A Winter Wonderland at Montebello

23 December emilycordonier@gmail.com 0 Comment

It has been a week since my family took a little two night getaway to the Fairmont Chateau Montebello, and I still can’t get over what a lovely and relaxing time it was. Seriously, when is a holiday with two little kids ever relaxing?! But really, it was. For anyone who hasn’t been, Montebello is a small Quebec town about an hour drive from Ottawa. There isn’t a ton there, but there is the Chateau Montebello and it is the best. In the two years that I’ve lived in Ottawa I have already been there a handful of times, but this was my first time staying during the winter season. We brought along my sister Lizzy and her fiancé, Jesse who were visiting from B.C., and they were impressed.

You’ll Find Me By The Fire

You won’t find a more festive scene than the lobby at the Chateau Montebello. A huge multi-sided stone fireplace greets you at the centre of the room. There are couches and comfy chairs all around, and it’s a great place to order a glass of wine or a cup of their famous hot chocolate and relax. When we were there it was all decorated for Christmas with wreaths and a giant Christmas tree. I love how family friendly this area is. There is generally a handful of kids around, playing a board game, reading a book or running circles in the lobby (those were my kids…). There is even a hotel dog ‘Bello’ who has his dog house next to the front desk.

A Log Cabin Room

The hotel rooms (along with the entire hotel), are made from thousands of logs brought out from British Columbia nearly one hundred years ago (yay B.C.!) During high season, a stay at Montebello can easily set you back a few hundred dollars a night, but they do offer some great deals, especially if you can go mid week. We went on a Wednesday and Thursday night and our room cost $109 a night. They also offer discounts for CAA members.

My Curling Needs Practice

Included in the price of your room and resort fee, you get access to a whole bunch of awesome activities. On our first morning there we decided to head over to the curling rink for a free lesson. Turns out we were the only ones there, and so we had a private lesson! It was my first time curling, and our instructor Richard was wonderful. He let the kids get on the ice and curl too. Lucas, especially had a blast.

The beautiful curling arena at Montebello

My sister showing off her curling skills

Turns out curling ice isn’t that slippery…great for the kids to play!

Other Winter Activities

When we were there, the winter season was just kicking off but post Christmas it will be in full swing, and there is so much to do. Here is a list of the following activities included in the resort fee: 42 km of cross country skiing trails, two ice rinks, hockey sticks and pucks, curling clinics for beginners, disc golf, snowshoes, plus the indoor pool, squash courts, gym and indoor tennis.

There are some other activities available for a fee including : tube sliding, sleigh rides, dog sledding, curling, ice fishing and snowmobiling.

We stayed inside for most of our two days because temperatures had hit -30 with the windchill and it’s just hard to drag kids outside in that. So we had a lot of fun trying out the indoor activities!

We had a rousing game of tennis. Again, we had the whole facility to ourselves, and they had rackets in kid sizes too.

We were at the pool twice over our stay. It is a beautiful building with windows all around. The pool is a little cold, so we all needed a good dip in the hot tubs after the swim. There are pool noodles, kick boards and life jackets for the kids.

The crocodile game is a favourite for our family

We also spent a lot of time in the hotel’s games room. They have air hockey, skee ball, a basketball shooting game, a bunch of motorcycle and car driving video games and this very popular whack-a-croc game. The kids have a blast, and it’s right beside the two hotel restaurants. So, sometimes we keep our kids busy there until the food arrives.

Did I Mention the Food?

Dining on Montebello’s yummy breakfast brunch.

There are a couple of dining options at the Chateau Montebello. There is the formal dining room, which is your best bet for breakfast. There is also a bistro/bar open in the evening for dinner that has cheaper options for dining. We did two dinners in the bistro, two breakfasts at the lovely dining room buffet and grabbed groceries for our room at lunch time. Kids under 5 eat free at Montebello, and this is pretty awesome considering my kids are actually really big eaters.

Love Our Cosy Time

The giant, luxury log cabin that is Chateau Montebello is just plain cosy in the winter. We spent a lot of time in front of the fire reading stories to the kids.

Reading books to the kids in their pyjamas

We had a room on the main floor, just down the hallway from the lobby. After we got the kids into bed we actually took the baby monitor with us and returned to the lobby. We had a glass of wine by the fire and actually enjoyed adult conversation without kids running around! Heaven!

We also took turns going for spa treatments in the afternoon, while the kids had their nap/tv relax time.

The kids’ quiet time while I went for a spa facial

Parc Omega

Another wonderful thing to do in the Montebello area is Parc Omega. On our last morning before heading back to Ottawa we visited this Canadian safari park. I’ve been a few times in the summer but this was my first winter visit, and it did not disappoint. It’s so unique, you drive through a huge park full of wild animals in their natural habitat, such as elk, caribou, wild boars, bears, wolves, buffalo and more. You can purchase bags of carrots at the entrance, and feed the deer and elk along the drive. It’s pretty unbelievable the first time Bambi and his mother stroll up to your window for a treat.

There are some areas where you can get out of your car and walk amongst some of the animals. It was pretty cold when we were there, so we didn’t stay outside long. But what a gorgeous site! We probably stayed at the park for around an hour and a half, but in warmer weather you could get out and walk around and stay much longer. I can’t recommend this adventure enough, it made the perfect ending to our winter getaway. For more information on Parc Omega check out http://parcomega.ca/en/

In summary…I can’t wait to go back to Chateau Montebello and the surrounding area. I would’t be surprised if we are back there before this winter season ends.