Niagara Falls and Niagara Falls Marriott Fallsview Hotel & Spa





After checking out early from the crummy Four Points by Sheraton Ottawa Gatineau, we headed out towards Niagara Falls. The previous night, my dad's friend told us to take the Trans Canada Highway ONT 7 to Toronto which according to him was much more scenic with fall foliage vs Canada's version of the Interstate. While the ONT 7 was 15 minutes slower, we were told the view was well worth the negligible increase in travel time. While the scenery was stunning, we did end up getting stuck behind semi's moving pre fabricated buildings. We ran into two convoys of extra wide transport and we were able to pass one but the second one was nearly impossible to pass due the lack of any length of straight highway without on coming traffic.

After a lunch stop in Toronto, we finally arrived at our hotel for the night, the Niagara Falls Marriott Fallsview Hotel & Spa. The valet attendant gave me a ticket and told me to give it to front desk and then we walked away. I popped the trunk and began removing our luggage and only when the valet attendant caught my eye and saw that I looked annoyed did he ask if we needed help with our luggage. Well since everything was already out of the trunk, I told him no and I also put the cash I had on hand to tip him back into my pocket.

There was no line at the mobile checkin part of the front desk where I was greeted by a very cheerful employee. I gave her my name and showed her my CC and ID and right afterwards she thanked me for being a Marriott Rewards Gold Member. I was given keys to our room along with a bunch of coupons and stuff which are part of the resort fee. I was also given two coupons, one for the appetizers up at the concierge lounge and the other for free breakfast for Gold Members. I was told to enjoy our stay and then directed to the elevators which btw works really awkward here. The furthest two elevators only go up to certain levels of the hotel but the button for calling the elevators will call an of six elevators. If your room is on a floor that is higher, and if the elevators with the restricted levels arrive first, then you have to press any floor inside the elevator to send it to another floor and then press the elevator call button again so one of the 4 outer elevators that go up to all floors arrives. I even asked the front desk if their was a trick to calling the outer four elevators and I was told that there was no other way than to send the furthest 2 elevators up to another floor and then push the elevator call button again. This hotel opened in 1998 and you would think in that 19 year period, this issue would have been resolved.



Once we arrived at our room, the curtains to the window was closed. The first thing I did was throw the curtains open and in the back I heard my mom gasp. We had an absolutely perfect unobstructed clear view of the falls from our room. After sitting around just enjoying the view, we decided to cancel our reservations later in the evening at the Skylon Tower since we already had a spectacular view from our room. The room itself was any standard two queen Marriott room but two bottles of water were in the room, which btw is part of the resort fee I paid. Inside the bathroom, the extra amenities that I requested via the Marriott App was already waiting for us.


When it was time for the appetizer at the concierge lounge we headed up to the floor where the lounge was located and let ourselves in with our room key. An attendant was at his desk collecting the coupons given at check-in. I told the attendant that I needed to pay the $15.00 fee for the the third person and he said not to worry about it and welcomed us into the lounge. The lounge is small but we were able to find a table for ourselves before heading over to the appetizer buffet to make ourselves a plate. The window seats with the view of the falls were already taken and an unofficial waiting list had been created for the window tables. Pretty much everyone in the lounge were retired seniors, and many of them were in the lounge dressed as if they were going out to a fancy dinner. Lots of bling on the ladies and ties and jackets on the men. My guess was that some of them might have been making this their early dinner with the bottle of wine they ordered.


At the buffet station, there was one hot item and a bunch of assorted cold items such as cheese and crackers, chips, assorted dessert, fruits and veggies. Beer and wine were available for sale billed to your room. Two fridges, one with bottled water and the other with assorted canned sodas were available for self service. The hot dish on offer today were mini spinach pies and it was really good with the dollop of sour cream!



In the morning, we headed down to breakfast just as the restaurant was opening since we needed to eat and head back to Toronto for our flight back home. The Mortons Grille restaurant also doubles as the breakfast buffet in the morning. This wasn't made clear anywhere so we did have some issues trying to find the place. The hostess gave us a table by the window and when our waiter arrived, I handed him our breakfast coupon before heading over to the breakfast buffet. The buffet was substantial with both hot and cold and an omelette station. After the breakfast buffet at the Chateau Frontenac everything felt a bit bleh. I can't complain for breakfast that was given to us for free(for two), but the flaky buttery pastries at the Chateau Frontenac has ruined me.

I used the Marriott App to check out and then called down to have our car pulled to the portico of the hotel. After double checking that we had all of our stuff, we headed down to leave. I'm glad for the Marriott App because the line at the front desk was LONG. I handed my valet ticket to the valet attendant, and he gave me the car keys and then walked away! Again, the money for tip I had in my hand went back into my pocket and then I went ahead and loaded our luggage into the trunk myself. I'm starting to think the valet's at this hotel don't give a crap about tips or they've been stiffed too many times that they just assume everyone is going to stiff them. I don't know but I sure wasn't going to tip for the service from the valet attendants. BTW, parking isn't free here at the hotel.

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