With so much to do and so many great places to stay, play, eat, and shop, you truly can’t beat it this Canadian ski resort.
I'm excited to share this guest article by Donna Vieira who helps contribute to the Ski Moms Fun Private Facebook Group. She's sharing tips from her recent family ski trip to Mont Tremblant in Canada, and Amazing Ski Destination.
Our family of four are east coast skiers born and bred, and we usually ski weekly in our home state of Maine. When choosing a location for a ski vacation this year, we had a short list of “wants” that basically was summed up by three words; variety, village, and kid-friendly. Okay, that last one might technically be two words, but you get the point. We really wanted to venture to a resort that allowed us to ski, stay, and play all in one place. We decided to head to Tremblant in Quebec, Canada. Tremblant is a four-season resort that boasts a European-style pedestrian village, lodging, dining, boutiques, and numerous activities. The activity this ski mom wanted was skiing, as did my ski loving kids, but everything else was icing on the cake for us. Unfortunately, my husband was recovering from an injury so he wasn’t able to ski this trip, but he was able to take advantage of the village, and join us for everything we did off skis.
We did the drive up in two days, electing to detour from our route to spend a day in Burlington, VT which is always a great idea. In Burlington, we hit the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, a fabulous science and nature museum for kids, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, and some delicious food. Those activities took just over half the day, and then we headed straight for the Canadian border. Crossing the border into Canada is fairly straightforward – just be sure you have your passports ready and the border agent can see the children in the backseat. We simply were asked to roll down our windows so the kids could respond to their names with a wave, answered a few questions on where we were going, how long we were staying, and what we had in the car, and then we were on our way. We drove through Montreal with minimal traffic, and up to Mont Tremblant. It was a snowy approach, but absolutely beautiful.
Mont Tremblant Accommodations
For the hotels in the village, you arrive on the outer edge of the village. The design is quite thoughtful and intended to allow the cars to be virtually hidden from the village. We had elected to stay at Sommet des Neiges and were able to take advantage of a large savings opportunity as we had booked pre-season during a sale.
TIP: If you book through Tremblant directly and want to change your accommodations (room size or even the actual hotel you’re staying at), you can call them to make the change and they will honor your original discount amount, even if they are not offering the special rate at the time.
Sommet des Neiges is located slope side right next to the gondola and was truly ski-in/ski-out. We had a suite with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms over two floors, a full kitchen with full size refrigerator and freezer, stove/oven combo, microwave, toaster and Keurig coffee maker, as well as a fireplace, full living room, deck, and a patio. The patio was quite snow covered, but had it not been deep, we could have walked right onto the ski school’s magic carpet learning area. There is paid underground parking garage which was heated, and we were able to fit our large SUV in with no trouble. Sommet des Neiges seems to have the highest clearance for their garage.
Note that some of the other hotel garages have a shorter height for their entry, so be sure your hotel’s garage clearance works for your vehicle if it’s large.
Above: View from our snow-filled patio off of the primary bedroom. Just over the snowy ridge is the ski school meeting area and magic carpet, and just next to that is the Gondola. Truly steps from the hotel. ; Photo: Donna Vieira
We were given a ski locker in the hotel’s locker room which opened right on the pathway into the village and to the gondola. It was also just steps from the ski school drop off which was incredibly convenient. I saw many exhausted parents getting their kids from other points over to ski school and we were feeling quite grateful to only need five minutes to get out to dropoff on ski school days.
TIP: The hotel will provide you a padlock for your locker, but you can also elect to bring your own
The hotel recently underwent a full renovation, and what was done was mostly done very well. They had clearly updated some furniture, re-done the kitchens and bathrooms completely, there was new artwork hung and a fresh coat of paint. We found the renovations to be nice, but there was some attention to detail missing. The paint was peeling in two of the bathrooms, the brand new over the oven microwave in our unit was not operational and we had been provided a very old countertop one to use, and the stairs to get down to the lower level were incredibly steep which was a bit of a challenge with young kids. The bathrooms featured very large soaking tubs, and the primary bathroom had a standup shower. The bathtubs were fantastic after a long day on the slopes, and for kids who aren’t taking showers just yet. We did experience a lack of hot water in the shower in the mornings (around 6:30-7am), but it was not a problem later in the day. Housekeeping is included once every five days, or by request with 1 day notice. The lack of housekeeping didn’t bother us, but having a vacuum of some sort in the unit would have been nice. We had a stackable washer/dryer in the unit that was extremely helpful and used frequently.
Above: The primary ensuite bathroom; Photo: Le Suites Tremblant
The pool is only open in the summer, but there is an outdoor hot tub, a fitness center, a children’s play room (minimal toys but good in a pinch), and a teen room. There is no restaurant on site, so you are unable to get room service, but you are very close to many restaurants in the village or you can cook in the kitchen in the unit.
Mont Tremblant Ski School
We love trying ski schools at different mountains, and in our New England travels, the best we have experienced was at Smugglers Notch, so the bar is set high. Tremblant’s ski school was easy to book through their website and we were able to sign the releases at the same time so it was out of the way. When you check-in at your hotel, they will have the tickets you need for lessons waiting for you.
TIP: Be sure to affix the lesson ticket to your child (along with their lift ticket/card) as it needs to be scanned by ski school at check-in. This is very different from other mountains we have been to.
We went to Tremblant during a non-holiday week, so we were rewarded with very low ski school enrollment. My 4 year old ended up having a private or semi-private lesson most of the time, and my 7 year old was with no more than 5 kids, but in some cases, it was only 2. By the time we hit the end of the week the enrollment got busier and the groups became a bit larger. The standout instructor for us was Gigi who was able to spend multiple lessons with my daughter and was incredibly caring and kind. When my daughter wasn’t in lessons and we saw Gigi on the trail, she would watch her and be sure to comment to her on how she was doing and how proud she was.
For beginner skiers, the small magic carpet is an excellent learning area with a very gradual grade. There’s a second magic carpet on the opposite side of the gondola to graduate to, but one oddity – when it’s snowing, it’s very slippery so they suggest you ride in your boots. We tried it out because I couldn’t believe it was true and I’ve never experienced a slippery magic carpet before, but sure enough, it was in fact slippery.
What stuck out was the instructor assignments, but they do warn you ahead of time that children may not have the same instructor day to day. Afterall, they reportedly have 500 instructors (WOW!). When we have done multi-day lessons in the past, the kids had the same instructor or group of instructors each day. At Tremblant there’s a rotation of sorts so an instructor who was out teaching on blue squares one day was teaching on the magic carpet the next. The struggle we noticed with this is that you have to update the person leading the ski school each day on where the child left off the day before so they can be appropriately placed. That said, variety can also be great for kids, so an easy tip for this one!
TIP: Be sure to talk to your child’s instructor at the end of each day. How did they do today? What level trails were they skiing? What should they be working on tomorrow?
The Village at Mont Tremblant
Tremblant’s village is truly remarkable. You feel as though you’ve been transported to Europe. No cars in sight, cobblestone streets, charming buildings and architecture, with wooden signs and no light up or neon signs anywhere you look. It’s all walkable, and keep in mind it is on the side of the mountain so it is pitched. They have stairs built into the landscape, but good shoes/boots are a must. We visited many shops and restaurants during our time there, but the standout shop was Tremblant & Co., where we had the loveliest woman welcome our kids in and help them to find what they were looking for as a memory from the trip. For restaurants, there is pretty much every cuisine you could think of which is so helpful when visiting because you truly never need to leave the village.
My kids exploring the village in the late afternoon after getting off skis for the day; Right: We stopped to grab a quick bite during the ski day and loved the hustle and bustle of the village; Photos: Donna Vieira
Important to note that all of the shops and restaurants are very small, so if you choose a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations, plan to be there early. Also, a bit of a cultural difference – none of the restaurants we visited provided coloring pages for the kids which is something fairly normal in the states.
TIPS: Bring a coloring book or activity for kids who like to keep busy while they wait for food. Make reservations early, the restaurants book up very far in advance, or arrive around 5pm for those that do not take reservations to avoid a wait.
The Mountain and Activities
Overall, the mountain is fantastic. There are quite literally trails for everyone. From long green cruisers, to a kids mini-terrain park/winter playground called Tam-Tam that my oldest could do on repeat, actual terrain parks, to bumps and glades, it was a blast checking out all facets of the mountain and seeing how many of the over 100 trails I could check off the list. The summit lodge (note that there is no lodge in the village) is probably the best ski lodge I have visited in a long time. The cafeteria on the main level is excellent – all types of foods and drinks (coffee, hot cocoa, soft drinks, wine, beer, etc.), a full bar, a staffed trash/sorter service, and loads of seating on three levels. The chairs even have a grated shelf below the seat to store your gear without it falling on the floor. The views are phenomenal, and there’s also a Kombi shop for any gear you need to stop for. A group of the lifts, including the Gondola, all meet up at the summit so you can access the lodge from most of the lifts.
TIP: Tremblant does not utilize RFID for accessing the lifts, so be sure you are wearing your IKON or Tremblant pass on the outside of your coat or attached to your goggle strap so it’s easy for the staff to scan.
Above: View from one of the trails; Photo: Donna Vieira
There are tons of activities on and off of the mountain (dog sledding, ice skating, ice slides, fat biking, dune buggy tours, ice climbing, snow paintball, sleigh rides, fondue tours, a casino… the list is long), but one that my young kids particularly loved for a break from the cold was the Brind’O Aquaclub which is an indoor waterpark (with an outdoor hot tub and a new fitness room for adults). It’s made for kids of all ages, there are various slides that are overseen by a lifeguard and a bunch of water features. There is an indoor hot tub that was more of a warm tub, but that was perfect for kids, and my husband and I took turns popping outside in the midst of a snowstorm to enjoy the adults only hot tub where the Cabriolet (open air gondola from the parking areas) heads right over top of you and you truly get to relax in nature.
TIP: The aquaclub has plenty of towels, lockers, changing rooms, and showers for everyone. They also supply hair dryers, but we found them to be pretty weak so I’d suggest you bring your own if you like a powerful (and quick) hair drying session before you head back outside.
The time came to go home, and…
We loved our visit to Tremblant, and hope you do too! With so much to do and so many great places to stay, play, eat, and shop, you truly can’t beat it for a destination ski vacation.
