We stayed at many Residence Inns in the US so we know what to expect but would like to find out about location in Ottawa. The address is 161 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa. Is it withing walking distance to museums, farmers market, restaurants, Rideau Canal? If not, is a public transportation in Ottawa reliable and frequent? Any fodorite stayed there? Thank you for your help

The Residence Inn is right down-town and central to everything. It is a 5 minute walk to the Rideau Canal, the National Arts Centre and Parliament Hill. The Byward market is perhaps a 15 minute walk and the National Gallery about 20, as is the Museum of Natural History. The Museum of Civilization across in Gatineau is maybe 30 minutes by foot. In short, it is very well located.

Public transportation in Ottawa (OC Transpo) is excellent, if you want to go beyond the centre of town, for example to the National
Aviation Museum or the Museum of Science and Technology.

There are lots of restaurants in the immediate area, as well as in the market.

I haven't stayed there, as I live in Ottawa, but it seems quite a nice place.

Mama, I practically lived in that hotel in 2000 and 2001!

The hotel is very well located on Laurier West between Elgin and Metcalf. It is an easy walk to the Parliament Buildings, the Byward Market, the Rideau Centre, and the Rideau Canal. There are plenty of reastuarants nearby; Elgin Street, for example, has interesting cafés, restaurants, and pubs, and there are many, many interesting places in the market.

There are a lot of museums in Ottawa, and they tend to be spread around the city. The National Gallery is about a twenty-five minute walk from your hotel, while the Museum of Civilization is across the Ottawa River in Gatineau (formerly called Hull).

Public transit is excellent. You can get more information on routes and fares at www.octranspo.com.

By the way, when I stayed at the hotel the staff were excellent, but I haven't been a guest there since 2001.

Anselm

Laverendrye, LOL, this is like that card game where you yell "Snap." I think we were both writing almost the same thing at the same time.

Regards,

Anselm

After reading your comments I made reservation at the Residence Inn. laverendrye and AnselmAdorne, thank you so much for your help

Mama, one additional item about the hotel: if you are arriving by car, you can pull in to a driveway right in front of the building. There is usually a doorman within sight who will help you with your luggage. Check-in is on the third or fourth floor, I've fogotten which; there's an sign beside the elevator on the ground floor that will tell you where it is.

There is an underground parking garage. They'll tell you how to get at it and hand you an access card when you check in.

Anselm