# Mont Tremblant and Jay Peak - summer visit



## VTKilarney (Jul 6, 2014)

We just got back from a vacation that included 4 nights at Mont Tremblant, 2 nights in Granby, and 1 night at Jay Peak. 

Here are some highlights:

MONT TREMBLANT:

We had never been to Mont Tremblant before, and I was hesitant to go in the summer since I've seen many ski areas that claim to be four season resorts that turn out to be kind of sad places for a summer vacation.  Boy, were we wrong.  The short version is that Mont Tremblant is an absolutely gorgeous place in the summer and it was still hopping.  It also seemed somewhat down to earth in the summer - which was a good thing.  The pedestrian village is unlike anything I have seen in the east.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but you can't deny how successful it is.  I liked the village quite a bit.  There were tons of activities for our kids, and admission to the beach club at the lake (at the bottom of the pedestrian village) was included with our room.  Best of all, the bike path ran almost right outside of our room.

English seemed to be spoken by about 50% of the tourists, which surprised me.  We got a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen for just $118 per night.  I thought this was a great value for being right in the pedestrian village - especially since they don't tack on any resort fees.  

My best description of Mont Tremblant in the summer is one part Stowe and one part Disney - and I don't mean that in a bad way.  

I'm not so sure what I would think of Tremblant in the winter.  It seems like it may be too crowded given the amount of lodging.  I'm curious to give it a try just once, though.

My only complaint was that restaurant food in the pedestrian village was VERY expensive.  We were very glad to have a kitchen in our room.

JAY PEAK:

We stayed at the Stateside Hotel for $99 per night plus a $20 resort fee.  (I can't begin to imagine how they justify charging the resort fee for the Stateside Hotel.)  Occupancy on a Saturday night during a holiday weekend was maybe 10%.  The hotel itself is really nice, and it would be my preferred hotel for the ski season.  (I say this having stayed in the Hotel Jay before.)  But in the summer it felt nearly abandoned.  We were the only people in the restaurant for breakfast, for example.  

We spent two days at the Pumphouse water park using our season passes.  It was pretty dead on both days.  I have no idea how they can claim 300,000 or more guests per year based on what I saw this weekend and on previous visits using our passes.  

One thing became clear to us on this trip.  Tremblant is a true 4 season resort.  Jay is not there yet.  Not even close.  One thing Jay has going against it is that there is nothing else there.  Tremblant has lakes and villages right at its base.  Jay has... well... nothing off-site to draw tourists, let's put it that way.  Even the on-site golf course looked pretty dead.   It seemed kind of depressing, and not anywhere I would want to be for more than one or two nights.  

GRANBY:

Near Bromont.  We went for the biking paths, which were fantastic.  Skiers need not look here.


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## Abubob (Jul 16, 2014)

VTKilarney said:


> We spent two days at the Pumphouse water park using our season passes.  It was pretty dead on both days.  I have no idea how they can claim 300,000 or more guests per year based on what I saw this weekend and on previous visits using our passes.
> 
> One thing became clear to us on this trip.  Tremblant is a true 4 season resort.  Jay is not there yet.  Not even close.  One thing Jay has going against it is that there is nothing else there.  Tremblant has lakes and villages right at its base.  Jay has... well... nothing off-site to draw tourists, let's put it that way.  Even the on-site golf course looked pretty dead.   It seemed kind of depressing, and not anywhere I would want to be for more than one or two nights.



What about Newport? and of course - how are the glades holding up?


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## bigbog (Jul 16, 2014)

To add....one can also follow their maps, from Tremblant, and drive to more wilderness in Quebec or Gaspe areas, for whatever...paddling, wildlife...etc.  There are more roads these days than in the past.

Quebec and Labrador have a lot of very interesting terrain, geologically-wise.
Waterparks are out in the wild...;-)

Great TR VTKilarney!


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## Warp Daddy (Jul 16, 2014)

glad u enjoyed T , try it in the winter ! We go there both seasons , but the winter is terrific . The food while expensive is usually terrific .

Our group stays in a classic Quebecois Auberge on the Versant Nord side each season.  The setting is magnifique ,and Isabelle the chef there is awesome ! The Auberge accommodates about 30 people and the rooms are very nice . But for first timers the village on the Versant Sud is an experience worth trying . LAfter almost 3 decades of skiing Tremblant our group Now we use the village as a secondery source of entertainment and actually prefer the ambiance of the Auberge . 

BUT if you decide to go , bring your BEST cold weather gear !! ALL of it !!    Masks that are SERIOUS ,  balaclavas , etc etc


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## xlr8r (Jul 17, 2014)

Your trip brings up one of my biggest issues of the whole Jay building boom in that it lacks any cohesion or integration.  While the new Stateside Hotel is probably a fantastic building on its own, it makes no sense for it to be located Stateside. All of the lodging should have been built at Tramside and integrated together to  create a centralized base for guests where all the Hotel Lodging, Restaurants, and Activities are within walking distance of one another.  Maybe even make it into a fake village like Tremblant or Stratton.  While those villages might be over the top , they do work really well for guests as everything is within walking distance.  As it is the Stateside Hotel is isolated when Stateside should have just remained as the day skier base.  Tremblant really shows how the fake villages work and drive business in even the off season.


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## sohapearl (Sep 19, 2014)

Thanks for the great report and pics Glenn. My wife and I couldn't make it up this weekend due to Holiday parties. We can't wait to try out the new lift next weekend!


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