A very well-run hostel in an excellent location for anyone interested in exploring downtown Ottawa. The staff were all friendly, and I enjoyed the tour in the morning. I stayed for one night in a women only dorm. The wifi was good. The bed was very comfy. The bathroom was very nice. The dining area had a nice little lounge section with a few board games. They're currently part way through renovations, so if I need to stay a night or two in Ottawa again I might try out sleeping in one of the cells!
Our family of 4 needed a hotel near the airport between connecting flights so our expectation was not high. We always had good experience with other Hampton Inns so this was just an easy choice, assuming a known quality hotel and also close to the airport. The Good about this hotel - 1. close to airport 2. free shuttle (details to follow) 3. has a couple restaurants just across from the parking lot if you don't want to venture out too far 4. check-in was quick The Bad - 1. Free shuttle only starts at 6am so if you need to catch an early flight you'll need to find a taxi. In our case, we had to pre-book a taxi the night before because we needed to get to the airport at 4:30am. 2. The hotel shuttle was just a plain white van with no signs indicating it's for Hampton Inn. Driver was not in any kind of uniform and when I knocked on his window trying to inquire, he came out and yelled 'What's going on'. Well not exactly what I expect a hotel shuttle driver to identify himself that way. When I asked if he's from Hampton Inn the answer was yes. But in retrospect any random guy can give me the same answer and we just kinda need to trust that driver that he's a legitimate Hampton Inn shuttle driver. The whole short trip to the hotel we were wondering if we would end up getting mugged. Just not a good feeling and I think the hotel can handle this a lot better, how hard is it to give this driver an uniform with a hampton inn logo, or print a hampton inn logo on a piece of paper and put it on the dashboard. At least something to make your shuttle and driver look a little bit more legitimate and make your guests feel a little bit safer. 3. As mentioned earlier we pre-booked a taxi to pick us up at 4:15am, turns out the front desk forgot to book it for us. When we got down to the lobby and looked for the taxi, that's when the front desk guy realized he forgot about it. So we waited for another 10-12 mins for the taxi to come. (taxi fare from hotel to airport was less than $20) 4. Not all electric outlets are working, in our room the one attached to the side table lamp didn't seem to work. Had to search high and low to have enough outlets to charge 4 phones and 4 apple watches. The Very Bad - The mattress was the absolute worse, I have never stayed at a Hampton Inn that have mattresses that dip down about 2 inches and with no support whatsoever. I'm not a big person, but my husband is so the whole night I was sinking and rolling to my husband's side. All I needed was a few hours of sleep between flights and I could not get that because of the mattress. Tossing and turning the whole night and could not find a good position. My back was hurting the next day like I was sleeping on an absolute garbage mattress the night before. We did not use the free breakfast, coffee wasn't ready during our stay, no other amenities were used. The poor rating is given based on the fact that everything we needed for a short stay in this hotel fell far sho
SSvitlana KA wonderful hotel with very friendly and professional staff. The room we stayed in as a family was very clean, comfortable and spacious. The room was cleaned regularly and efficiently. I really liked the spa center. I would happily return to this hotel the next time I'm in Gatineau. I will recommend my friends to stay here.