Capital Hill Hotel & Suites, Ottawa > Reviews > Great hotel if you can tolerate the smoke.

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Location, size of rooms .
Disadvantages:	Smokiness

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

8 of us stayed at the Capital Hill Hotel+Suites in Sept 2006.

If location is what you want, then this is a winner-the hotel is as centrally located as you are going to get, plus the bus from the Train Station stops outside. A few minutes walk south down elgin street is the popular bars/pubs area popular with the Ottawa University students. To the other side of the hotel was the historical/government buildings, and sightseeing tours. The main eating+drinking area (Murray St and around) was about 4-5mins

The outside of the hotel is a little shabby apart from the entrance area, but the reception area is very nicely presented and welcoming. Theres a small shop in the entrance which sells souveniers and selected food items (good for breakfast if you dont want to eat the hotels breakfast). Theres also a comedy club in the basement of the hotel (ill be honest i didnt know it was there until the penultimate day, on which it was shut), which is a pleasant alternative.

We paid ~£30 each per night. The 3 rooms we had were much larger than average for a 2/3* hotel, all had 2 Queen beds and 2 had kitchens and balconies. The 3rd had no kitchen but was larger still. It looked as if they were in the process of trying to smarten the image of the hotel - all furniture was well presented/new, but carpets looked a little used - not that its a problem for me.

The hotel has its own restaurant/cafe inside. Sadly i didnt eat here so i cant review it, but given the choice of the trying the hotel, or the trying the Aboriginal restaurant on Murray St, there was no contest.

The only downside of the hotel was the lingering smell of stale fag smoke despite all the rooms on our floor being non-smoking. This problem affected all 3 rooms. It appeared to come through the ventilation ducts!

Ottawa itself was very enjoyable, despite being a lot smaller i found it much more appealing than Vancouver or Toronto, and the majority of the city, and hull (across the water) is doable on foot. If you want a guided tour, we went on the canal boat tour $16. 1.5 hours long, taking you along the canals to the south of the city. Very informative, but it returns the same route it went, so you see everything twice. If your there on a thursday, the History museum is free entry 5-7:30. You have to pay at all other times.

If you arrive here by train, dont get a taxi, the bus 95 runs from the station to right opposite the hotel for 3 dollars. Its at 5 minute intervals in the daytime, less in evenings/sundays. If you arrive by train that has come through Toronto, your just as well gettting off at Fallowfield Stn. Ottawa station is not in the centre of town, its on the East. Fallowfield is on the west, but you'll save yourself time getting off there. The same bus 95 goes from fallowfield to Downtown.

Overall i would recommend this hotel, and would go back. Its obviously trying to smarten its image, has a great location, and was very welcoming. Just be aware of the smoke.

We got the Train from Toronto to Ottawa £72 return not in advance, 4 hours, You can do it cheaper on Greyhound coaches, around £50 return.

Flights to Canada cost us £303 open jaw Manchester-Vancouver, Toronto-Manchester with Canadian Affair. They also fly to Montreal, Calgary and Halifax. Zoom also fly the same routes.