Hotel Review: Hotel 71 in Quebec City

For our second two evenings in Quebec City, we packed up our bags and moved next door from Le Saint-Pierre to its sister hotel, Hotel 71 in Quebec. Hotel 71 may be affiliated and located right next door to Le Saint-Pierre, but these two hotels provide a deep contrast in style and decor. While Le Saint-Pierre leaned towards classic European charm with its brick and stonework throughout the rooms, Hotel 71 celebrated a contemporary and modern elegance throughout the property.

Location

Similar to Le Saint-Pierre, Hotel 71 is located on Rue Saint-Pierre in the middle of Basse-Ville (Lower Town), Old Quebec. The location was superb as we were close to everything – Quartier Petit Champlain, Old Port, art galleries, museums, and the Funicular or “Breakneck Stairs” to Upper Town. It really doesn’t get any better than this!

The Hotel

Prior to the establishment of Hotel 71, this historic building in the heart of Lower Town was home to the Banque Nationale (National Bank of Canada). It was the bank’s first head office in Canada. This area later became known as Quebec City’s banking district. The building itself is a fine example of 19th century neo-classical architecture. As one of the taller buildings in the area, Hotel 71 extends seven stories into the sky providing excellent views of the St. Lawrence River from its upper levels.

The Room

Our hotel room was a “Classic Room” on the seventh floor (the highest floor) – room 728. The room faced the front of the building towards the Old Port, giving us brilliant views of the bustling activity along the St. Lawrence River.

The ceilings in our room were high – 14 foot ceilings! The windows ran nearly from floor to ceiling allowing lots of natural light to spill into the room. The decor was modern, yet elegant; luxurious, yet comfortable. As we walked into the room, classical music was playing which added to the dignified ambiance. Chocolate truffles were placed on a small tray, along with a personalized note from the hotel staff. These small touches contributed to our warm welcome at Hotel 71.

The bed and pillows were very comfortable at night, perfect for getting a good night’s rest before heading out on the town to explore. The air conditioning kept the room at the perfect temperature, especially during these hot summer days.

The room featured a flat-screen HD television to watch after those long days out on the town, plus a spacious desk for those who need to work. We really liked the addition of the ledge along the window for extra places to put our things. There was a Nespresso machine with pods so we could brew delicious coffee in our room. Our room had plenty of storage space with a huge closet, plenty of drawers, and even a safe in the room to store our belongings. We also appreciated the small fridge in the room.

We adored the view from our hotel room’s window. It looked straight out to the St. Lawrence River and the Old Port. Plus, I was able to sit on the window ledge and gaze out the window. If you plan to stay at this hotel, I would consider requesting a room on the upper level facing to the front for these glorious views!

On the day that we were leaving Quebec City, a cruise ship was in port and we could see it from our window. This hotel would be a lovely place to stay before embarking on a cruise; it is an incredibly short walk from the hotel to the cruise port!

The best part of our room at Hotel 71 was definitely the bathroom! It was clean, modern and stylish with loads of space. The toilet was in a separate space from the sink, which was stocked with wonderful natural bath products and lots of towels. The greatest part of this bathroom was the shower.

I am happy to claim that this was the best shower that I’ve ever had in my life! The shower was a large, walk-in shower with two shower heads – one was the detachable shower nozzle, and the other was the glorious rainfall shower head. There was nothing even comparable to this rainfall shower experience with such great water pressure. Incredible!

Hotel Amenities

Le Saint-Pierre is a family-friendly hotel, also catering to business needs and personal travel. There was a full staff of concierge, bellhops and valets that provided us with excellent service. Valet parking was $21/day with full in/out privileges. The members of staff were extremely helpful and knowledgeable of the area, and they were willing to answer any questions that we had. There were complimentary bicycle rentals at Hotel 71 that we took full advantage of using!

There was a fantastic public space decorated with paintings, murals, and stained glass windows where people could relax, watch television, and enjoy a beverage. There was an espresso machine available for use, a fresh pitcher of lemonade with fruit always available, plus bags of tea for everyone to enjoy. We took advantage of this space while waiting for the valet to pick up our car (which never took a long time, but enough time to brew a fresh cup of espresso!).

Our Arrival

Our arrival was really simple – we walked from Le Saint-Pierre to Hotel 71! And, we didn’t even have to go outside or down steps with our luggage. We were guided by the receptionist of Le Saint-Pierre through a doorway to Hotel 71 – quick and easy! We arrived very early to Hotel 71 as we checked out of Le Saint-Pierre at 10:30am, well before the 4:00pm check-in time. The front desk staff happily took our luggage and securely stored it in their storage room. When we arrived back to the hotel from a day of sight-seeing, our luggage was already brought up to our room for us. If you aren’t staying at Le Saint-Pierre, check-in would also be a breeze. There were always plenty of staff around to assist everyone and we never saw any sort of line-up at the front desk. The valet service was quick, and all of the staff members had a friendly and positive demeanor. When we mentioned that we were going to a nearby waterfall, we were offered complimentary bottles of water to take along with us. Everyone here truly went the extra mile to make our stay in Quebec City very comfortable.

Breakfast

Breakfast was served in the restaurant that was attached to Hotel 71 called Il Matto. Il Matto functioned as an Italian restaurant and bar later in the day. Hotel 71 served a continental, buffet breakfast which was on par with other hotels that we’ve stayed at in the past. We were able to get fresh fruit, fresh bread, bagels, peanut butter and jam. There were also some small muffins and pastries. The breakfast was a nice, added feature, although we did prefer the “a la carte” style breakfast at Le Saint-Pierre. As always, we’d love to see more vegan options incorporated into the buffet breakfast, like some plant-based milk, cereals, granola, or oatmeal. With that said, many hotels do not provide any sort of breakfast, so we were happy to have this included in our stay.

Summary

We were incredibly pleased with our stay at Hotel 71! From the clean, modern look of the hotel room and public spaces to the friendly, hospitable staff, we wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again in the future. The location was ideal for anyone visiting Quebec City as we were in the centre of it all! We highly recommend staying at both Hotel 71 and Le Saint-Pierre as both styles of hotel are different experiences and both lovely in their own way. It was very simple to move from one hotel to the next as both buildings were connected.