While visiting our relatives near Ottawa, we have stayed at the Chateau Laurier 4 times, twice already this year (2001).

ROOM DESCRIPTION:
In January, my parents and I stayed in a deluxe double room, with 2 double beds and a rollaway. The room size was adequate, the beds very comfortable, including the roll away, which is a regular bed and not one of those fold-up stretchers.

This past month, end of April, the hotel was almost booked to capacity and the only choice we had was a superior deluxe room (my parents and my family (couple with 3 kids) received adjoining rooms). These rooms were gorgeous!

They were very large, looked out on the Houses of Parliament (with the result that one could hear the big tower strike the hours, not overbearingly loud, just nice).

Each had 2 double beds, a fold out couch, sitting area, desk with all modern amenities. Two bathrooms, with dryer and phone, 2 huge closets with robes and a coffeemaker.

Though the price was steep (CDN$236 per night), converted to Am.$'s I felt it was still reasonable, considering the hotel is located in the center of the capital of Canada.

SERVICE:
While generally the service has been good, we did encounter some service problems during our last stay. It was the first warm weekend of the year and when we entered our room, the thermostat read 76 degrees and it felt stuffy and hot.
So we attempted to turn on the air conditioning...
No air came out of the vents though and we were leaving, so we opened the windows, hoping for some draft. (The windows opened only a crack, though, so it wasn't much help)

On our way out, we reported the problem at the front desk. We were told that the engineering department was working on it, and that they would call us once the problem was fixed. In the meantime, we were to open our windows (as we had done).

Upon our return, we had no record of a phone call, but the windows had cooled the room sufficiently to make it comfortable for sleeping.

The following day was even a hotter day and in the morning, we inquired if the "problem" was fixed as we would like to use the airconditioning later that day.

This time, we were told there was no problem, but that the hotel simply had not gone to airconditioning after winter yet. We complained, saying that we were paying a good price for a very nice room, but that the temperature of a place plays a huge role in how well one sleeps. We were promised some fans to cool the room down and were once again told to open our windows.

Later that afternoon, I happened to feel the vents in my parents' room and to my surprise, cold air was pouring out of them! Again we called the front desk. Oh, well, they hadn't understood us (?????). They had thought we were requesting our air to be turned off (????). Five minutes later, the air was on and our room comfortable.

I wish I could say the staff was friendly and willing to accommodate through all this. They were snotty and we had to beg for the fan. We are not demanding customers and stayed friendly throughout the whole thing, but I was tempted at times to stoop to their level!

There were other such (but smaller) incidents during our 2 last stays. Indicating to me, that service can be improved on at this hotel.

RESTAURANTS:

A few years ago, my sister in law and I had afternoon tea at the Chateau. It was wonderful, with light cakes and sandwiches and a cozy setting. The Sunday brunch is also supposed to be very good. Unfortunately, we did not get to try it, as it was sold out when we tried to make a reservation on Friday, so reserve early.

Instead, we ate breakfast at Wilfred's. One can either choose a la carte or the buffet. I heartily recommend the buffet! It has different fresh fruits, crepes, muffins, different breads (and delicious butters!), eggs, sausage, bacon, oatmeal with fixings, cereals, cheese and coldcuts and different juices. All for 15 CDN$. Definitely very good!

The only con again would be the service, which we found to be very slow and sometimes almost non existent.

HEALTHCLUB:
The Chateau Laurier has one of the better hotel healthclubs I've seen. They have a large swimming pool (towels provided) and a gym room with a stair machine, elliptical trainer, 2 treadmills, a bike and a rower and a good choice of weights.

HOTEL APPEARANCE AND LOCATION:
It goes without saying, that just seeing the Chateau Laurier from the outside is exciting! My kids are always looking forward to staying at the castle.
The lobby is grand, nicely furnished in turn of the century style. There are a few upscale stores with souvenirs and lots of huge ballrooms.
Definitely the feel of a grand, luxurious place.
The location couldn't be better for a stay in Ottawa: just steps from the Houses of Parliament and across the street from the Rideau Centre.
The hotel is now a Fairmont hotel and I think it has taken the service down just a little, but it's still an enjoyable (albeit expensive) place to stay.



Recommended: Yes