Published October 29, 2023

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Peterblack@qctonline.com

Auberge Saint-Antoine has scored another prestigious recognition, being named the top hotel in Quebec City in the 2023 reader’s choice awards of Condé Nast Traveler, the magazine dedicated to luxury travel and lifestyle.

The hotel in the Old City was also named the 10th best hotel in all of Canada, which is down a few notches from last year’s number-one ranking by the same publication. It also won best hotel in Canada in 2016 and 2019.

Llewellyn Price, co-owner of the hotel along with brother Evan, sister Lucy and mother Martha (Muffy), said the distinction is “recognition of the dedication and the hard work of our team. The hotel business is a team sport and we have a wonderful team at the Auberge.”

Pressed to define what distinguishes the hotel in such a competitive city, Price said, “We’re more of a family style hotel than a corporate hotel. That’s one aspect. It’s the family culture that we have within the organization.”

That family management style emanates from the hands-on approach of the Price family members, all of whom were involved in the creation of the hotel in 1992 and its development since.

Price said the hotel project began when he and his brother bought a piece of land in a historic corner of the Old City. “I remember at the time thinking it’s not such a great idea because we don’t know anything about the hotel business.

“We started off as a very simple 20-room bed and breakfast and now we’re on the Condé Nast list. It’s been a huge evolution.”

He said what drives the family is “basically our love of the place. We keep on adding to it, trying to improve it. Everything we do, we think long and hard about.”

That applies to the latest project, the incorporation of the huge former Union Bank building into the existing Auberge, which is already the consolidation of three separate buildings.

“You can’t see it, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes,” Price said. “This is a complicated project; this one is not easy. But it’s moving ahead.” He expects the job of gutting and renovating the historic building, in which the Price family once had business offices, to be completed in two and a half years.

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