Le Capitole Hotel

Sleeping Inside a Beaux Arts Theatre on Place d’Youville

Place d’Youville is the hinge of Quebec City, the square where the walled town gives way to the modern one, and the curved facade of the Capitole has held its western side since the beginning of the last century. Walter S. Painter, the American architect who also left his mark elsewhere in Canadian hotel building, drew it as a Beaux Arts theatre, and the auditorium behind it still seats more than eleven hundred. The hotel occupies the rest of the building. Checking in here means walking through a lobby that belongs to a playhouse, then climbing to a room above the stage.

Why It Works

We keep this one because the building does the work no decorator could. It is a classified historic monument and a National Historic Site of Canada, and that pedigree is not hanging on a wall, it is the structure you sleep in. The theatre next door turns an ordinary evening into a programme, with concerts, comedy and tribute shows running through the year. And the location settles the rest: the Porte Saint-Jean, the ramparts and the Grande Allée are all within a few minutes on foot, which is rare for a hotel of this scale.

Why This Location

Step out of the door and the walled town begins at the gate opposite, with rue Saint-Jean running straight into it, lined with the shops and cafes that keep Old Quebec alive after the tour groups leave. Turn the other way and the Grande Allée opens up, the city’s terrace street, leading to the Plains of Abraham. Place d’Youville itself becomes an outdoor rink once the temperature drops, directly under the hotel windows. The bus station and the funicular down to the Lower Town are both walkable, so a stay here rarely needs a car at all.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Theatrical, historic, central, sociable

• Rooms: 108 rooms and suites, from standard rooms to suites with a downtown view and a ninth floor penthouse

• Best For: Couples pairing a show with a stay, city weekenders who want to walk everywhere, travellers who like sleeping in a listed building

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The ninth floor penthouse and its view over the roofs of the walled town

• Dining: Il Teatro for Italian cooking, and the Clubby bar for champagne and seasonal drinks above Old Quebec

• Amenities: Direct access to the Théâtre Capitole and its programme, fitness facilities, on site parking

• Attractions: Porte Saint-Jean and the ramparts across the square, rue Saint-Jean at the door, the Grande Allée and the Plains of Abraham a short walk west

Rooms Above the Auditorium

The rooms follow the curve of the old building rather than a grid, which is why no two floors read quite the same. The standard rooms are the workhorses, dressed simply and sized for a weekend. The suites are where the decor loosens up, with the downtown view and more room to sit. Above them all, the ninth floor penthouse gets the sky: the rooftops of the walled town on one side, the river beyond. Ask for a high floor facing the square if the skating rink in winter is part of why you came.

Il Teatro, the Clubby, and the Hours After a Show

Il Teatro keeps Italian hours as well as Italian cooking, which matters in a building where dinner often has to fit around a curtain. It sits under the theatre and fills with a mix of guests and locals with tickets. The Clubby is the other half of the evening, a bar with a long champagne list, seasonal drinks and a view over Old Quebec, and it is where people end up once the auditorium empties. Neither room is a hotel restaurant in the resigned sense of the term.

What to Know Before You Book

This is a hotel on a square, in the middle of a city that programmes its public space all year, so it suits people who want to be in the thick of it rather than tucked away. The building is historic, which gives it character and the quirks that come with character, floor by floor. Winter is arguably the best season here, with the rink outside and the theatre running, and the walk into the walled town is short enough to make the cold a detail.