DoubleTree by Hilton Ottawa Downtown

Great stay

Clean and homely

I stayed three nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Ottawa. The two main positives are the location, which is excellent, and the friendliness of the staff at reception. Unfortunately, my experience was disappointing for several other reasons. First, the rooms offer very few amenities. There were no bottled water or microwave in the room. When I was informed that a microwave was only available in the lobby, I found this inconvenient. I don't think it's right to have to go down and up several floors with your meal to heat it up. Furthermore, when you're staying in a hotel for work or on a group trip, you don't necessarily want to run into colleagues or other travelers in the elevator in your pajamas or bathrobe just to heat up a meal, not to mention the smells that can occur in the elevators when you're carrying reheated food. The bathroom also has several shortcomings. The shower has been renovated, but the glass enclosure is far too small. The opening is so large that water easily splashes onto the rest of the bathroom floor. Furthermore, because the shower is so open, you quickly feel a draft, making it difficult to stay warm while showering. This design is uncomfortable and impractical. There's also no bathroom fan, which is inconvenient for both ventilation and privacy, especially when sharing a room. The sink counter is extremely small, and when you want to use a hairdryer or flat iron, the electrical outlet is on the opposite side of the toilet. You have to reach over the toilet and hope the cords are long enough… The room layout is also poorly designed in general for couples, families, or groups of friends. There's a mirror outside the bathroom, but no electrical outlet nearby. To use a hairdryer or flat iron, you have to go to the tiny bathroom counter, which offers very little space. This makes getting ready extremely difficult when two people are sharing a room. In short, if one person is using the bathroom (toilet or shower), the other person definitely can't get ready at the same time. The soundproofing is also inadequate. I could constantly hear the elevators, conversations in the hallway, and rolling suitcases. Unfortunately, I slept very poorly during my stay. Finally, despite the sign on my door clearly stating that I didn't want housekeeping service, the chambermaid still came while I was out. Some items I wanted to keep were thrown away, including an empty water bottle that I was reusing and some bags I needed. Furthermore, clothes that I had deliberately left out so I wouldn't forget them were put back in the closet. If a guest indicates they do not want housekeeping services, this request should be respected. In summary, despite courteous reception staff and an excellent location, numerous inconveniences related to comfort, room layout, and the failure to accommodate guest requests made my stay disappointing.

We had a great stay last weekend overall. Location is excellent, very walkable and the room was very nice. It was just unfortunate we felt quite uncomfortable by some people who kept walking around the inside and outside the hotel. It is not appealing to see their syringes in cups in the hotel lobby when you are paying a good price per night...