Rediscover the Capitol | The Press

There is a newcomer to the world of luxury hotels in Quebec. Open since fall 2019, the Capitole Hotel has not had the easiest of reopenings, but it is recovering well this summer. We wanted to see what this now completed cultural, tourist and gastronomic complex looked like.

Eve Dumas
The Press

In front of the bustling Place d’Youville, there are now two performance halls (Le Capitole and Le Diamant), two restaurants (Il Teatro and BŌ Asian Cuisine) and a hotel with 109 rooms and suites. We are now talking about a “Carré des spectacles”, which also includes the Palais Montcalm directly opposite.

The expansion of the hotel lasted more than 18 months. It was no small feat. The old building had 40 rooms. A brand new, modern, glazed pavilion was built on the north side of the existing structure.

To access the hotel, enter via 972, rue Saint-Jean and go up to the seventh floor. The elevator opens to the reception. Then a glazed walkway leads to the rooms and suites, arranged on nine floors, as well as to the swimming pool, the gym and the terrace.

In the private spaces, the decoration is sober and elegant, with white walls clad in paneling, gray furniture and a few blue accents. Our suite had two rooms and a freestanding tub in the bedroom, with a view of Old Quebec. wow!

The “Asia of the Monsoons”

For dinner, you can go down to one of the two restaurants in the building. Le BŌ, which has only been open for a year, was designed to go well with Le Diamant, Robert Lepage’s performance space. The famous designer’s love for Japan is no secret.

But the kitchen and design teams didn’t want to limit themselves to the land of the Rising Sun and decided to go much wider, with a theme that was vague to say the least: “Asia of the Monsoons”.

This results in a menu where Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai cuisines, among others, are called upon to create dishes that are not at all traditional, but nevertheless tasty. We also ate an exceptional fish dish there, crispy walleye on a bed of naked oats.

The chef, Vincent Morin, himself has a hybrid background in the kitchen. He held a table of Quebec terroir in Beauce before embarking on Japanese specialties at the old Yuzu in the Saint-Roch district. He also works mainly with Quebec ingredients, at BŌ. For example, he will use grilled camelina instead of sesame seeds, chaga from our forests, wintergreen, sea urchins, seaweed and other treasures from the St. Lawrence, etc.

But entrusting such a vast and complex culinary repertoire to a service team that may not be knowledgeable enough sometimes leads to some awkward shortcuts. We would prefer less staging and approximate designations. The cocktails and dishes speak for themselves very well. The sake menu is particularly impressive in this period of scarcity when restaurateurs are snapping up the rare brews.

In short, we leave the BŌ Asian cuisine a little perplexed, but sated, to go directly to the room. We can always go to the Clubby Bar on the sixth floor for a digestive, if bath and plumard are not more tempting.

The other restaurant of the “complex”

In the morning, after a coffee in the room, it is possible to have breakfast at the other restaurant of the “complex”, Il Teatro, itself recently renovated. You buy a very affordable coupon at the reception for $15 before taxes. This gives access to the very tempting à la carte menu.

We didn’t experience it, preferring instead a walk on rue Saint-Jean to discover the small local shops. This is another advantage of the very central location of the Capitol, which allows you to explore many neighborhoods on foot. For wealthier customers, the concierge can also organize a tour of Île d’Orléans with a driver, a whale watching tour by helicopter, or even an oyster tasting on Prince Edward Island by private jet!

The price of rooms and suites varies enormously depending on the season and the category. You can pay around $340 for a city room starting in October, but the average summer rate is closer to $500. The huge suite 9^e sky, which can accommodate up to six people and where Avril Lavigne has previously stayed, among other stars, costs a minimum of $3,000 a night.