You have hundreds of all-inclusive resort choices once you head south to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, but there are not many places with that kind of set-up in the USA or Canada. If you’re looking to pay one price and have nothing to sign for after that, check into Club Med Charlevoix in Quebec. It’s a ski resort in the winter, a mountain biking destination in the summer.
“Is Club Med still around?” That’s a question that came up in several conversations this year before I got to Canada, then it came up again when we travel bloggers attending a conference in Quebec City saw them listed as a sponsor. Yes, Club Med is still a thing it turns out. They have lots of properties in Europe still, just not many left on this side of the Atlantic.
They plan on growing again, but for now, they’re just in Mexico (2 locations), the Dominican Republic (2 locations), some Caribbean islands like Martinique, and…here in Quebec. The resort is on a hillside next to a mountain, looking down at the St. Lawrence River.
Public Areas With Unlimited Food and Drinks
Club Med has a lot of all-inclusive ski resorts in the Alps of Europe, so it wasn’t hard for them to import that experience to work with a new build next to the ski hill of Le Massif de Charlevoix, less than two hours up the coast from Quebec City. There’s the usual set-up with one open area that everyone gathers in for social events, shows, and drinks, in a combo lounge and theater with a long bar.
The one difference here is that there are plenty of Cirque de Soleil types working who do impressive acrobat shows and strut around the rest of the time looking toned and super fit. During our visit, most of the guests were families (kids 4 and under stay free in the same room), so it was sometimes a noisy affair. There’s a quieter adult bar you can retreat to that’s open in the evenings.
Snacks are often at the ready in the main social area in between meals. The rest of the time, you’ll be eating in a giant buffet restaurant that’s divided into several sitting areas, most of them bathed in natural light. You can expect French flair and Quebec quality in the dining, though, with an array of interesting choices to please most palates. We had a few people in our group with allergies and restriction,s and they had no trouble finding suitable choices.
There will be plenty of bread, fruit, vegetables, and meat dishes to be snagged or spooned, but also quite a few plated dishes that look as pretty as they taste. Then there will be some tempting desserts, roaming wait staffers pouring wine, and an ice cream station that makes the kids jump for joy.
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A Pool, Spa, and Gym at Club Med Charlevoix
Most of the guests who book at this Club Med resort are not doing it so they can use it as a base for exploring far and wide. Since all the meals and drinks are included, they tend to stay put most of the time (despite all the lovely places to check out in Charlevoix). So the place needs to have things to do when not on the mountain.
If you’ve got sore muscles after skiing or mountain biking, there’s a full spa here with massages, facials, and other treatments. Those aren’t included in the all-inclusive plan, of course, and unfortunately, you don’t get access to the steam room and sauna here unless you book a treatment or buy a facilities day pass.
It’s a different story at the indoor swimming pool, especially full in the summer months when people aren’t swishing down ski slopes all day. It’s a large one, big enough for laps if you come early, and there are a lot of lounge chairs and hammocks around the perimeter.
There’s a big whirlpool on the deck outside, which must be lovely in the winter. It closes at 6:30 in the summer, though, long before the sun goes down, and isn’t available at night under the stars.
If you need a workout after all the indulgence, there’s a full gym on site with a good range of equipment, plus included yoga classes and guided meditation sessions. In the summer, skiing is included, apart from rentals, with lessons for those who need them. In the summer the mountain biking is included, which in this case is with equipment, plus rides to the top on the gondola all day.
Staffers also set up guided hikes in the warm months, plus there’s a volleyball court and a soccer pitch.
Note that in the winter, heated ski lockers are included with every stay, inside the hotel. So you don’t have to lug equipment back to your room.
Spacious Rooms, Interesting Design
The rooms at this Club Med have nothing to do with what they were like when the company was founded. The Deluxe ones here are large enough to hold a family, with either bunk beds or a sofa bed that’s in a large living room set-up area between the bed and the balcony. They have a desk behind the headboard and plenty of room for lounging to watch cable TV (no streaming).
The design is rather minimalist, and the no-theft hangers in the closet made us wonder what they think of their normally honest Canadian guests. The rooms feel airy, though, and there’s plenty of storage space for your clothing, including in drawers under the bed. Patterned carpets, canoe paddles, and abstract nature art make them visually interesting as well. Furnished balconies offer a view of the wide river or of the forest, and these come with robes.
This being a fairly recent build, there’s good lighting and plenty of outlets, including near the bed. The bathrooms have deep soaking tubs in the combo showers and toiletries in refillable bottles.
The lowest category is oddly called “Superior” but that’s the option, fine for a couple with its standard hotel room layout, but not a great bet for a family unless you just have one small child. Or you’re booking a connecting room for the kids.
The decor in the public areas of this resort is cool and whimsical, with a lot of layers of design that honor indigenous history, the local wildlife, and the culture of Quebec. There are elements that will make the kids smile and plenty that will please the adults as well. Some of the animal sculptures and mounted heads scattered throughout are life-sized, but no animals were harmed in their creation.
“We only cut down about 10% of the trees from the land we had available to us,” one of the managers told us, “and most of what came down got turned into shelving or furniture. You can see the output in all the public spaces here.
The rates here seldom dip below $650 since everything is included, with wage and consumable goods inputs at Canadian prices. You could see $1,000 for a deluxe room in summer and much more than that in the winter, which is sold out every weekend.
See more info at the official Club Med Canada website here or the US one here, and you’ll probably need to book directly. One reason you don’t hear much about this lodging chain is that they’re rather insular and aren’t listed on the regular booking sites. For more information about other things to do in the area, see the Charlevoix Tourisme site.
Review and photos by Tim Leffel, who spent one night at the Club Med Charlevoix while on a press trip through Bonjour Quebec. As always, all opinions are his own.
