Anniversary Trip - Part Trois.Un: Le Champlain Restaurant at Chateau Frontenac - Just Say "Non"

For the big night we knew it had to be Le Champlain at Chateau Frontenac (a Fairmont property). A no brainer. I had made reservations 4 months in advance and had alerted the reservationist that it would be a special night. And I must say that the food was great. The salad presentation was artistic and lovely. My caribou and my husband's pork was delicious. But the service was absolutely ABYSMAL! I have now discovered where inept, pretentious French waiters work. They are not in Paris; they are shipped to Chateau Frontenac. No one remembered our anniversary. We were not seated in a nice spot with a view, even though the place was not busy. The waiter opened our wine bottle, poured the first glass, and no one poured us more wine except for my husband - and we had so-called "waiters" walking by us every 5 minutes (they just did not bother to look in our direction). Every other place we went to in Quebec had better wine service, including the casual pizza joint! They mixed up our orders and served me first. My spouse did not receive his meal until 5 minutes later. At the end, they messed up our bill. We were very disappointed and upset to have a so-called 5 star establishment completely ruin our special evening.

I was too upset to complain that night. I did email Chateau Frontenac upon our return. And surprisingly the hotel manager called me and apologized profusely and thanked me for the feedback. He also said that he would be mailing a gift certificate that I could use at the Fairmont in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the "check in the mail."

Update: On 6/19/2006 the check did arrive in the mail. We now have a $100 Fairmont gift certificate. I'll give an update on another Fairmont experience when we redeem it.