We had been to Niagara Falls before during the May Blossom Festival and swore we would make a return trip. The ambiance and favorable exchange rate made staying on the Canadian side a no-brainer and we decided a "falls-view" room was a must (if your going to do it, might as well do it right!). There are a number of hotels that fit the bill, but settled on the Radisson.

Comparison shopping revealed that the Radisson rates were slightly lower, despite the common practice of increasing the room rate for Sat/Sun night stays by 50-75%. We booked a falls-view family suite via their online reservation system without any problems and check-in was quick and easy. The lobby was very spacious with several sitting areas and the pool was located in an area just off the lobby. To call our room a "suite" was quite a stretch and the wide-angle picture displayed on the website significantly exaggerated the room's proportions. The room was clean, modern, and nicely appointed, but on the small side. The room had a king-size bed and a pullout sofa. There was no spare room space when the sofa bed was set up. There was an excellent view up the Niagara River and a partially obstructed view (Marriott in the way) of the Horseshoe Falls. We found ourselves at the window frequently just enjoying the view.

The hotel was within easy walking distance to the Falls and there is a great area just across the street to view the Friday night fireworks performed throughout the summer months. It was the lack of attention to many details that spoiled the visit to this hotel. The ice machine on our floor was broken, and a trip up and down the fire stairs revealed broken machines on two other floors. My wife requested extra pillows from the front desk and was told that they did not have enough to spare. After expressing her dissatisfaction with such a response, the pillows did appear an hour later, suggesting that someone just did not want to take the time to deliver them. The information materials in the room indicated that towels were available in the pool area, but we had to call the front desk every time we visited the pool to get fresh towels. We wanted to order a pizza from the Pizza Hut Express in the hotel, but the computerized cash register was offline and they could not take orders ("Check back in an hour or two and see if we are back online."). Having any one of these events happen during a hotel stay would not even raise an eyebrow, but to have them all occur in the space of a 36 hour stay was aggravating.

We had a great visit to Niagara Falls and the problems at the Radisson were just nuisance items in the grand scheme of things. I consider Radisson hotels, however, as premier hotels (as their rates often reflect) and nuisances are supposed to be rare occurrences. They won't be on our list of possibilities for our next visit to the Falls.

Recommended: No