Le Monastère des Augustines

It was a wonderful experience. I stayed in one of the contemporary rooms with a queen bed, desk and a wardrobe. This is a compact room but was surprisingly quiet. The bed was VERY comfortable. There is a small museum that I have been to before and really enjoyed. Breakfast is included. A small buffet with fresh fruit, eggs and breads. All homemade. What is unique is that it is to be eaten in silence. It was REFRESHING and very enjoyable. I had a Signature Massage and it was glorious. Very peaceful, grounding and relaxing. I highly recommend this extra.

One of the most unique hotels I've ever stayed in! This place is truly peaceful and full of history, an oasis right in the heart of Quebec. Our room was fantastic: super clean, bright, and comfortable. The breakfast was delicious, with plenty of healthy options to choose from. On top of that, the hotel offers divine massages and other mindful activities that really elevate the experience. Truly a must-stay when visiting Quebec!

Super clean hotel with lots of character. Very friendly front desk staff. Small but cosy room with perhaps the best mattress of my life - I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud! I stayed in a room with a bathroom, which was a good size. Silent breakfast was an interesting experience and the food is divine. Very well located also - just a walking distance to some of the city's main sites.

At first when I saw shared washroom this going to be interesting but turns out it perfectly fine, but I would put lids and automatic flash on toilet. The service was decent in my opinion the check-in stuff didn’t really explain when breakfast was and where. The museum is interesting check out because it explains a lot about this place. The one thing I think this hotel should consider is making breakfast include or cheaper. I found the lack selection isn’t worth $36 the hotel is charging for it. The last hotel I stayed at had fresh and homemade breakfast include in price which was extremely nice. If they keep $36 charge make menu while people have way more choice for breakfast.

The cleanest, most peaceful place I have probably ever stayed. Was a bit nervous about the shared bathroom for the old-style room, but it was not *very* shared, and it was very clean and tastefully done. The building is from the 1600's and was recently renovated as a heritage building, saving the old character while making it fresh, building to a standard surely meant to last hundreds more years. Room is small, simple, perfect. Bed is comfortable, sheets are nice, staff top-notch. Breakfast quick, good, and healthy. A nice, small museum is attached, giving history of the place and nuns.

Our experience at the hotel was amazing. The location is perfect, and it is extremely quiet, perfect for relaxation. The museum in the hotel and it s history is also beautiful. The crew is also very thoughtful of yiur experience, and they even had a breakfast prepared for us when we were leaving at 3:30am to the airport. It was totally worth staying here, and super recommended!

I go to the little cafe for the apple sauce. I dream of this apple sauce. All the food here is prepared with spiritual awareness and you can taste it. This place is a quietly hidden oasis of peace among the havoc of touristy Old Quebec. J’aime!!

Overall the stay was lovely, the room was comfortable and the shared bathrooms were very nice. One thing that was frustrating is that for a place designed for relaxation, my room faced a parking area where I heard trucks backing up several times overnight, waking me. It was very hard to feel rested and relaxed when I had such poor sleep. Other than that, everything was great and the breakfast was delicious. This place is a very particular kind of experience, not your standard hotel! All of the food is INCREDIBLE. So fresh and healthy!!

Peaceful, tranquil respite from the bustle of a cruise ship! The first encounter was a bit of an adjustment - no noisy lobby with the clacking of wheeled luggage across the floor or tourists crowding the front desk for recommendations. Off the beaten path of tourist-crowded restaurants, souvenir shops, and groups of students after school, this quiet respite is actually a monastery! There's a spa, restaurant, and to get to the elevators/stairs to your room, you pass through their museum. You have a couple of choices when booking - a contemporary room (upgraded, modern, minimalist), or a traditional one. Heads up (literally!) - the contemporary rooms are on the upper floor, and have a slanted ceiling which may be awkward for some. The restaurant is wonderful - breakfast is European-style. It comes with the room, and there is so much variety to choose from. Don't expect it to be like some hotel chains in the U.S. with noisy waffle makers, machines that dispense juice, or huge toasters that rotate your bread. Loved staying here - central to everything, including an 8-minute walk to the train station!

So this is my first night of 7. The contemporary rooms are more hotel like. But note: no TV or phone. The website said bring hairdryer, which I did, a big use of space for a carryon only traveler, but I did as stated, only to find a hairdryer in the room. Bed is a twin, but very comfortable, duvet, mattress cover, nice linens. Don't even think about checking in before 4 pm. I tried at noon, 3 pm and finally at 410 pm my room was ready. They did keep my luggage though as I waited. WiFi works well. I travel and work from the computer so WiFi is a must. I purchased the breakfast included meal plan. Will let you know how that is.

I wish I could transport this place to somewhere closer than Quebec!! It is tranquil. Peaceful. Quiet. Pure nourishment. A functioning monastery, this hotel opened in recent years. It houses a spa, a restaurant, and a museum. Technology is limited, chatter is quieted, and comfort is necessary. There are two floors of accommodations above the museum. One, has more traditional rooms of the old monastery. Twin bed, few things in the room. And shared bathrooms. I stopped into use the bathroom on the way to my room, and it was quite nice and private. However, still shared. The top floor are the premium rooms, more typical of a hotel. Oh wow, these rooms are magnificent. The bed had top of the line linens, and was the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on. The window out had a beautiful view. The lines and architecture of the room was simple, but elegant. The bathroom, had a deep tub. This was essential for this tall gal after each day of climbing the hills of QC. I slept so incredibly well. Read a ton. And barely talked. It was a delight for someone that is constantly "on". It was nice to be "off". And breakfast...was a breakfast bar each morning that I enjoyed.

I booked a stay at Hôtellerie d'Expérience au Monastère des Augustines based on the information I found on their website that promised a relaxing experience. While a mindful stay was my primary reason for booking a room here, the most appealing feature of the monastery is its close proximity to the sightseeing in Quebec City. In Quebec City, I had a wonderful time. As a single traveler, I attended many cultural exhibits, including part of the QC film festival, a free walking tour of the city's historic sites, and a visit to the wonderful Morrin Centre. I feasted on creme brulee at Le Chateau Frontenac, poutine at a bar on Rue Saint Jean, and a cold beer at Cafe du Monde on the waterfront. The most disappointing part of my trip was the service at Hôtellerie d'Expérience au Monastère des Augustines. I had no problem with the sparse accommodations and shared bathrooms of the authentic cloisters. I also enjoyed the museum that I leisurely explored for free. I took many photographs and learned much about the Augustinian Sisters who founded Le Monastère. My disappointment came when I realized that the program of daily activities were not as they were represented on the website at all. Nearly every activity cost extra to participate in. I would not have minded spending extra, but I got the feeling that none of the other guests participated in such activities. For activities where there was no charge, the activity itself was pitiful when compared to the description of the activity in the glossy marketing materials. For example: The brochure: The Creation Series 10:00 - 11:00 am Mandalas, scrapbooking and more The reality: a vacant room where one could work on a large puzzle, or add to a scarf that someone had begun to weave on a loom The brochure: Inspiration Series 8:00-9:00 pm Films, roundtables, conferences The reality: a room with a DVD collection where I could sit and watch videos alone I had looked forward to getting a massage, but no information about booking one was presented to me. In fact, no one from Hôtellerie d'Expérience au Monastère des Augustines ever asked if I needed anything, or if I was enjoying my stay, or if I wanted to participate in any of the activities- paid or otherwise. For a place that seeks to "promote rest, renewal, and self-discovery," I found the atmosphere to be unnecessarily harsh and the staff was brutally distant. This could not have been more evident than in the second morning I spent eating the "silent breakfast." I rose early and showered so I could get a seat at the window in Le Restaurant. I arrived there at 7:15 and took a seat by the windows. On my first morning, I had sat at a table for six visitors and I ate my breakfast alone, while other couples chit chatted quietly, despite the restriction on speaking. As a single traveler, I had hoped that a view of nature out the window would be a more pleasant way to start the day. No sooner had I sat down and unfolded my napkin did a staff member approach me to ask that I move from my seat. She explained that Le Monasterie was booked solid and they needed the larger tables for the many guests who would soon descend upon the breakfast area. I reluctantly moved to the same table where I had eaten breakfast the previous day. I spent nearly a half hour eating my breakfast- which was the same exact food, without variety, that had been presented the previous day. During the half hour, only three other guests visited Le Restaurant for breakfast, leaving dozens of tables, including all those by the windows, empty. I am not a person who gets riled up about many things. I live and let live. I go with the flow. But I found this request for me to move from my seat to be outrageously inappropriate. I had hoped to "savour a unique experience in a relaxed atmosphere," but what I found was anything but tranquil. At that point, I decided to bring my concerns to the front desk person when I checked out. I quickly packed, eager to leave the horrible breakfast experience at Le Monasterie, in what was otherwise a wonderful vacation, as quickly as possible. When I arrived at the front desk to check out, the clerk was distant, unconcerned with asking me if I enjoyed my stay... unconcerned with me- overall. I decided to say nothing. It can be uncomfortable for most people to travel alone. My experience at Le Monasterie made it more uncomfortable. I should have said something at the front desk, but at that point I just wanted to get out of there. Perhaps my stay at Le Monasterie truly has been a spiritual journey. I learned that a wonderful visit to Quebec City shouldn't be spoiled by flying into a rage at the front desk clerk. Rage... probably not the emotion the Augustinian Sisters were going for.