More and more travellers checking into hotels are also checking out the menu at the same place they’re sleeping. The travel search site KAYAK and online restaurant reservation service OpenTable posted their top 50 hotel restaurants in Canada for 2025, and six Quebec locales were on the list. The two agencies say that hotel restaurants are less and less the basic comfort food of the walk-averse traveller and have even become the go-to spot for locals. “Travellers aren’t just asking ‘Where should I go?’—they’re asking ‘What’s on the menu when I get there?’” said KAYAK chief communications officer Kate Williams. “Great dining experiences are an essential part of today’s travel itineraries, and hotels are rising to the occasion.” Two restaurants that made the list are in Quebec City’s Fairmont Château Frontenac: Bistro le SAM and Le Champlain Restaurant. The four Montreal spots that made the list are: Quebec City is well behind three other provinces, with Banff, Alberta (five), and Niagara-on-the-Lake (four) particular hotspots for tourists looking to grab a meal where they’re staying. Provincially, Ontario has the most top hotel restaurants with 20. Alberta is second with 11, and there are nine in B.C., two in Nova Scotia and one apiece in Newfoundland and Labrador (The Little Sparo) and Manitoba (Oval Room Brasserie). The list was compiled by reviewing restaurants in hotels and diner reviews, metrics, ratings and reservation demands. According to the two travel service sites, hotel restaurants have evolved in recent years from “convenient” to “refined.” Their data from their sites said that 61 per cent of Canadians think hotel restos have improved, and KAYAK’s “restaurant” hotel filter has increased by 99 per cent in the past year. “As hotel dining enters a new age with nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of hotel restaurant diners being locals, it’s a chance to win over locals looking to dine out, not just overnight guests,” said OpenTable Canada senior country director Matt Davis.
