Le Capitole Hôtel — Hotel in Quebec

Le Capitole Hotel & Il Teatro Restaurant|Quebec City|A Revamped Hotel for a Non-Spectacular Stay|A Disappointment on Multiple Levels|I had looked forward to a surprise 2 day stay and bday dinner with my daughter and had chosen to have it at Le Capitole hotel in Quebec City. |The photos and advertising made it look like the perfect place. Unfortunately it was not. A beautiful revamped architectural 5 star hotel with 3 star service and food.|Bad Communications|This unpleasant experience began even before we arrived at the hotel. I had planned this surprise bday dinner for my daughter at the hotel restaurant Il Teatro a month in advance. I asked if we can make one of their small desserts for her with a festive bday look. Simple not to extravagant. As we are an hour from the city, driving to the hotel someone calls me from the restaurant to ask me : Obviously on car speaker phone:|“Is its ok if we make a small surprise bday cake for 2-4 people for $48?”. |I was shocked. This person had ruined the bday surprise for my daughter as she was in the car but a small cake at $48 was ridiculous. I said no. No attempt to even offer an alternative. By this time the gentleman had ruined the surprise weekend for my daughter.|Front Desk Damage Fee Deposit & Full Charge for Stay on Day 1|To my surprise they had charged my Credit Card account the Full 2 Day stay( before I had stayed in the hotel) plus an additional $200 deposit damage fee. The full amount and $200 damage fee wasn’t on hold like most hotels, but charged on my credit card. This was not returned yet to day this review was written. This was not a good philosophy of practice. Being treated like this in a 5 star hotel.|Hotel Room, Beautiful but Not Comfortable|1- The room in this hotel was designed with a spectacular window wall. This glass wall provides an outstanding view of Old Quebec. Unfortunately it was constructed with non-sound proof double pane glass and not triple pane sound proof glass. You can hear everything that goes on outside even at a distance. Trucks, conversations, wind and rain…traffic. I could not sleep in the room with the episodic noises. Some hotels like the Bostonian( former Millenium Hotel ) in Boston have the same spectacular window wall, but their glass wall is very insulated and no noises are heard, and they are facing Quincy Market.|2- The Room is very beautifully appointed but the mattress in our room was hard as wood. I simply couldn’t sleep on it . It felt like solid wood covered with a comforter. In this type of hotel this was unacceptable. |3- Surprisingly enough the bathroom was quite nice, but had a cracked sink that wasn’t replaced and appeared to be there for some time by virtue of the staining seen in the crack. This should have been dealt with before our stay.|I couldn’t wait to leave to go home to get a decent night sleep.|Pool & Gym|The Pool is on the 9th floor. It isn’t really a pool but a long jacuzzi. You can’t swim in it or do any laps. The temperature is also almost a jacuzzi level heat. If more than 3 people are in it, its becomes simply crowded. The view from the pool is spectacular but the pool has no service, frequently out of towels ( and I visited the pool 3 times).|The gym is placed separately in the basement with no view other than a retaining wall. It should be placed next to the pool so you can work out looking out at the amazing view. It is a nicely appointed gym but as all gyms go, small.|Restaurant Il Teatro, Beautiful Layout with Disappointing Quality & Management|1-Disappointing communications | The surprise was out of the bag regarding my Daughters surprise bday dinner. Thank some restaurant staff who thought to call me an hour before I arrive, while driving to spill the beans. You know that if the restaurant calls you to ask permission to make a $48 cake to serve 2 people, than they already know the answer….NO. At that point the 2 days surprise was busted. It was a petty level of discussion. No attempt was made even at offering anything else.|2- Dinner & Breakfast; Disappointment for a 5 star Hotel Restaurant : Il Teatro The dinner I had the Lobster Bisque Pasta. At a price of $40 you would expect significant lobster considering the rest is just pasta. |I was surprised to find only ½ of a claw of lobster( most likely canned as it was rubbery and not fresh) This was a disappointment. It was not acceptable. The pasta was sitting in a lobster broth with some other non-identifiable parts. Unacceptable.|The dessert we ordered was Tiramisu . The Tiramisu served was premade( like the type you buy at a grocery store). Very average, pre-chilled in a freezer in a glass jar. THIS IS UNACCPETABLE FOR THIS TYPE OF ITALIAN RESTAURANT.|And to put more displeasure to this phase of the dinner, no attempt was made by the chef to provide any type of celebratory dessert or finishings to my daughter. Choosing this restaurant was a mistake on multiple levels. They knew the purpose of this dinner and no attempt to rectify the bad communications was done. The dinner was unacceptable and the treatment was even worse. My original request was slept under the carpet.|Fortunately we ate at another Italian restaurant the night before that served an amazing Tiramisu, fresh and amazing. The restaurant went out of their way to celebrate my daughter’s bday with great quality food and celebratory finishings.|The breakfast at Il Teatro was equally disappointing. I had the French Toast. It was a simple stale cinnamon brioche covered with custard sauce with additional sauteed fruits. |The following day I switched plates with my daughter who ordered from the child’s menu, a series of pancakes. We do this frequently in restaurants so I can taste what my daughter is eating.|I was shocked to find that they had served old pancakes to my daughter. Hard as leather. I almost chocked on it. I immediately called the waitress and said ” This was terrible” The manager came by and apologized and said “we will make fresh ones for her now”………Really! Your pancakes in a 5 star restaurant are not always fresh?|The French toast and the pancakes were not fresh. Pancakes are supposed to be made on the spot and to assume a child will not notice such poor quality with a parent was a miscalculation and sloppiness by the kitchen. At this point I had realized this was not a good restaurant and I would have had a better and fresher breakfast at Tim Horton.|Conclusion: Il Teatro sits in a spectacular architectural location and serves average food not worthy of its location or billing.|Please note that on the previous night I had a great meal at another Italian restaurant in the city. It was fantastic. Thank you Il Teatro for compromising my daughter “ Italian weekend bday celebration” with 3 star food in a 5 star restaurant.|4- Porter-Front Door Service|Upon leaving the hotel, I had left my daughter with 2 large suitcases and a large duffle bag at the porter’s desk just at the door, so I can get my car. Upon returning at the car I was surprised the porter did nothing to help my daughter move the suitcases and duffle bag to the car. It was about 40 feet to the car through snow. I had to go into the hotel and retrieve the bags my self. I already had a tip ready for the porter but since the porter did nothing to help my daughter other than push a button to open the door, he didn’t get any tip. Advice to porter: help clients with their bags if you want to be given gratuities. That’s why you are at the front door.|Sebastian|In conclusion, bad communications, bad food, poor sleeping environment, so so pool ( really a large jacuzzi). It's a 5 star facade around a 3 star hotel. The glitz of this architectural jewel blinds you from...

Disappointed. Have enjoyed stay at Le Capitole in past years. This visit was not its usual 5 star experience. You used to be able to count on a greeting from staff every time the elevator doors opened. This year, crickets. They didn’t even look up to greet guests, no hospitality.They were all miserable. Even when we passed the Concierge desk, not a nod. Staff couldn’t be bothered by guests. They didn’t seem busy, just disinterested ,like they didn’t want to be there. We really enjoyed the staff from past years. They were engaging, made recommendations, even made reservations. They seemed genuinely happy that you were visiting Quebec City. Not this year! We have our traditional family vacation the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Usually 9-10 of us, 4-5 rooms depending on significant others. We needed a box of tissues one evening and called housekeeping. They said they would bring shortly. 20 minutes later, the front desk called to say they were out of tissues and toilet paper. Really?! The “Clubby bar” was horrific. The bartender had to be new to bartending. Maybe there were 10 guests in the entire bar. He handed us menus and told us he’d be right over to take our order……40 minutes later. Not just us, everyone. He would start a drink, then get side tracked. Start another drink, get side tracked. We really thought it was a joke. Not difficult to pour a glass of wine. 2nd drink. Forget it. 50 minutes! I went up to bar several times to tell him we had dinner reservations. Last time to forget the drinks and just bring the bill. He brought drinks. Not the ones we ordered. My daughter went back the following evening before dinner. Same scenario, but more guests. Nightmare. The bar tender gave her free drink tickets. The next night my husband and some of the kids went for a late drink. Pretty empty bar. Staff getting off shifts were hanging out, not drinking. After 35 minutes, they felt bad for guests not getting any service and a few of them jumped in, apologizing. Next night, we brought our own drinks. Frustrated guests started leaving and coming back with their own drinks. Unfortunate because it is a nice bar with couches and fireplace. Just can’t get a drink. Literally. We always pay for the valet parking for all our vehicles. Usually well worth it. We don’t take the vehicles out often during the week, but like the ease and knowing they are secure. Must have been short staffed with valets this year too. Last morning, we found my husband’s car parked on the street. It wasn’t there the night before , but was covered in snow. We borrowed a brush and waited for a valet attendant to show up. Worth $30? In the past, we always had our breakfast included. It was a nice perk, and we enjoyed starting the morning in the restaurant with the engaging staff. Check in this year, she said “we don’t do that anymore. It’s $18 per person.”. I understand things change, but would have been nice to know ahead of time. Went to breakfast the next morning. Again, it was as if guests were a burden. Charged regular menu prices, not $18. Food was not as good as in past. I’m hoping that Le Capitole is just going through some staffing issues. The location is great. The rooms are nice and spacious. Service is unacceptable. There is too much competition in the area for Le Capitole to drop the ball with their service. I will check the reviews to see if things have changed before booking our family vacation here...

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and were greeted by a lovely person at the front desk. They checked us into a room we had paid in advance for. We were taken to our room only to find that they had given us a tiny room with the view of a wall and a grass hill. We went back to the front desk and asked if there was any larger available and were told that the only thing available was an upgrade of $500.0 more. We agreed because it was a trip that we had taken with anticipation, given being locked down for so long.

The room was larger with an excellent balcony and view. Unfortunately, the room floors were quite dirty. We were tired, so we figured we did not want to deal with having to leave the room again so they could clean it. The next day I called the front desk after noticing that they had not come to clean it. I asked what the protocol was; they said they do not clean the room during the sty but until the guest leaves.

Having no choice, we complied with their Covid protocols, so we stayed in a duty room for 4 days. We had to ask for towels and coffee. You would imagine that paying that kind of price; you would at least call the rooms and ask if they need anything.

Our reservation "included breakfast," so they said. We went for breakfast to their restaurant Il Teatro. Well, "included" is a very loose term because they brought us a special menu, so you have a limited choice. We chose from the menu and were told to pay for a hot chocolate I ordered instead of coffee and a $5.00 person charge.

We would not have an issue with the cost, if the meal were halfway decent. The eggs were cold; the potatoes were cold. My husband's choice was eggs with prosciutto, and mine was eggs with Salmon. The prosciutto was so cold and chewy it tasted like it came strate from a Costco's package, the buns were not warm or even toasted, they too looked like the buns from Costco's. My Salmon was cold. My eggs tasted like they had been sitting all morning, and the buns were cold and chewy.

I think if they are going to serve a subpar meal, then don't include it. The remaining days we went else were to eat breakfast and paid.

After we arrived home, I discovered I left an entire bottle of conditioner there, so I called the front desk and asked if they could kindly mail it to me. They put me on hold and came back to tell me it was nowhere to be found. Now mind you, I could buy another one, but that is not the point. You charged us over $500 a night with zero services. The least you could do is go out of your way and return the forgotten item.

The hotel is beautiful, the front desk staff is friendly, and the Valet is as well. That is the only reason I am...