I have stayed at this hotel twice now, once around 2011, and most recently in Oct 2022. Some friends who work in Ottawa frequently recommended it. It’s great if you don’t have a car. I liked the quiet rooms, I liked the linens. I like that it’s a smaller hotel than the Sheraton, Westin, Fairmont, Marriott or Courtyard Inn. The rooms are nice and big. The bathrooms are nice. To get to the parking, there’s a very narrow laneway directly to the right of the hotel. Even though I arrived on a Saturday night of the Thanksgiving weekend, a time when Ottawa’s financial district is empty, it was frustrating to turn right quickly into a narrow laneway. I missed the turn the first time because there were some pedestrians blocking my view of the laneway as I approached it, then I couldn’t turn sharply enough as some traffic was coming behind me, so I drove around the block, which meant 6 blocks because of all the one way streets. The next time, as I was trying to drive into the laneway, I committed to the turn, and was trying to drive in, and a city bus started honking at me. The street where the hotel is located is public transit only during the day, cars allowed at night. It was dark and rainy, and obviously most hotel guests are visitors to Ottawa, but I guess the bus driver thought I was too slow. I was frazzled by the time I finally parked. I prefer staying closer to the Byward Market, for walking around to restaurants, but my last stay at the Courtyard was meh. This is a very pleasant hotel and I like the staff and rooms.…
Had a great stay in a very comfortable room. Check in was seemless and staff very friendly. Had a great sleep in a great bed. Very quiet and relaxing. Good value for a downtown hotel in the heart of Ottawa
I stayed here as I was in town for a business meeting. Upon arriving late at night and checking in and going to my room, I noticed there was damage on the hotel walls, and the smoke detector was missing. Upon arrival, I had asked if there was parking and was told there was but I would have to park there myself, I also noticed there was no personal at the door or any type of Vale parking assistance, so as was instructed by front desk, I parked my car myself in the parking. In the morning and after leaving the hotel, I noticed there was a charge for "Vale Parking for $25+tax on my bill. A total of $436.81 for a one night stay at a basic room which had holes in the wall and was missing a smoke detector! This is outrageous... There are lots of options in the area for a far better experience at that price! stay away...…
After one sleepless night here, we packed up and left. The “intimate” room was so small for my husband and I that there was no place for us with our suitcases in the room. The bed was a little saggy. The decorating was worn and depressing. Despite this it was way overpriced. We went to another much larger and better room for much less. At least the front desk was understanding of our departure.
The ARC is in an excellent location downtown and the staff were quite pleasant. I was happy with my entire experience with one exception. The Lounge/Restaurant was only open for breakfast. Many downtown establishments close early and it would have been great if there was a place to eat/have a drink in the hotel.
Terrific location, no inhouse restaurant but plenty of choices nearby. Staff was polite and helpfull (although they didnt know what a corkscrew was) and facility very clean. I would reccomend this hotel to friends. A good stay in an amazing city.
Overall experience was great. Location was very good close to all locations I wanted to visit within walking distance. Staff was very friendly and professional. I would stay again when attending business downtown.
The Arc is a perfectly fine hotel. It's conveniently located in downtown Ottawa from where you can walk to most of the important places in Ottawa you might want to go. Or, if you prefer, an Uber will show up within three minutes. The room was large enough, quiet enough, and warm enough. The bed was comfortable enough. There was a desk and an armchair. Enough sockets to plug my phone and computer into, though the sockets could be more strategically located. But the shower... I'm six feet tall. The shower head sat at about five feet six inches. Contortions were required to wash my hair. I managed, but this was less than ideal for a man of my height. The restaurant was nice, but it's only open for breakfast. Not really a problem as there are plenty of great restaurants nearby. The front desk and restaurant staff were pleasant and helpful. Conclusion: a perfectly acceptable hotel in a good location designed for people less than six feet tall. Chocolates on the bed and pleasant music as you first enter the room would help. Just saying. …
We did not want to be booked at this hotel, but the hotel that we had booked through another website ended up not existing so we were booked here. We had been promised that The Arc Hotel had free parking and would not charge for having a pet - both of these promises were false as this Hotel does not have free parking - they have underground parking nearby that they charge $25-$35 per day. We were not told about any pet charges until we received the invoice later that day with a $50 charge and the note "Guest was seen with a dog." What a cowardly way to charge a family for bringing their dog without letting them know at check-in. I have stayed at Hotels all over the world and I can honestly say that I have never stayed in a room so small. The two rooms that we had, which were described as Intimate Queen Rooms - the rooms were 12 square meters!!! They were absolutely tiny - I couldn't believe it. The hot water in the shower took nearly 5 minutes of running until it got warm. The air conditioner sounded like we had a WW2 Bomber flying in the room with us, but when we turned it off the room heated up very quickly. We were in rooms 814 and 815 and we were woken up at 7am on Saturday morning by incredibly loud noises out on the street. I got dressed and went downstairs and saw that there was a gigantic crane being assembled on the street out front to lift an Air Conditioner unit up onto the roof of a nearby building. I asked the girls at the reception off they had been told that this was going to be happening and she told me that they hadn't been notified. I asked the Foreman out on the street and he told me that they had been told. Either way - the people who had spent their money at this hotel had NOT been told that they would be woken up by the noise on the street. The TV had a handful of channels available - the least amount I have EVER seen in my lifetime of travel so we couldn't even watch a hockey game that was on and had to watch it on my iPad. Suffice to say - we will never be returning to this hotel. The only positive I could say about it is that it is very close to Parliament Hill and ByWard Market - perfect if you just want to walk around downtown Ottawa and see the sights. …
Overall, not a bad hotel but parking is terrible, especially if you have a larger vehicle. Being charged extra for this “privilege” is bad. The “view” from our room consisted of a concrete wall 8 feet away. Not only paid a huge price for this view but it made the room extremely dark.
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