We generally want to host C@TS outside the city, in a relaxed atmosphere, in a place we can all spend time and cook together.

This page documents a few possible places explicitely, see the event-specific pages (when) to figure out where the next event will be.

  1. Things to check for
  2. Summary
  3. Chalet beaumont
  4. Alex's chalet
  5. Hameau Dunham
  6. Sunapee Lake
  7. Mère de David
  8. Other ideas

Things to check for

Here are the things to check for when looking for a place. Bold means essential:

  • Showers (or lake)
  • Drinkable running water
  • Health center nearby (or trained medics)
  • A kitchen
  • Internet
  • Electricity

Summary

Where Maximum Global cost per day for 25 Kitchen Showers Internet Water Electricity Health More
Auberge Chalet Beaumont 60 650 CAN$ (dorms) yes yes yes yes yes yes cats
Alex's Chalet 12 0$ yes yes yes yes yes yes
Hameau Dunham 60+ 780 CAN$(dorms + rooms) yes yes yes yes yes yes also a farm
Sunapee Lake ? 0$ ? ? ? ? ? ?
mère de david 25 0$ yes yes 3G/4G sometimes yes yes yes pond, bbq, barn 26 acres

Chalet beaumont

Auberge Chalet Beaumont can accommodate up to 60 people. There are dorms, but separate rooms can also be arranged, although they are more expensive.

People need to reserve themselves with Chalet Beaumont. Call 1-819-322-1972 or email to info@chaletbeaumont.com. Mention "cats" so we are together, ideally. Note: the hostel is only open on the weekend in the fall so the staff are only available from Friday to Sunday. Also, they'll answer the phone in French, but they also speak English :)

Note that there are cats (actual animals, no joke) living in the common spaces so if you have very serious allergies, you may want to bring medication, although people with allergies that have attended the space have found no problems as long as contact with the animals is limited to sight.

Details

  • Homepage
  • 26$/bed in dorm
  • 65$/double room
  • meeting rooms
  • sauna
  • 1451 rue Beaumont, Val David, Québec, J0T 2N0, 819-322-1972
  • map
  • Group rebates start at 25 people

Transportation

From Montreal we could either:

  1. Go by car
  2. Take a direct bus with Autobus Galland (36,90$ for student round-trip, 49,21$ for an adult)
  3. Take the subway till Momorency station, then bus #9 till St-Jérôme and then a bus to Val David (3$ for subway, 4$ for bus #1, 5$ for bus #2, so 24$ round-trip). People say it's not that much longer.

For option #3 (cheaper bus!), we could take the bus at Momorency at 17:59 to arrive at Saint-Jérôme at 19:05 and then take the 19:20 bus to arrive at Val David at 19:59. --pollo

Alex's chalet

Alex's chalet is around Chertsey in Lanaudière, about 150km north of Montréal. In 2007, Koumbit successfully hosted its yearly retreat there with around 12 people confortably. We took some crappy pictures, but they should still give you a rough idea.

There is some space for camping, a large living room, and nice table to fit around 10 people to eat comfortably (we actually fit 16 during the ?first cats), along with a good kitchen.

Hameau Dunham

Hameau Dunham is a mix between an organic low-scale farm (animals included) and a youth hostel. There are two buildings, a small artificial lake and lots and lots of grassy areas.

I've contacted them and we would have two options:

  • Rent a building (1530$/day)
  • Rent 25 places, 11 in dorms and 14 in 3 bed rooms (780$/day)

Option 2 means there might be other people there with us. People could also camp, but the price would be a little different (she could not tell at the moment). I'll add infos if she calls me back with a different price.

Sunapee Lake

Someone mentioned they could have access to an island in the middle of Sunapee Lake. There are roundwood shaks on it.

Mère de David

There is about 26 acres, mostly woods, a house and a big barn. There is a small pond about 200m from the barn where you can swim. The barn can hold a ton of things, and people if it rains, but it isn't set up for sleeping (its mostly used to store things, farm stuff, used to have horses etc.)

There are two showers/bathrooms inside. If people took quick showers, there would be hot water for everyone, although 25 people taking a shower every day seems a lot, and probably many would not do that. A big kitchen table that holds a family over the holidays and would be good for a general meeting. However, 25 people would be too crowded to spend all together inside generally as it would be too many people in one place. There is a fireplace as well.

Cooking can happen inside the house, there is also a BBQ and an outside propane burner for a big pot.

There is a gazebo that can be deployed and a BBQ.

There is a lot of space for tents. There are three bedrooms inside, and a pull-over couch. Supposedly if you are pregnant, his mother will not allow you to sleep in a tent outside, so you would get a bed.

His mother and partner live there on the weekend, so they would be present, but there is no problem with that. They would love what we do and probably would help and make bacon(?!) and eggs in the morning. The bed count above does not include their bed.

Nearby, there is a smallish grocery store (+SAQ) 10 minutes by car, the next largest is 20mins away in Acton Vale. Sherbrooke is 40mins away, Richmond/Drumond much closer, sounds like food nearby is no problem. There is one fridge and a freezer downstairs, but probably we would require coolers if we have food for 25 people.

There you can get 3G/4G sometimes, but not a strong signal.

If there were 25 and everyone slept in tents outside, and we mostly met outside and not everyone took a shower every day, it would be no problem.

Except for the dates. David will be away between June 30th and July 10th, but more importantly.... July is the worst time to be there because that is when the flies and mosquitos are having a month long party there. They are quite hungry and would eat all 25 people. Also, it is very hot, so overall comfort level is reduced significantly by melting and being eaten. The best time for this place would be May or August (maybe early June), since May and August the temperature is low during the night (maybe 15C), so a big fire is possible.

Other ideas