Capital my good fellow, just Capital! (Hotels in Ottawa)

Member Name: The Daz

Product:	Hotels in Ottawa
Date:	26/11/08 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Centrally located, reasonably priced, good service.

Disadvantages: None worth mentioning...

Leading on from my rather elaborate review of the Museum of Civilisation in Ottawa, I would imagine that some of you are desperate to wing your way across to Canada to see this cultural gem. You will, of course, need somewhere to stay - which rather cunningly leads me to this review which concerns the Capital Hill & Suites Hotel. (You see what I did there, with the linking and the plugging and the padding of the review...)

Located on Albert Street, right in the centre of the Downtown Area, this hotel could hardly be more well placed. A five minute walk will take you to the stunning National Parliament Buildings, the Currency Museum, the rather spiffy and interactive Tourist Information building, a host of food courts placed inside the atria (atriums, atria, atriae? I did 7 years of Latin and still I'm unsure) office blocks, the open air Sparks Street Mall and the impressive Chateau Laurier. Five more minutes will take you across the Rideau Canal and into the Bytown area, awash with markets, cafes and diners. Ottawa has far more to offer than watching Politicians.

Well served by buses - the downtown loop drops off on the streets in front of and behind the Hotel, and serves all points across the river to Hull (Museum of Civilisation), as well as across into Bytown and further along towards the Train Station and the Airport - the Hotel is within easy reach of all points of interest in and out of the city, that include the National Art Gallery, The War Museum and the various stadia used by the Capital's sporting teams.

The entrance, whilst not exactly grand, does at least contain a large lobby, handy considering the number of convention guests that appeared at the same time as us. The staff were consummately professional despite the chattering questions of dozens of guests in several languages and a variety of volumes.

We took one of the two lifts (slow service when it's busy!) up to our floor, somewhere in the sky, but were forced to call for assistance when the water in the bathroom was found not to work. An impressively short span of time later, and our maintenance chap decided it would be best if we changed rooms because it would take a few spare parts and a lot of cursing to fix the problem (Union minimum requirements as I understand). Our new room was larger and had a better view of downtown Ottawa, so I was rather pleased with the outcome.

Along with the standard Canadian Hotel paraphernalia - large TV with oodles of cable channels, giant comfy bed with a plethora of pillows, air con unit under the window, coffee machine with sachets of ground beans (no kettle!), powerful shower, hairdryer with a cord so short that you can either dry your hair or look in the mirror (not both!) and so on - we were pleased to find a stack, and I mean a stack, of brochures and magazines detailing tourist delights of the city. A large book of discount offers was hidden amongst it, as well as a very glossy magazine which listed some of the swankier joints in town to lighten your wallet in pursuit of gastronomic satisfaction. This pile of reading also helped to pass the inevitable waiting periods whilst my better half got herself ready to go out again.

The Hotel itself sits atop a Comedy Bar, the name of which eludes me as I didn't visit it, and a very busy restaurant, judging from the flow of visitors to its stairwell that evening. As for the extras - the standard Ice Machine was found lurking behind a half wall, around the far corner on a middle floor. Always handy for cooling your drinks, especially when the weather was as warm and muggy as it was in May this year over in Ontario (about 25C).

For the price we paid, roughly £50 a night room only, and considering both the location of the Hotel and the quality of the rooms, I was very pleased with my stay here - experiencing as I did, both rest and convenience of facilities. The service was excellent, specifically the quibble free change of rooms, and I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again if ever I were to return to Canada's Capital.

Summary: Quality stay at a good price in a great city!