Scopri il tuo soggiorno a La Malbaie

My sister and I stayed at Auberge La Chatelaine for 2 nights after a kayaking trip. July 2021. We like smaller places with character, rather than larger impersonal hotels We loved the home with its interesting character and antique furnishings. There was only one room available when we booked, so we got a room on the upper floor with a queen sized bed and a claw foot tube hidden behind a screen. There was a separate little closet with a toilet. One of the owners, Laurent, greeted us and showed us around on our arrival. He and his partner were originally from France. We loved the tables and chairs that were set up on the porch with a wonderful view towards the St. Lawrence, for breakfast We loved the charm of the place, but have a few suggestions of what could make it even better: • We both like to read before bed (especially with no television) and there were no reading lights beside the bed (there were some accent lamps, but nothing to light the sides of the bed for reading) • Breakfast was good, but very plain. We were surprised it was not better. There were no fresh fruit, vegetables, spices, sauces, or garnishes added to our plates of plain omelette (only salt or pepper) You could however select an apple or banana from the paper menu you had to fill out the night before. Coffee was served in tiny cups. There was no cream offered for coffee (only milk) We thought it might be nice to have hot coffee in thermoses for each table, or to have someone come around and offer more coffee as you ate breakfast. The orange juice tasted like it was made from concentrate, at first we thought it was Tang! In the reception area there were pamplets of activities to do in the area. We picked up one on the L’Isle-Aux –Couderes and did a day trip there. Laurent gave us suggestions on where to eat. On our first night we were surprised that everything was closed in La Malbaie by 8:30! On our second night we made reservations and had a great dinner. We definitely would recommend a visit to Auberge La Chatelaine if you like a place with charm and a lovely view. You feel like you are guests in someone’s older home.

We have enjoyed our stay at the Manoir as we did on our previous stays and to the point that we decided to extend it by one day. The setting and the grounds are wonderful, our room (#383) was beautiful, and every staff was friendly and helpful. The black mark was really the food. We had a disastrous super at the St Laurent restaurant (the only option available for super) on our first night. The butternut soup was way too salty and did not have the richness of flavors you expect when you pay 20$ for it. My wife had the veal chop (after being told that her first choice, the lamb confit was not available). The meat was nice, but the celery garnish was bland in both in taste and presentation. The salmon that I had was Ok but far form being outstanding. We left the restaurant feeling that we had wasted almost 300$. The only sliver lining was that it led us to discover and enjoy some wonderful restaurants in la Malbaie on the three other nights of our stay. We had breakfast each day at the Bellerive. It was OK but service was slow and we missed the breakfast buffet of our previous stays. I also resented having to pay 5$ for two toasts when our choice of breakfast did not come with toast. It is too bad that an otherwise very pleasant stay was marred by a below standard food experience