FAIRMONT TREMBLANT TOASTS WINTER WITH NEW APRÈS-SKI
Bring on winter's glacial temperatures and cyclones of snow. The more blustery, the better.
Fairmont Tremblant has mastered the season seamlessly with toasty, tasty features, including La Terrasse Après-ski, a glamorous new outdoor champagne-and-shooter lounge at the base of the Nansen trail.
The Fairmont is both deeply Québécois and Canadian in spirit, but this feature has a Euro-beat, inspired by St. Moritz or Chamonix, where socializing rivals sporting life.
With Veuve-clicquot umbrellas fluttering, a DJ spinning hits and fire pits blazing, La Terrasse is open to hotel guests, to the public and to skiers and snowboarders who can glide right in. It's mostly a grown-ups' hangout, with champagne, spiked coffee, mulled wine and mocktails, but kids can join in with hot chocolate and pogos.
La Terrasse is only one element of the hospitality surge at Fairmont and only one of the new ways the hotel is channelling the chilly climate.
“We are experiencing an exciting new vibe,” said general manager Anne Marie Johns. “We had an outstanding holiday season, the snow conditions are terrific, and spring break is around the corner. People are celebrating winter.”
New energy: This is Quebec's most complete resort. With a sincere shout-out to the other biggies blessed with swimming pools, spas and fine dining, this Fairmont landmark hotel is also
directly on the slopes of the largest ski area in eastern Canada.
I popped in on a post-holiday Wednesday, expecting to be mostly alone, but the hotel was buzzing, with the lobby fireplace blazing, holiday lights twinkling and guests strolling to the ski slopes, to the spa and to eat and drink. Business conferences are burgeoning and by autumn, the hotel will have revamped the Gold Floor's deluxe rooms, suites and VIP lounge.
The Fairmont is in the top-tier of about 40 drinking and dining establishments at Tremblant's mountain village. The bountiful breakfast buffet is back at the market-style Le Comptoir, and lunch and dinner feature elevated Italian fare like osso bucco, pasta with black garlic cream and frothy panna cotta.
The Axe Lounge Bar, busier than I have ever seen it, has a comfort menu of club sandwiches,
salmon tartare and smoked meat poutine, plus $10 beer on Hockey Tuesdays; wine, cheese and charcuterie on Thursdays; and a $10 cocktail Sundays.
At Choux Gras Brasserie Culinaire, the pinnacle of Fairmont's gastronomy, every table is reserved well in advance almost every night. It's a splurge with delicacies like foie gras, octopus, filet mignon, lobster or a 30-ounce tomahawk steak for two. A sommelier presides over a list of Quebec vintages and private imports, and jazz musicians entertain on Thursdays.
Winter life: The Fairmont both embraces winter with seasonal outdoor features and also cushions the cold with comforts befitting a luxury experience.
Guests arrive to valet parking, so icy streets and snowbanks are not an issue. Bellmen whisk luggage to your room and the ski valet stores your equipment in a
room steps from the lifts.
In sync with the mountain, the hotel has a new ticketing and rental kiosk, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, a Fairmont ambassador will escort skiers and snowboarders around the trails. As well, there are free guided boréal forest hikes on Sundays.
Perhaps the Fairmont's most outstanding feature is its superlative indoor-outdoor pool system, which has options from a polar -4 C to a steamy 40 C. You can go full wellness immersion with the sauna and steam rooms, massages and beauty treatments at Moment Spa, and on Saturdays, a free yoga class as well.
The poolside terrace has blossomed into small family playground, with bonfires and toy igloos for toddlers and s'mores available on order. Indoors, the hotel has a game room, and during school break will present movies and craft sessions.