History as art Each of the six floors is devoted to a person who once lived on the site. The floors start from the time of Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye who was born in France in 1632 and died in Quebec, 1702. The historic progression ends at the sixth floor with the time of Andre-Eusebe Vallerand (1848-1914) who was an importer, merchant in tableware and lighting. A display by the elevator summarizes the history of that person, and includes a selection of the artifacts from that layer of history. Each room is decorated with a fragment, one outside the door, and one in the nightstand. My room was on the second floor, during the time of Jean Maillou (1668-1753), a mason, land surveyor and contractor for the King. In 1725 Maillou built a house on what had been a wharf built on land reclaimed from the river. The theme of pottery was chosen to illustrate his life, and bits of pottery adorned everyone's door and nightstand.
Yes, history is fine, but what are the rooms like? Rooms are spacious, and whimsically decorated. Black-framed fabric headboard, long trestle desk and comfy club chair and ottoman were located two steps down from the room's entrance with the high ceiling providing a feeling of space. The long throw-open windows felt straight out of Europe. But the bed was the penultimate joy of the bedroom. Deep quilted padding atop the firm mattress made for pure sink-in comfort. Small but powerful lights make the rooms exceptionally well-lit, or can be used to light one small area leaving the rest of the room quietly dark. There is no Do No Disturb sign. Instead a pushbutton activates a light outside your door. Red means do not disturb. Several members of our press trip, unaware of the significance of the light, couldn't understand why the staff never came to make up their rooms. But, according to Llewellyn Price, you're not likely to be disturbed even without the light. A state-of-the-art sensor detects your presence and lets the housekeeping staff know not to come knocking. During my stay despite the staff's frequent appearances to make beds, turn down quilts and set up the Bose sound system (so that when guests come back after a night out they are met with the gorgeous strains of classical music softly filling the room) no one ever knocked on my door while I was in the room.
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Auberge Saint-Antoine 8, rue Saint-Antoine Quebec (Quebec) G1K 4C9 418-692-1177 www.saint-antoine.com © 2004
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And unearthing history was exactly what the Price family did during the recent expansion of the hotel. The original 31 rooms in a historic building became 83 rooms plus 12 suites in 3 interconnected thematically linked buildings. In the process, they recovered over 5,000 artifacts. About 500 pieces, including a cannon battery, remain within the hotel incorporated into the décor. The hotel itself is warmly inviting without feeling cluttered.
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