiled eggs (a healthy eating person’s dream option for breakfast and so rare to find in hotels’ continental breakfasts), yogurt, ham, (cream) cheese, French toasts, croissants (tasted as good as real French ones), muffins and freshly pressed orange or grapefruit juice. I mean, it doesn’t get any better than this.
The latte
I must say the service was great at the hotel but at the restaurant too. The 71 is apart of Clefs D’Or organisation, which is an organisation whose membership is exclusively granted to those who have not only consistently demonstrated an unsurpassed knowledge of their respective communities, but to those who demand excellence of themselves when meeting the needs of hotels’ guests.
We highly recommend this hotel. It was by far one of the most incredible experiences we’ve had in a hotel.
Plus: The hotel possesses a fitness centre, valet parking service, massage service, same-day weekday dry cleaning service, movie rentals, babysitting service, bicycles are available for free when the season is appropriate and four meeting rooms.
Watch the video tour we made of the hotel and of our suite. And for more info: http://hotel71.ca
