Manoir Des Sables, an Ascend Collection Hotel

The restaurant food was good, breakfast was excellent, and the service was very kind. Even the restaurant felt quite cold, though. We stayed two nights after booking based on the strong reviews, but our experience didn’t match that rating. The hotel itself is beautiful, but it seemed poorly maintained and no longer up to a luxury standard. Our room and the hotel were cold, and the floor stayed chilly, uncomfortable without slippers. The heating was very loud, constantly switching on and off, which made it hard to rest. The bed was uncomfortable because the springs were easy to feel. Noise was another big problem. We could hear everything in the hallways, including kids running around. We were there on New Year’s Eve, so we understand that part, but the luggage carts were very loud and clearly need maintenance. The bathroom in our room didn’t feel clean, with dirty walls and floors, and there were smudges on the mirrors in the bathroom and hallway near our room. That’s just about our room, since we didn’t inspect the rest of the hotel.

The room was a little worn, but it was still a good place to stay near the ski hills. Our room had a microwave, sink, fireplace and mini fridge. The beds, sheets and pillows were all very comfortable.

I was very disappointed with my weekend. We booked a spa retreat with a complete dinner at the hotel restaurant, massages, and requested TWO beds. Instead, we got a terrible pull-out couch. Sleeping on that thing felt no different from sleeping on a brick. What a surprise to find the hotel had also booked six hockey teams of 12-year-old kids. They played hide-and-seek in the hall, knocked on room doors, left candy all over the floor and screamed. We could hear them during the massage, too. Going to the pool was a bad idea: at least 12 kids were splashing and jumping in the pool, with about as many in each jacuzzi. We tried the outdoor one, where the kids seemed less rowdy, and it was the absolute worst. The water was lukewarm at best and so cloudy and greenish that we couldn’t see our feet. There were unidentified white particles floating around. We gave up and went back to the room. We told reception about the kids playing in the hall. The staff were very sorry, though I guess there wasn’t much they could do. I understand that booking those teams was a good deal for the business, and kids will play. But if we’d been told at booking that the place was now a kids’ winter camp, we’d have gone another time or somewhere else. I won’t go back.

The restaurant was excellent value and quality for both breakfast and dinner. I especially enjoyed the outdoor hot tub, sauna and indoor pool. Had a great stay and look forward to coming back.