Bonjour
Charlevoix
Club Med Québec Charlevoix, the first Club Med resort in Canada and the first all-inclusive mountain resort in Canada, is set to open on Dec. 3, 2021.
Travel Courier chats with Amélie Brouhard, Vice-President, Canada and Mexico, to find out more about the homegrown property, which is now open for bookings.
Ann Ruppenstein
When Club Med Québec Charlevoix opens on Dec. 3, 2021, it will mark many firsts for the 70-year-old company. The brand’s first resort in Canada, the first all-inclusive mountain resort in the country, and the first Club Med mountain vacation resort to welcome visitors year-round, to name but a few.
While building and preparing to launch a new property amidst a global pandemic has been no easy task, Amélie Brouhard, VP, Canada & Mexico, believes the end result will be a natural choice for Canadian travellers who are looking for something exciting a little closer to home.
“I believe that even more during this particular moment and the crisis that we are living, it’s with great pride that we are able to offer our travel agent partners a domestic destination,” Brouhard tells Travel Courier. “What we see right now is that there is a shift in the Canadian travel industry towards domestic travel and we are really happy to be part of this story to offer them a variety of offers — not only the Caribbean and sun destinations that they’ve been selling, but to be able to diversify with our first domestic resort.”
It’s with great pride that we are able to offer our travel agent partners a domestic destination. What we see right now is that there is a shift in the Canadian travel industry towards domestic travel and we are really happy to be part of this story to offer them a variety of offers — not only the Caribbean and sun destinations that they’ve been selling, but to be able to diversify with our first domestic resort.
Amélie Brouhard
However, like all-inclusive Club Med resorts in the Caribbean, stays at the 4-Trident resort will include ski passes and classes, kids clubs for ages four to 17, all day gourmet dining and drinks, after-ski activities, entertainment and WiFi.
There are 302 rooms in total, including an Exclusive Collection space with 25 suites, three restaurant and an open bar, designed to be hub of the resort.
“Inspired by its surroundings, Club Med Québec Charlevoix is built using locally sourced materials such as wood, stone and tile in a modern Québec chalet style with views of the St. Lawrence River,” she says.
Here are a few other features that make the resort unique:
Location, location, location
Imagine looking out the window to get a bird’s eye view of the St. Lawrence River on one side and scenic mountain views on the other. Club Med Québec Charlevoix is the only waterfront ski resort in Le Massif.
“The fact that we chose Charlevoix and the fact that we chose this location, which is right in front of the St. Lawrence River makes it very unique. It’s waterfront skiing,” she says. “I can tell you the first time that I skied Le Massif de Charlevoix, it took me half a day just to make the slope because every minute I stopped to look at the panorama. The scenery and the location itself is very unique. And the destination, it’s the perfect starting point to discover Charlevoix, to discover the national parks, and Québec City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the summer you also have the whale watching. There is a lot of gastronomy in Charlevoix. A lot of local producers.”
Beyond ski and snowboard
Think the property is solely for skiers and snowboarders? Think again. The roster of activities include snowshoeing and Nordic walking, skating, indoor pool access, fitness classes, cardio and weight room access, yoga and meditation and the quintessential Club Med circus classes, with juggling, fixed trapeze, acrobatics and trampolining on demand. Plus a large choice of immersions into Quebec and Charlevoix, and outings like dog sledding, at an extra cost. The property has a 23-metre long heated pool, a kids splash pool, outdoor jacuzzi and hammam.
“One of our main obsessions is to constantly listen to the clients and what we observed is a trend right now of non-skiers or former skiers who don’t necessarily want to ski anymore. Or multi-generational families come with the parents who want to ski, the children who want to learn to ski but the grandparents are not into skiing anymore,” she says. “We see that there is an expectation to offer alternatives. We are in a beautiful location where we’re embedded into the winter experience with nature and where we have a solution to propose to those non-skiers to enjoy and explore the great nature that is around them. That’s why we offer a lot of non-skier activities such as the snowshoeing, the Nordic walking, and many others.”
Multiple duration of stays, arrival any day of the week
Clients can choose from 2-night, 3-night and 7-night packages, including ski passes, ski lessons, Kids Clubs and unlimited access to après ski activities. Early booking rates are available from $239 per adult/night, all inclusive.
“We’ve identified that when planning a ski vacation one of the main pain points is the complexities of organizing all the different components — ski passes, lodging, etc.,” she says. “Club Med is positioning itself as a one stop shop thanks to its all-inclusive formula.”
Packages include premiere lodging, the full food and beverage offer, easy and direct access to mountain sports, ski passes and instructions and after ski music and entertainment. The complete child care program is included from four to 17 years old, with child care for babies and toddlers from four months of age at extra charge.
Trade values
Brouhard stressed the importance of the trade to the resort, noting that prior to the official sales opening, they had a dedicated pre-sale to loyal and preferred partners.
“We have very strong ambitions of selling this resort to a Canadian clientele so more than ever we need our travel agent partners to be at our side,” she says. “They’ve been really the first to follow us through this journey of opening our first Canadian resort. Every step of the way we felt that they were very engaged on the topic.”
At a glance
Club Med Québec Charlevoix is on track to open its doors on Dec. 3, 2021
The 4-Trident resort features 302 rooms including an Exclusive Collection space with 25 suites
Quebecer Francis Lacoste, currently at Club Med Turkoise, will be the resort’s chief of village a.k.a. general manager
There will be three restaurants and an open bar. The main restaurant, a gourmet marketplace, nods to Quebec’s history with harvesting, fishing, breeding and hunting for food; Le Chalet, features a specialty restaurant, lounge bar, wine cellar and gourmet market; Terroir & Co offers an entertaining dining experience for families, where parents and kids prepare and share a meal together, including participative fondues and raclettes with local Quebec cheeses and charcuteries. The main bar is a colourful multifunctional space that evolves throughout the day, from a daytime lounge to an evening entertainment centre, hosting shows and parties.
Ski passes and lessons are included, rentals will be available at an extra cost
- There’s plenty to do for those who don’t ski, like Nordic walks, dog sledding, excursions to Quebec City and much more
- The property expects 50,000 visitors a year, a huge boost for the local economy, creating 325 direct and 400 indirect jobs
