After checking out the new Homewood Suites near Ottawa airport a few days ago, this time I tried Homewood Suites Kanata which is about equally as new, having opened last June.  While I was pleased with my stay near the airport, the property in Kanata was another story and I am unlikely to return unless rates are very low.  

Location

The location is about 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa so I am assuming that most guests who stay there do so because they have business in Kanata and not downtown.  The hotel is right around the corner from TownePlace Suites which I did not care for much when I stayed before, and I thought Homewood Suites would clearly be better but it was unfortunately not the case.  

Room

I booked a 2-queen 1 bedroom suite and this is the room that I received so no Diamond upgrade.  I did not necessarily expect an upgrade because Homewood Suites is not part of the brands where Diamonds can be upgraded, and also because I was a first timer at this hotel rather than a repeat customer.  Also the next category up which is the 2 bedroom suite and it costs significantly more.  The positive about my room is that it was very spacious, and it had high ceilings. It is much bigger than the rooms at TownePlace Suites which has suites in name only – the rooms are standard size over there.  However the good points of HWS Kanata end there.  I was surprised at the poor quality construction of the property in Kanata compared to the one near the airport which was nice.  The hotel in Kanata is not falling apart yet because it’s not even one year old, but I wonder in what shape the hotel will be in a few years.  Every time we turned on or off the water tap either in the bathroom sink or in the bathtub, we could hear a very loud thumping noise; there is something wrong with the plumbing.  Same when our neighbor used his water.  You could also easily hear water dropping at the bottom of the bathtub of the room above when someone was taking a shower up there – that’s how bad soundproofing was. I also much preferred the bathroom at HWS near the airport which had a walk-in shower rather than the old-style tub in Kanata.  There were lots of little details of stuff not working or being just off: the toilet paper holder was loose, the vent in the bathroom was coming off the ceiling, the bathroom door would not lock, etc.  Nothing major but these things add up. 

Dining

Breakfast was also considerably worse in Kanata than at the airport whereas I expected about the same.  The room is bright and airy, but it was crowded at the tail end of breakfast and it was not easy to find available tables especially since staff did not clean up promptly after guests departed.  Food was also noticeably subpar.  For example near the airport fruits are fresh cut fruits like you would expect, but in Kanata they had fruits coming out of a can with their juice. One morning they had some kind of bacon copy-cat: the thing was entirely flat and looked like plastic rather than normal bacon.  I was at the hotel on a weekend so I could not try the manager evening reception but given the nickel & diming at this hotel I highly doubt that it’s on par with the Homewood Suites at the airport which was fine.  

Service

Service was also disappointing in Kanata.  The 1-bdr suite can sleep as many of 6 people because there is a sofa-bed in the living room but there were only 2 sets of towels in the room when we arrived.  They should have known we needed more given the guest count on the reservation. When I requested housekeeping done at 5pm it was denied.  The day of departure I requested 3pm check-out but I could only get 1pm.  I am aware that late check-out is never guaranteed at Hilton properties but the hotel had wide open availability that night so they could have accommodated me if they wanted, and it makes a contrast with TownePlace Suites across the street where they guarantee 4pm check-out for Platinum guests.  

Overall

Overall as bad as breakfast at TownePlace Suites was and how slim elite perks were other than check-out time, I was surprised that the situation is even worse at Homewood Suites.  Breakfast at HWS is better than TPS and the rooms are larger, but everything else goes TPS’s way.  If hotels near the airport can offer a decent product for 150 CAD or less, then I would feel ripped off if I paid more than 200 CAD for any of the two Kanata hotels, regardless of where I need to be.  Looking at the calendar, rates above 200 CAD are not that rare at HWS Kanata and in my opinion it is poor value for most people except those who highly value a large room.