Top 10 Getaway for Tiny Travelers - Gray Rocks, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec
Gray Rocks, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec won a Top 10 Getaways award in 2000 for its support of parents with infants and toddlers. Sadly, the 102-year-old family resort closed in late 2009 after being unable to find funds to develop the property. Our original review remains in commemoration of the wonderful memories made there over the years.
Today, however, the resort's golf courses continue their operations and welcome families with children to learn and play the game together.
Gray Rocks
Mont-Tremblant
Quebec J8E 1T8
800/567-6767, 819/425-2771
After years of hearing its praises sung by FTF members, we visited Québec's Gray Rocks for ourselves and found among the evergreen forests pierced by gray rock cliffs, a traditional c.1910 Adirondack-style lodge overlooking tranquil Lac Ouimet. Since motorized vehicles are restricted, families can be found making castles on the shore, snoozing on picnic blankets, steering pedalboats, windsurfing to the few wooded islets offshore, or trying for those elusive trout.
Second to golf (on championship courses, winding along plateaus through the Laurentians) and tennis (at Canada's largest outdoor tennis complex), Gray Rocks may be most loved for its food. Hearty buffets with a French-Canadian flair are served in the main lodge, with barbecues and lawn picnics a recurring event. In winter, Gray Rocks, located next to Mont Tremblant, maintains a small learning mountain for skiers, dozens of cross country trails, snowmobiles and other winter sports.
The warm family atmosphere includes all ages as Gray Rocks takes babies under its loving wing in a charmingly old-fashioned nursery. Guests age 6 months-2 years can play with toys and blocks, finger paint or sing songs with the college-age staff until naptime. Group care, under the supervision of an early childhood education-trained counselor, is available for a fee ($65/day). Private care (3 hour minimum) can also be arranged; fees begin at $12/HR for one child.
For toddlers eager to hit the slopes, Gray Rocks offers a "Ski Eaglets" program for children 3 and older for $400/WK. The program's daily schedule is the same as the daycare, but with about 60 minute ski sessions depending on the ages and abilities of the campers. Programs for older children ages 6-17 (included in hotel package) are also available, as are junior golf and tennis clinics for 6-year-olds and up. Daycare and Ski Eaglets programs run Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4pm.
