I will be spending a week on business in Kanata, Ontario as of this Saturday. I am told the Holiday Inn Select Hotel in Kanata is within 3 miles of the office. I'm debating on whether I should stay in downtown Ottawa instead. I've never been to the eastern part of Canada. Ottawa appears to be around 20 miles from Kanata. Is there much traffic? Would it be worth the commute every day? Or should I just spend my one weekend day commuting to Ottawa to sightsee, and remain in Kanata for the work week? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Not an easy decision.

And it depends a bit on where you come from. To many people, the traffic's not bad and the drive is not all that long, even at 20 miles. Mostly it is on a muliti-lane expressway.

And what are you going to do in the eveings, and where are you going to eat?

Kanata has lots of OK restaurants, and the television set in a Holiday Inn will have a good picture, but there are better restaurants downtown, by many definitions, and more bustle, although even downtown Ottawa on a week night is pretty quiet.

But if you want to go to a concert or a play, those are mostly downtown.

For what it's worth, I used to go to Ottawa perhaps 20 times a year for several years, and almost always had meetings in Kanata, but, since I also often had meetings downtown, I always stayed downtown, and drove out (pretty much against the traffic) each day.

What about switching hotels at the end of the week, so at least you have a downtown base on the weekend?

BAK

Thank you for your input! Yes, I might spend my first night in Ottawa, and change hotels for the work week. I am used to traffic, living in Silicon Valley in California, but I don't particularly like mornings, and have to lead meetings at 8:00 each day. If driving to Kanata is against traffic, the drive might not be too bad; although I probably ought to rent a car then, rather than cabs, I'd imagine. I couldn't find much information on Kanata, so Ottawa looked more appealing. I'd like to see as much as possible, and in general, be in an area with a nice atmosphere. Travelling alone, so I wouldn't necessarily do a lot of night life.

Kanata is now part of the City of Ottawa, as various regional municipalities were all amalgamated a couple of years ago. However, everyone still calls that part of the city Kanata

The Holiday Inn is on the edge of a huge big-box plaza with the usual stores, chain restaurants and a multi-screen (27 or so) cinema. I can't imagine being confined there for a week unless I had to return to the office in the evening. There is really nothing of interest in Kanata as it is mostly a residential and high-tech industrial suburb. It has the Corel Centre, but as the NHL is currently shut down, that's not much use. There are no really good restuarants in Kanata that I'm aware of (although the Glen Scottish pub has the best fish and chips in town and draws patrons from all over Ottawa). I don't want to knock Kanata, which is really a very nice place to live, but it doesn't have much appeal to the visitor. It's much like similar suburbs all over North America.

If you stay downtown and rent a car, you will be going against the traffic, and even in rush hours, it shouldn't take any more than 30 minutes to get to Kanata. You will not find traffic in Ottawa particularly bad by Silicon Valley (or Toronto) standards.

I guess I am of a different mindset, I would stay in Kanata and drive downtown in the evenings if thats what you choose to do. Mainly because the purpose of the trip is business and to be at some high tech office at 8am every morning ready to lead meetings seems to me to be the priority. From downtown yes you would be driving against traffic but still there are a decent number of people commuting to Kanata as well. It would still be rush hour. I wouldnt personally want to be leaving downtown every morning by 7 am "just to be sure" and I am assuming you would want to arrive at your workplace at least 15 minutes ahead of the starting time. So, personally, I would stay in Kanata and "commute" downtown as need be in the evenings, under no pressure as to timing of your arrival for dinner or such. I would definitely rent a car. Cabs will be expensive back and forth from downtown and just back and forth to the hotel from work. I wouldnt want to be stuck for a week without a car unless you were strictly going to be working and staying downtown. Another hotel in Kanata is the Brookstreet, nicer than the Holiday Inn, IMHO, and it is closer to the high tech corridor as well (but nothing else out there). I guess it depends on where the office is located in Kanata. Kanata to downtown Ottawa core, ie: the Market or such places you would likely be going, in clear traffic, is about 20 minutes tops. A straighforward drive, mainly on the 417, the main highway through the city.
I agree that Kanata is certainly not the drawing card for Ottawa, but it is the most convenient for your work schedule. As to restaurants: Baton Rouge, chain steak house; Fratelli's, Ottawa chain Italian; Alfonsetti's, local Italian, halfway to Stittsville, (only minutes away); and the usual assortment of chain restaurants/roadhouses, and fast food places. Big box shopping, movie house, etc; all your typical suburban wasteland stuff
Anything else you need to know, just post.

I'm w/Sherry. Stay in Kanata for work & go "downtown" in the evenings for restaurants, theatre, etc. That said, you might want to know that Kanata has a great restaurant called Isaacs ( Isaak's??? sp?) & the absolute best "take out" pizza @ The Collonade in Kanata. There is also a Collonade( same owners) in downtown Ottawa where you can have dinner...I can't remember if it's on Elgin or just off Elgin. Ask anybody... they will direct you! If I were you,
I might be inclined to stay in Downtown Ottawa on Saturday night when you arrive on Oct 16th depending on what is going on that night & if you can get tickets. Also, maybe do brunch & museums on Sunday in Downtown Ottawa if you don't have meetings/seminars for work. Then having had a great weekend visiting The Nation's Capital head out to your Kanata Hotel on Sunday evening for the work week. Perhaps you cld also stay in Downtown Ottawa the following Friday & Saturday nights if you do not have to leave until Sunday.
Or, you may want to venture "outside Ottawa" to the countryside in your rental car to "see the leaves" on the weekend! Maybe someone from Ottawa can tell us if the leaves have "peaked"....

I stayed in Kanata a few years back.

The bus service from Kanata to downtown is quite good and inexpensive.
It requires one transfer.

Downtown is the best choice overall.

Kanata is the best choice if you are working very late and have to be at work early in the morning.

Thank you all for your great suggestions! I'm now going to rent a car, based on your input. I'm going to stay in Ottawa Saturday night, move to Kanata for the first part of the week, and may move back to Ottawa the latter part of the week, once I'm more used to the area. For Ottawa, I was looking at the Fairmont or the Westin. The pictures of the Fairmont looks wonderful, but I've seen some ratings where people didn't always care for the rooms as much. Has anyone stayed at either of these?

I've stayed at both many times.

The Westin is an easy, practical hotel, and if you get the right rooms, you can look at the beauty of the Fairmont Charteau Laurier.

The Chateau Laurier is like a castle, and it's got three times the personality of the Westin. But if you get the right room, you can look at the dull facade of the Westin.

Mostly I stayed at the Westin when I was in meetings in the adjacent convention center.

If someone was paying my bills and I'd never been to Ottawa before, I'd stay at the Chateau.

BAK

I have stayed in both, and they are first class hotels. HOwever, I'd take the Chateau Laurier without a second thought.

While the Chateau Laurier has scads more character, wouldn't you agree that the rooms are quite a bit bigger in the Westin? My theory is that the Chateau was built at the turn of the (last) century, when people were smaller.

Well, the Chateau has rooms and suites of all sizes, but even the smallest by my recollection are not exactly broom closets, and are not all that much smaller than the standard Westin room. The Presidential suite is massive, including a large dining room, servery, sitting room and fireplaces as well as a very large bedroom, but only rock stars or politicans (and probably not the latter these days) would likely spring for the expense.

You do get great views from the upper floors of the Westin, especially facing west, while the Chateau does have many "inward" views.

I'd say the drive is more like 30 minutes from downtown to Kanata...20 minutes you'd have to REALLY be speeding! I think your plan is a great one - make sure you rent a car.

Don't forget to try a Beaver Tail from Hookers while you're in Ottawa...yummmm