Donna-Sue

We are staying 4 nights in a 1 bedroom suite in Mt.Tremblant and must choose a 'hotel' (many of them see to be privately owned condos, rented out with hotel services by Intrawest). I am choosing between Le Sommet des Neiges, La Tours des Voyageurs, or maybe the Marriott Residence Inn (which my husband likes because it has breakfast included, but whose pictured bedroom I found unappealing). Does anyone have any personal experience with these, or can you recommend any others. The Westin has no rooms left in our price range and I have heard mixed comments on the Fairmont. <BR><BR>I would also appreciate guidance on restaurants and activities. Thanx to those of you out there who have any suggestions.

lk

We have stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn and it was fine. Nothing fancy, very basic, but fine. The location is perfect for getting around the pedestrian village. If you don't mind a 5 minute walk, my suggestions would be L'Erabliere or the Algonquin - both very "homey" condo style spots with all the amenities. Sorry haven't stayed at the other 2 places you've mentioned.

Mary

We are going Labor Day weekend and are staying at Country Inn & Suites. This was the only place that was able to guarantee a crib for us. It also looks great. It's hard to go by the pictures of the rooms because the pictures that they have of the Country Inn are of a one bedroom suite. Whereas, all that is available for the weekend we go is a studio suite. So I can't see a picture of the room type we are staying in. Also, it looks as if all the rooms have balconies, yet our room doesn't. So I really don't think you should rely so much on the pictures that they show of the rooms. They can be misleading. <BR><BR>I've never been to Mt. Tremblant before, so I really can't help too much. When are you going? If I am going before you, I can report how our hotel was.

bram

Just got back last night from Tremblant and we stayed at the Domaine de la Montagne which is about a 30 second walk from Le Sommet des Neiges. Last summer we stayed at La Tour des Voyageurs. I can't offer an opinion about the Marriot, but the other 3, Le Sommet, La Tour, and Domaine are all are clean, nicely decorated and in great locations. You can not go wrong with any of them. Let me know if you have any other questions.<BR><BR>Regards-Bram

Donna-Sue

Bram - When you were there, did Le Sommet look finished? I understand the landscaping isn't completed - after asking several reservation agents, I finally got one who admitted that the grass isn't in yet. Thanx.<BR><BR>By the way - did you come across any particularly good (or bad) restaurants?

bram

Donna-Sue,<BR>As I said above, we stayed directly across from Le Sommet (Literally 75 feet from the main entrance) and I did not notice any unfinished landscaping what-so-ever. As a matter of fact Intrawest is pushing Le Sommet pretty agressively now for time share purchases. You will be extemly pleased with the hotel. Not fancy, but tasteful, clean and brand new. The whole resort is incredible-with beautiful flowers, and clean air. Ican actually say that I did not see one piece of litter in 8 days. In my opinion the only problem with Tremblant is the food. The restaurants, although plentiful are quite expensive and of poor quality. I live in Toronto, where we are fortunate to have tons of great restaurants, so maybe I'm spoiled. I just thought the quality of the food was not 1st rate. We brought a small gas BBQ and cooked food purchased in St. Jovite (about a 15 minute drive) and picknicked either within the resort or up on the mountain. 2 nights we ate in St. Jovite-1) Antipasto-a casual italian resto with pretty good food, and 2) The steamed hot dog & french fry stand (each town has at least one Maison des Frites) and you can't be in the Laurentians without trying a least one of these places. As you can probably tell we (my wife and 3 year old) love Tremblant. There's great cycling, a super beach club, warm staff and a very lively atmosphere. I hope this is helpful and let me know if you have any more questions.<BR><BR>Regards-Bram

Mary

Hi Bram,<BR><BR>My husband and I and our son who will be 2 in October, are going the end of August. I was wondering if you can tell me a few things. How long did you go for? Did you golf or go to the Spa? Did you rent bicycles, go to La Source? I hear there is some sort of Circus trapeze that you can try. If not, what did you guys do, besides relax. (My husband has a tee time one day and I have a reservation at the Spa Le Scandinave the nex day.) How was your weather? Thanks in advance.

bram

Hi Mary,<BR>I'll try to answer your questions;<BR>1)We spent 7 nights in Tremblant<BR>2)Since I play a ton of golf during the summer, the one concession I make to my wife is not to golf while on vacation (she is a non-golfer). However It's difficult to abstain (from golf) in Tremblant due to the variety and quality of the golf. Le Geante and Le Diable are the two Tremblant courses,which look beautiful and have great reputations. La Belle and Labette are 15 minutes away, are not as nice, but less expensive. The spa looks nice but I have no first-hand knowledge.<BR>3)We are pretty avid cyclists, so we brought our own bikes, but rental options are widely available. Your best bet is to rent them in the Village of Tremblant instead of the resort.<BR>4) La Source like all water parks (in my opinion) are E-coli sesspools and I and my family avoid them.<BR>5)The Cicus Trapeze is located at the top of the resort, at the base of the Gondola-didn't try it but lots of people seemed to be enjoying it.<BR>6) Our daily routine basically included biking for 2-3 hours usually along the old train route-Le Petit Train de Nord, a 200 km path that extends from town to town. Our afternoons were spent either at the pool, the beach in the village or the beach club in the resort, but touring the small towns of the lauentians is also an option.<BR>7) the weather-22to 28 during the day<BR>and cool about 10-15 at night.<BR>Let me know if you have additional questions.<BR><BR>Regards-Bram

Donna-Sue

Bram - I was looking at the lodging book to see where you stayed. Was it Le Lodge de la Montagne? They told me that Le Sommet des Neiges did not have its grass in yet on one side of the hotel, and that it would not be finished until mid August. Before I read your response I booked La Tour des Voyageurs because of that info. Le Sommet has a few nice features I would have liked - balcony; teen room with pool table, TV and computer (no internet though); and washer/ dryer in the room. Oh well. <BR><BR>Were there really no decent restaurants on site? What about the fondue place others have mentioned? Is there a closer place to buy groceries?<BR><BR>Thanx for all your feedback.

Mary

Hi Bram,<BR><BR>Thanks for your answers. Would you mind a few more?<BR><BR>My husband is a golf nut, but hardly ever gets to golf. So we set aside Friday morning for him to golf and Saturday morning for me to go to the Spa. That'll be our only alone time - just a few hours each. By the way, he chose Le Geante. <BR><BR>You say to rent the bicycles from the Village instead of the resort? Why? Just because it is less expensive? We will need a baby seat and I know they have them at the resort. Also, we were thinking of getting the Adventure Passport, which includes bicyle rentals. <BR><BR>I wanted to know about the Le Petit Train de Nord. This is something we might like to do. But since we aren't avid bicycle riders, but do love it - is the route very hilly or is it pretty tame? Is it worth stopping in all the towns? <BR><BR>What's the difference between the beach in the village and the beach club in the resort? Since we are staying at the resort, do we have access to the beach club in the resort?<BR><BR>Would you go back to Mt. Tremblant?<BR><BR>I hope I haven't killed you with all these questions.<BR><BR>Thanks again,<BR>Mary

bram

Donna-sue;<BR>The hotel we stayed this year was the Lodge de la Montagne but last summer we stayed at La Tour Des Voyaguss, and the rooms were identical (layout, furniture, decorating). We had a balcony at both. As far as the grass at Le Sommet, although I did not circumvent the hotel, I noticed no unfinsihed landscaping. There is a small grocery store (Provi-soir, I think)in the village there are 3 really excellent stoes in St. Jovite, the best being Metro. As far as restaurants are concerned your opinion of decent and my opinion of decent may not be the same. As I said above the weakest part of Tremblant is the restaurants, especially if you enjoy and are accustomed to good food. Lots of people seem to enjoy eating in the resort so make your decision accordingly.

bram

Hi Mary,<BR>After driving past Le Geante about 100 times I think your husband made a great choice. Bikes in the resort are about 4 times more expensive than in the village, and the Petit Train du Nord has an entrance point right in the village. The path is very flat any and inclines are very gradual. Aprox. every 5-15 is an old train staion which has been converted to either a gallery or restaurant. Many also have little playgrouds for the kids. We would start at one staion bike about 15-25 kms, have a picnic, hang out and bike back. The next day we would drive to the picnic spot, park and bike on from there. The passport is a good deal and will cost you about $50.00. We took a picnic up to the summti to see the views and watch the sunset. We used the other two coupons to go to the beach club in the resort. Even though you are supposed to do different activities, you can easily erase the mark they put on the passport at the Beach Club, so as to be able to go there twice. The village beach is small, but nice and costs $5 to get in, very refreshing after a ride. But the Resort Beach Club is larger, has cots, a restaurant, a bar, and a playground area, and an unbelievable view of the resort and mountain. We were looking at our pictures last night and it looked like we were in the south of France. Will we go back-absolutely-a grat family holidya in a beautiful place with tons to do. Let me know if you have any addtional questions.<BR>Regards-Bram <BR>

Mary

Bram - Thanks for all of your help. I cannot wait until we go, but at the same time, I do not want to wish the summer away. <BR><BR>I can't believe the rentals are 4 times as much at the resort. That's a lot of money. <BR><BR>You purchased the Outdoor Passport? I was thinking of getting the Adventure Passport, but I'm not sure. When you say erase - do you mean with a pencil? I'll remember that one.<BR><BR>Where is the Resort beach club? On which lake?<BR><BR>Thanks again. You are so helpful.

bram

Hi Mary,<BR>I'm pretty sure the outdoor passport and adventure passport are the same thing. One sunset trip up the gondola plus 2 of 4 different activities. The resort club is on Lake Tremblant while the village beach is on Lake Mercer. To erase the mark just use a wet cloth all over the passport. This will get rid of the mark as well as discolour it a little. I just told the girls at the beach club that it went through the laundry and we had no problem at all. I also crumppled it up a bit to keep up the charade. Let me know if you have additional questions.<BR>Regards-Bram

Mary

Thanks again Bram. FYI - the outdoor passport you get the gondola plus 2 activities and the adventure passport you get the gondola plus 4 activities.<BR><BR>Where did you learn that erasing trick anyway?<BR><BR>Thanks again!