[GONE] Residence Inn Ottawa Downtown [Master Thread]
Nov 25, 2006, 2:29 am
[GONE] Residence Inn Ottawa Downtown [Master Thread]
Checked in extremely late on Thanksgiving Day (midnight) due to a drunk on our flight, but had faxed a welcome letter to the property prior to our departure advising of late arrival as well as our room preferences.
Upon arrival, received a welcome letter from the manager, a small welcome ammenity (bottled water and chocolates), and a room which met my preferences, being on a high floor and away from an elevator. Received room 1307, of which I will upload pictures of later today. Corner room. Huge (I'd guess around 800 sq/ft). True suite with seperate living room and bedroom with a dual-access bath with jacuzzi tub. King bed and sofa bed in living room. Full kitchen with range/dishwasher/micro/reefer. Very quiet on the 13th floor (14 floors total).
Staff friendly to a fault. Breakfast choices good. Eggs were instant, but I enjoyed the sausage and croissants. Will check other offerings more this morning, as really jet-lagged and tired yesterday. Check-in lobby is on 4th floor (basement is street lobby/garage level). Two banks of elevators, one of which only goes to 4th floor and others for hotel guest use for all floors. There is a front desk on street lobby floor for information/direction/valet.
Great location on Laurier Ave. We walked about 1/4 mile to Goldstein's over on Elgin to buy some groceries. Good selection and reasonable prices. There are a number of restaurants steps away from the hotel and a Starbucks at the corner of Laurier and Elgin (across from the park). Noted the closest Japanese restuarant (in building next door) is closed until after New Years due to a new baby in the family. We'll try the other one up Laurier today.
There is an airport shuttle (yowshuttle.com) for 14CAD single/11CAD each double (each way) and 22CAD return, but we took a cab due to the late hour and it was 24.75CAD plus tip.
Overall impression of this property is right in line with the reviews on Trip Advisor. I'll update with our exit impressions but right now I'd have no problem returning and wouldn't even mind getting a smaller room.
Pat
Nov 25, 2006, 5:52 am
http://www.ottawakiosk.com/octranspo.html
Nov 25, 2006, 9:49 am
Pat
Nov 25, 2006, 2:52 pm
Mistakenly thought you were a local ....We were out wandering today and happend upon the local train station, which isn't too far from the hotel. I also saw a number of city buses, and it looks like they have luggage spaces near the doors, kind of like the MTA trains we rode into Manhattan recently.
We tried the Indian buffet restaurant across the street from the hotel and had a great lunch and very reasonable (about 11.00CAD per person). The proprietor said most of the business district restaurants are only open for dinner on the weekends. We did find a lot of restaurants at the mall by the transit station just across the river.
I've noted very unobtrusive service by housekeeping at the hotel, who have done a great job working around our odd hours and kept the dishes done and room tidied and clean. It looks like an old building next door is being made into a Hotel Indigo, and I saw brochures in the street lobby advertising it, so believe perhaps the same owner/operator is involved with both properties, since technically the flags compete. We loved the service and ambience at a similar property in Atlanta, and this downtown location is ideal for business travelers.
Pat
Dec 1, 2006, 11:24 am
http://www.filmloop.com/cgi-bin/bv/b...xtAds=1&px=FL3
If that doesn't work, below are links to individual room pictures....
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...assthrough.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...iving_room.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...wn/Kitchen.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...town/Entry.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...n/Bed_bath.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...own/Bath01.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...own/Bath02.jpg
Pat
Apr 5, 2019, 8:35 am
Residence Inn by Marriott Ottawa Downtown
161 Laurier Ave W Ottawa, ON CA K1P5J2
Residence Inn Ottawa Downtown = Old and Tired (5 Photos)
Residence Inn by Marriott Ottawa Downtown
I tried the Residence Inn Downtown Ottawa for the first time as I needed a suite that could sleep several people and a kitchen. I was not wowed in any way and my key takeaway is that for the vast majority of guests I would not recommend this hotel.
Location
One of the few positives is location. You are close to everything and within walking distance of the parliament and a shopping mall. It is somewhat more centrally located than the Sheraton, Marriott, and Delta.
Room
I booked the highest level room category which is the 1-bedroom suite with 2 queen beds so I would not be able to tell how generous they are with Platinum / Titanium / Ambassador upgrades. Different room categories do not differ much in price so this room type is good value for people who need extra space because for a small extra you get a much more spacious room.
If anybody thought the Sheraton Ottawa or Delta Ottawa are old and tired hotels, then they have not been to Residence Inn. Our room is in need of renovation in the kitchen, bathroom, and needs new furniture except the beds were fine. The shower was in a bathtub which is subpar although typical for old hotels. I would also note that water pressure in the shower was weak. More problematic is that the temperature controls did not seem to work because it was very hot even after shutting off heating completely. We opened the windows all night; temperature was about 0 C outside, but the room was still hot.
On the plus side the kitchen was functional and cooking equipment was available.
Dining
Breakfast is on the 4thfloor right in front of reception. It was pretty crowded and not particularly enjoyable but staff was quick to remove dirty dishes, fortunately. Breakfast was ok but not great in terms of quality and spread – better than TownePlace Suites but worse than Delta/Sheraton. There were omelets, bacon, and diced potatoes available which was nice, especially with salsa and shredded cheese available. However fruits were low quality and came out of a can with juice.
Overall
All in all this hotel does not stand out in any way and most guests will probably overpay relative to alternatives in the city. However for those who really need a suite that can accommodate up to 6 people, who need a kitchen, and need to be downtown, then this might be a good choice for lack of alternatives, although a new Homewood Suites recently opened downtown and I suspect it will be far better than Residence Inn so I intend to try it in the near future. For people who just need a bed then I would definitely suggest to look elsewhere and avoid Residence Inn.