Club Vacances Toutes Saisons

My four-star rating is based on occupancy of a 2BR and a 1BR unit for a week in mid-July of this year (2009) and involved 5 adults, no children. First, it must be said that the location of this resort is marvellous; 30 minutes from downtown Quebec City to the west, and a lovely stretch of countryside alongside the St. Lawrence to the east toward the mouth of the St. Laurence River. It sits at the base of Mt. Ste. Anne and is surrounded by art, artisans and history. Our units were perfectly adequate for our tastes, but might be considered a bit Spartan by some (our 2BR had one full and one half bath, so some measure of cooperation was in order during the "busy" bathroom times of the day.) But overall we were very comfortable. The kitchen is sufficient; there is a dishwasher and a washer/dryer combo (stacked). There is no air conditioning in the units, but fans are provided and the average temperature uncommonly climbs to levels requiring an AC unit.

The Staff is most accommodating, helpful and friendly....as well as bilingual. There is a restaurant attached to the central admin building with a menu that should satisfy most anyone's tastes. This is clearly a skier's delight, but served beautifully for us visitors in mid-summer. The units have outside storage closets for skis and other snow-sport equipment that seemed adequate to me, a non-skier. Tours abound and include trips to Quebec City on one hand to a marvellous trip northeastward (about an hour) to an internationally recognized biopreserve that is wonderfully responsible in large measure for the preservation of whales; a day-trip to whale watch is highly recommended if you are there at the appropriate time of the year (and we were).

The collective impression of our group is that this area has a cornucopia of interesting experiences for visitors of all ages and the "natives" are anxious to show off their part of the province of which they are justly proud. At no time did we encounter any negativity by local residents as a few reviewers have reported; quite the contrary. Brushing up on your French before arriving certainly makes it more fun, but only two of our group had any familiarity with French yet all of us had an unforgettable time. In fact, I must say that my four-star rating relates only to the purported "guidelines" of RCI regarding its Gold and Silver Crown designations, not to the overall experience and memories the five of us had while "living" for a week at Club Vacances Toutes Saisons; those are five star without a doubt.