Quebec Snowmobile Accommodations Motels Hotels

Quebec Snowmobile Accommodations Motels Hotels

Drive from Mauricie to Lanaudiere; Glaciere Motel from Zen Waiter on Vimeo.

Selecting a snowmobile resort in Quebec Canada requires a certain amount of thought, planning, and research. Here are a few things you want to keep in mind whilst making your selection.

First off, your snowmobile accommodations are often in flux due to the weather, trail conditions, the health of your buddies travelling with you, the mechanical state of your snowmobiles, or even the alignment of the planets (or so it seems).

I feel sorry for snowmobile motel and hotel owners, especially those that are located at the ends of the earth, deep in the bush. What seemed to be a solid motel booking for 4 rooms for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, can easily turn into a total no show - the reservations are left empty, and so is the pocketbook of the motel owner.

The four snowmobilers were indeed heading towards their motel, but then one of the bearings in the axel of the snowmobile trailer burned up and the trailer and sleds flipped into the highway along the New Jersey turn pike.

Once the potential guests got going again, they got delayed at the Canada USA border because one of the boys forgot that he had a DWI back in 1989. He has to go home.

Then, the weather drops a high wind on the south side of Montreal and the rain turns into freezing rain; all traffic is now delayed.

When the boy finally arrive at the motel, it is Sunday aftenoon, but there are only three left. They all take off for a quick ride before dinner, but the Arctic Cat sled blow up 50 miles out. The three can't make it back to sleep, they have to sleep somewhere else.

And on and on it goes. The snowmobile accommodations business is a tough one. Just ask Bernard at Motel Safari in Shawinigan Quebec, who has been at it for over twenty years.

"Frankly Zen, you never know who or how many are actually gonna turn up... it has nothing to do with the reservations in the book, or the Visa slip deposits that you have taken. You get what you get, and you just have to roll with it."

Then there is the question of snow. Will we have enough snow on the trails to groom this winter? Last winter the answer was a resounding "NO" right up till mid February. The winter was an untitigated disaster for motel and hotel owners, due to repeated cancellations.

Those that own snowmobile hotels, B&B'S, motels, and resorts or cabins, have a right to be edgey and frustrated at times, so be nice to them!

Zen