Quebec Charlevoix Canada

We had our first vacation at Club Med Charlevoix. It’s the people that make Club Med so exceptional! Score: 4 for facilities, 5 for people/ staff
All the staff were incredibly warm, accommodating, and kind. It was a joy to hear so many languages, and it was impressive to witness the staff’s intelligence and quick wit as they maneuvered language barriers from verbal and body language cues of guests.

In particular, we adored our classes with Sam the fitness trainer. My husband and I did the stretching, power walk, and muscle awakening classes with him. He was engaging, walked us through each movement, and adjusted the exercises to meet guest needs. We particularly enjoyed learning about his international experience. He made our stay very memorable and is a key reason we look forward to returning soon. We sincerely hope to see him on our next visit and work with him again!

My husband had a wonderful massage with Roxanne. She took the time to transition from relaxation technique to deep tissue to meet his needs and provided thoughtful explanations. She allowed time for reflection as well. He really loved it!

The facilities were incredibly clean. The food was exceptional with something for everyone despite preferences, allergens, or lifestyle choices. And each dish was beautifully curated. The rooms were well insulated and very quiet - we were surrounded by families with young children and were never disturbed by their youthful enthusiasm. Despite the diversity of guest interests (children, no-children, health focused, social activities), Club Med balanced all the needs and had really engaging (if you so chose) opportunities. We LOVED the health and wellness focus and the guest instructors (meditation, evening yoga, self development, other yogas,workshops)- please offer this again!

A few areas of opportunity: Some lighting for the trail to the lower parking lot. Towels located in the locker room (their location in the hallway was a continued source of confusion for many guests) and how to enter the pool space. There are several abandoned cars in the lower parking lot - this is a contradiction to the resort’s quality and seemed very out of place.
Adding tai chi to the classes would be awesome. And offering outdoor tai chi, stretching, yoga, meditation would be amazing too. Also an adults only reading / cards room for a reliably quiet space.

TLDR: if you are wondering whether to book this don’t even hesitate, especially if you have kids under ten

Background/details of the group/trip
-Traveling as a group of 7
-2 families 2x 4 year old and 1x 2 year old.
-5 day-early summer time trip (June)

High level summary
-Food, incredible.
-Drink options, very good
-Entertainment, very good
-Rooms, Good
-Surrounding hiking, incredible
-Spa, good
-Kids care (yes full day daycare) and entertainment —- out. Of. This. World.
-water amenities (kayak, pool hot tub) fine.
-location great for nature, out there if you want to leave the resort often (you don’t need to by any means)

In depth Review (apologies on the length of this all just wanted to give a full review for others who may dive into these like me!!)

Food- great. 5 stars One fixed menu restaurant and a “gourmet buffet” that did not repeat for lunch or dinner (e.g breakfast was mostly the same). Had a great mix of chef made dishes being curated for you and your option to self serve at other deserts. Examples of the chef curated: roasted chicken served over mashed cauliflower, Ramen bowels, bimbop bowls, beef tartar, raclette cheese, general tso tofu served over awesome noodles just to name a few our group had. There were different dishes all the time for dinner and lunch. Snacks were on resort through the non core meal times and we never went hungry. No room service but not ever an issue.

Drinks- great beer selection ( blonde, session, ipa, lager, neipa) all on draft. All the liquors and mid to high end. Also had everything under the sun on menu that you could peruse. Featured elevated drink of the night which rotated all of these were included.

One note They did not haven bourbon.

The did have a wine cave for fancier wines and liquors but we never felt the need, as an fyi a glass of woodford was 11 CAD

Entertainment- had guided hikes, free lift passes, planned trails most of which left directly from the resort itself, had many excursions (for cost) on site photographer, a main theatre room (connected to main bar area) which had a DJ during the day, live music, circus practice, kids shows around 8 circus shows and variety shows around 9 into the evening.

Main bar winded down around 1130-12
And closed at 12: 30. Sammy and jean le luc (I think was his name) were specifically great.

One issue is this was during the Stanley cup and nba finals and they did not have a place to watch. Not a huge deal but would have been great to have a sports bar.

Otherwise outside had a full soccer and basketball court bocce ball, sand volley ball Multiple fire pits, mini putt putt, kids playground, ping pong . During the day/pre dinner our kids loved to play out here and the adults even played some volley ball and bocce ball.

We were around during a wellness month so not sure if this is all the time But they had multiple slots and types of yoga cold plunges meditation etc. I imagine they will always have a full day of stuff to do.

Was also cool That the entertainment staff was around leading other activities. For example Maggie taught our daughters How to do trapeze and fabric spinning in back to back days and then we saw her doing those during the later night circus show.

Rooms—
We had a mixture of river view and Mountain View’s among the group.

Good view if you pay for the river view. Small balcony Mountain View is just of a hill. Rooms
Had coffee/tea but no snacks or other drinks. Did have a fridge. Nothing bad but nothing over the top.

Water amenities—
Being so close to the river we thought they may have kayaks or something but we didnt see that available.

Pool was fine but all indoors. Smaller hot tub outdoor ( could fit maybe 7-9 comfortably)

Small water area for kids was good but nothing overly special. Again this wasn’t bad just maybe juxtaposed to everything else was a touch lacking.

Hiking- —
I mentioned this before but thought I would say again: really cool hiking both led and independent. We did a 4 mile out and back to the point on the river and that was great. We also did a 6 mile down the slopes. We rode the ski lift (included with your stay)
And the hiked down. You will need hiking boots for 60% of the trails the resort recommends.

Even if you just walk down a half mile to the bottom of the hill there is a cool little coffee shop at the bottom of the hill (not part of the resort) but a simple nice little hike to enjoy in the am

Spa—
The adults each got a massage (~200 CAD per) . You get access to a private hot tub and the cold plunge . Never hate a massage but the spa area wasn’t the most impressive. Again nothing bad but nothing wild awesome.

Kids care- -
Show stopper for us. 830-5p they had full day care for kids. The petit club had a small cost but they watched our 2 year old and the groups two four year olds were included.

We usually did drop off at 830/9 and then picked up around 330 but it was incredible to have some relaxing time without worrying about lining up naps etc. this really made it feel like two days where the adults could hike, play cards, enjoy a drink, spa treatments in the morning and then go get the kids in the afternoon and have a full other day. The kids loved being able to go on club led hikes, do arts and crafts, go swimming get to go to a special part of the dining area. The staff was incredible and our kids all loved it.
Special Shout out to Roman, ana, Beatrice, Marin gaelle and Kassandra and really all of the team at both mini coub and club petit. This team is a huge reason we are already looking at coming back.

In the evening around 630-730 they had live music and then that converted to a kids show. The shows were fun and energetic and got kids really involved and engaged.

Location-
You really are out in a ski area so not a lot but nature around. Unreal tranquility and quiet Closet town Baie-Saint-Paul is very cool and quaint. About 25 minutes away.

Yqb the airport, is a full 1.5+ away.

All in all this place was incredible and really lived up to the hype we had heard.

The best compliment is we are looking to come back soon!

Great food! Great service! Great drinks especially David B (Bar) make the greatest drinks!! Definitely recommend to visit!!

This resort has thought of everything! Food and drinks - amazing, view - spectacular, and excellent activities (including a 25 metre lap pool). Room layout was fantastic. I cannot say enough, it was the best all inclusive vacations we have had!

We had our family gathering here with an age range of 6 to 83, and we all had a great time. The staff were always amazing and helpful. In particular, Jasmin, our group coordinator, was absolutely competent and delightful. Amin, the pool supervisor, was extremely attentive and pleasant. Sam, the workout coach, was energetic and encouraging.
The food choices at the restaurant were delicious and perfect for our diversity of dietary needs (and many discerning palates). The appetizers and snacks were all delicious.
The daily programs had good variety for everyone. The performances in the evenings, many with the participation of the staff, were very entertaining.
The trails in the property and nearby national park(?) in the forest were great with various level of difficulty.
All in all, thank you Club Med. Last year, we used the Punta Cana and similarly we had a great experience.