Attached to the Rideau Centre shopping mall and the soon-to-open (April 2011) new Ottawa Convention Centre, the 496-room Westin is popular with business travelers. The 24-hour fitness centre has floor-to-ceiling windows and a wide range of machines and free weights; there’s also an indoor saltwater pool with shorter hours. Fitness is a big thing in this hotel: you can hire a personal trainer, book a massage, get jogging maps or book a WestinWorkout room furnished with a stationary bicycle or treadmill. Guest rooms on the west side boast a superb view of the Rideau Canal, Parliament Hill and beyond. Sleek modern furnishings in muted tones dominate the décor. Wireless Internet is available throughout the hotel. Two restaurants and a café serve excellent but pricey fare; the newest is the Shore Club, an art deco-style steak and seafood place where the jumbo lobster tail will set you back a cool $65.
AOL PICK from our Editors
Most of Ottawa’s largest full-service hotels are located within three km. of Parliament Hill, while budget chains are concentrated closer to the airport and near suburban exits from Highway 417. There are exceptions to every rule, of course: Bed and breakfasts and a quirky hostel offer budget lodging close to downtown, while the elegant Brookstreet Hotel serves the high-tech crowd in West End Kanata. Most central inns and bed and breakfasts charge at least $100 a night; rooms in chains on the outskirts often go for a little less. Expect to pay at least $160 a night for a room in a good downtown hotel. Book far in advance during popular festivals, particularly Winterlude in February, the Canadian Tulip Festival in May and Canada Day and Bluesfest in July. As the seat of government and home to a huge range of national associations, Ottawa is a competitive hotel market. As a result, most hotels are upgraded frequently to stay in the game.
The Fairmont Chateau Laurier
Neighborhood: ByWard Market Price Range: Expensive One of the city’s best-known landmarks, the castle-like Chateau Laurier sits at the edge of the Rideau Canal between Parliament Hill and the ByWard Market. Built in 1912, the 429-room property lives up to the “grande dame” moniker. Popular with business travelers during the week and with couples and families on weekends, its amenities include a pool and fitness centre, a white-linen restaurant overlooking the canal, a swish tearoom and a full business centre. Wi-Fi is available in the lobby, while the rooms have wired high-speed Internet access. (Tip: Save the hefty fee by joining the chain’s free President’s Club affinity program.) The antiques and chandeliers may seem elegant to some and stuffy to others. Some rooms on the west side overlook Parliament Hill. The Fairmont Gold floor includes extra amenities like a private lounge where a free continental breakfast is served.
Brookstreet Hotel
Price Range: Expensive The main choice for business travelers in town to meet with Kanata’s high-tech moguls, the Brookstreet is far off most visitors’ beaten path. Located in the western suburbs, it also caters to the weekend getaway crowd, with indoor and outdoor pools (including a children’s pool), a spa with a licensed four-diamond restaurant, and a Robert Trent Jones II golf course with a golf academy. The high-end restaurant, Perspectives, is one of the best in the west end; try the six-course blind tasting menu if you’re feeling adventurous. Décor in the 276-room property leans toward soothing earth tones punctuated with hits of red and other bold colors. Every guest room features art by local art-school students. High-speed Internet is available in rooms for a fee. There’s also complimentary wireless access in Options bar, which often features live music.
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Brookstreet HotelHilton Lac-Leamy
Neighborhood: Gatineau Price Range: Expensive This 349-room property offers luxury for everyone, even pets (dogs and cats under 75 pounds are welcome). Business travelers have access to a business centre, secretarial services and almost 50,000 square feet of meeting space, when you include the Casino Lac-Leamy next door. Weekend getaway escapees can unwind in the huge spa, with its 17 treatment rooms. Thrill-seekers can check out the casino. Families appreciate the indoor and outdoor pools, baby-sitting service and children’s menus. Hedonists gather in the cigar bar, and food lovers can choose from six restaurants at the hotel and casino. Amenities include Internet access (wired in the rooms, wireless elsewhere) and a fitness centre. A striking blown-glass artwork by Dale Chihuly dominates the lobby. Décor throughout is elegant and traditional—lots of marble and gold. Ask for a room with a view of the lake (more of a big pond, really, but still pretty).
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Hilton Lac-LeamyMinto Suite Hotel
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Expensive Each suite in this 417-suite, four-diamond property comes with a full kitchen and a pullout couch (in addition to the bed), and some suites have a washer and dryer. The standard “suites” are actually just really big bedrooms; there’s no door between the bed and the rest of the room. In the other suites, the bedrooms are separate. The décor in the recently renovated suites is plain but serviceable. The location in the business district, a 10-minute walk from Parliament Hill, is convenient for corporate travelers. (The hotel offers long-stay rates for guests staying a month or more.) Ask for an upper-story room on the north side for views of the Ottawa River. Amenities include wired and wireless Internet, a fitness centre, a 20-metre saltwater lap pool, an onsite steakhouse and free bikes. Guests can also use the nearby Minto Business Centre, which offers meeting rooms, faxing and more.
ARC The.Hotel
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate Despite the weirdly pretentious name, ARC actually offers warm and friendly service in its Zen-like, beige-and-natural-stone environment. From the outside, the former office building is bland, but the public areas feature boutique hotel touches like water features and a fireplace. The 112 guest rooms—some of which are quite small—are kitted out with Egyptian linens, Frette bathrobes and Thann all-natural spa products. Amenities include in-room Internet access and a 24-hour fitness centre; the hotel also has a partnership with the NewU Spa, seven blocks away. The small Arc Lounge restaurant—a stylish spot with red walls, black-and-chrome chairs and subtle lighting—regularly attracts the city’s leading chefs, who combine local products with far-flung fare to create innovative dishes like lobster-vanilla-heirloom squash bisque with Thai basil and candied pecans.
Hotel Indigo Ottawa Downtown City Centre
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate Get boutique hotel style but still earn points toward your chain hotel affinity plan—that’s the perk of staying at the bright, charming Hotel Indigo, part of the huge InterContinental Hotels Group. It doesn’t feel like a chain property. The 106 distinctive guest rooms have dark hardwood floors, glassed-in showers and giant photographic wall murals. There’s free high-speed Internet throughout the property (wired in the rooms, wireless elsewhere). Night owls will appreciate the 24/7 business and fitness centers. Unusual in a boutique hotel of this size, there’s also an indoor pool (decades ago, this building began life as a YMCA). The onsite Phi restaurant offers light fare with some international accents (butter chicken, spring rolls). Popular with families on weekends and business travelers throughout the week, it’s convenient to Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal.
Albert at Bay Suite Hotel
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate This well-maintained, 197-suite property is popular with both corporate travelers and families, as it’s close to Parliament Hill and major office buildings. Each suite has a full kitchen and at least one separate bedroom, and several of the larger ones have dens. Suites range in size from 800 to 1,200 square feet; there’s also a 650-square-foot accessible suite and two boardroom suites. Décor is plain but functional. Free perks include wireless Internet, daily newspaper and local calls. Kids like the in-room Nintendo games, while adults enjoy the fitness centre. Long-stay rates are available. The casual onsite bistro serves pasta, pizza and other family-friendly fare, and the recently opened Scottish pub offers single-malt scotches and 17 beers on tap.
Chimo Hotel
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate A little off the beaten path, this 256-room hotel in the near east end is a great choice for families planning to visit the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and Calypso Water Park. The large St. Laurent Shopping Mall is across the street. Wireless Internet, local phone calls and parking are free. Amenities include a fitness centre, indoor pool, full-service restaurant and pub. All rooms have mini-fridges. The décor is somewhat sterile. Gold-level rooms include access to a private lounge offering complimentary breakfast, and a private, 24-hour exercise room. Business travelers have access to seven large function rooms and three smaller meeting rooms. Fax and photocopying services are available at the guest services desk.
Delta Ottawa Hotel & Suites
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate Popular with families on weekends for its indoor waterslide and family pool, this 328-room hotel is usually filled with business travelers during the week. Studio rooms have sinks, mini-fridges, toasters and microwaves, and Signature Club suites include access to a private lounge that serves a continental breakfast. All rooms have Internet access. The Delta’s four-diamond restaurant, the plush Capital Dining Room, is a bit of a secret, even among locals. Guests settle down in overstuffed wing chairs and wait for the elegant servers to emerge from the kitchen bearing domed platters of caribou carpaccio and Australian rack of lamb. Delta recently purchased the former Crowne Plaza hotel across the street and will launch a $25-million renovation of that property in June 2011 (due for completion in March 2012). It plans to keep both hotels in its portfolio.
Southway Hotel
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Moderate This 170-room property is one of the few hotels in the city’s south end. Convenient to the airport, it attracts a busy meetings and convention business, along with some weddings. The indoor pool makes it popular with families. Rooms are bright and spacious with traditional ruffled linens; continental breakfast is included with some packages. Free amenities include high-speed wireless Internet throughout the hotel, a fitness centre, parking and an airport shuttle. The onsite Shallows restaurant serves tasty if predictable hotel restaurant fare: French onion soup, shrimp cocktail, wiener schnitzel, veal scaloppini and other classics. The six-story hotel is about a 20-minute drive to downtown Ottawa; you can also catch a city bus right outside the front door that will take you to the core. The big-box shopping complex across the street is convenient, but avoid it late at night.
Australis Guest House
Neighborhood: Sandy Hill Price Range: Budget This two-bedroom bed and breakfast is on the richer side of Sandy Hill, close to Strathcona Park and surrounded by ambassadors’ residences. That means the heritage home is about a 25-minute walk from the ByWard Market and a little farther from Parliament Hill and other attractions. If you don’t have a car and don’t want to walk, hop on an OC Transpo Route 16 (Britannia) bus at the corner for a 10-minute trip downtown. At the guesthouse, one double room has a balcony and shared bath, while the other has a private bath, television and fridge. Both rooms have wireless Internet. The included hearty breakfasts might feature anything from fruit waffles to pumpkin and plum loaf; co-owner Carol Waters is also a cookbook author.
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Australis Guest HouseHI-Ottawa Jail Hostel
Neighborhood: Sandy Hill Price Range: Budget Here’s something you don’t stay in every day: a hostel inside a 19th-century correctional institution. Some of the 118 beds are housed in old jail cells, and tours of the supposedly haunted facility are given daily. Single, double and family rooms are available. There are also numerous dorms, where beds start at $28 a night. Almost all accommodations have shared bathrooms. Amenities include a pub, self-service kitchen and laundry facilities, free wireless Internet, a TV room and bicycle storage. The Rideau Centre shopping mall is across the street and the Byward Market is a 5-minute walk away. The surrounding streets can be a bit sketchy late at night but are very safe by day.
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HI-Ottawa Jail HostelCourtyard Ottawa Downtown
Neighborhood: ByWard Market Price Range: Budget This 183-room property has one key advantage: it’s the only hotel in the ByWard Market. That makes it convenient for shopping, dining and clubbing, and it’s within walking distance of Parliament Hill, the National Gallery and other attractions. If you’re staying on a weekend, particularly in the summer, ask for a room near the back to minimize street noise. In late 2010, the hotel was in the midst of an extensive renovation and upgrade; improvements include ergonomic workstation chairs and brighter, more contemporary linens. Amenities include an indoor pool, whirlpool and children’s pool, as well as a fitness centre, a restaurant with an extensive breakfast buffet (lunch and dinner also served), and free wireless Internet. Rates vary widely but start at around $110 a night.
Albert House Inn
Neighborhood: Centretown Price Range: Budget One of the few remaining Victorian mansions in the central business district (it’s on the western fringe of downtown), this prettily restored inn offers 17 guest rooms furnished mainly with unfussy antiques. Public rooms include a lounge with a fireplace and big bay window. The inn is renowned for its friendly service. Prices start at $99 for the small singles (which still manage to squeeze in a desk and a 36-inch, flat-screen TV). Larger rooms have Jacuzzis and even bigger TVs. All rooms include free wireless Internet, local calls and a full hot breakfast featuring goodies like omelets and French toast. There’s also a small room-service menu. Self-service laundry is available for a small fee, and you can use the fax, photocopier, computer and printer at the front desk. Children must be at least 10.
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Albert House InnSwiss Hotel
Neighborhood: Sandy Hill Price Range: Budget Housed in a stone building dating to 1872, this 22-room inn offers chic Euro style at a very affordable price. Along with duvets, 32-inch flat-screen TVs and rain-style showers, every room includes free wireless Internet and use of an iPad. Rooms tend toward the small side but are nicely appointed with hardwood floors and Swiss-dot linens. Some of the pricier rooms have a fireplace or Jacuzzi. For an extra $15 you can enjoy muesli (Swiss granola), European coffee, croissants, eggs and more in the Swiss-style breakfast room in the basement— and in the summer, you can nosh in the adjacent cobblestone courtyard. One drawback: the hotel has lots of stairs and no elevator. A few of the blocks west and north of the property are slightly dodgy late at night, but the location itself is quite safe. The Byward Market and the University of Ottawa are a short walk away.
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