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Have you stayed at that these hotels? Share your vacation experiences with others.| Homewood Suites by Hilton | Kelly & Carlos ~ Burlington, Ontario |
Homewood Suites by Hilton
975 Syscon Road
Burlington, Ontario
905-631-8300 (tel.)
www.burlington.homewoodsuites.com
My husband and I recently won a two night stay at the Homewood Suites in Burlington, Ontario through a local newspaper contest. The one catch was that the Homewood Suites stay had to be at the Burlington location. It seemed awfully close to home, just a few blocks actually but it was a freebie, included breakfast in the morning and we thought “what the heck”!
Before our stay at this hotel we knew very little about the chain, in fact the only thing we did know was that it was a newer hotel in the city and located just off the highway. We have since learned that this is a very family friendly, traveller friendly chain and one that we would recommend to anyone passing through Burlington or anyone who happens to have guests from out of town visiting them but no room to house them.
Along for our stay were our 13 year old niece and 14 year old nephew.
Parking:
Free parking in the front, to the side and at the back of the hotel. Very easy to find a spot.
Check In:
Check in was quick and efficient. Our room keys were available immediately and the only thing they required was a credit card imprint for any incidentals.
Room:
We were given room #611, a two bedroom suite with fully equipped kitchen, living space, kitchen table area with free internet connection for a laptop computer, and even an ice maker in the freezer! You could easily stay here for an extended stay on business or pleasure.
The living space in the middle of the room has a comfy chair, good size couch and a 36” (approximately) television with a large variety of stations. To the left of the living space was a door connected to the room with two double beds with ensuite bathroom and to the right of the living space was door connected to the king size bed and ensuite bathroom. This two bedroom suite was larger than some apartments I’ve seen in Toronto!
In addition to the fully equipped kitchen (full size fridge, stove, microwave, plates, cups, utencils, and even a casserole dish), the hotel provided complimentary microwave popcorn, condiments for the coffee machine and a directory for local businesses such as restaurants, shopping and maps. If we were out of towners, we would have felt very comfortable staying at the Homewood Suites.
Business Centre:
We didn’t use this area but can see how it would be incredibly useful for a traveller. There is a 24 hour business centre with free high speed wireless and wired internet access, two computer stations, a fax machine and a photocopy machine. There were guests in the area so I’m sure it is used quite often.
Fitness Centre Area:
The Fitness Centre is quite well equipped with a treadmill, elliptical trainer, a bike, some dumbbells and a television in the corner so you can watch while you train. Across from the fitness room is the unsupervised indoor heated pool…not a large pool but a refreshing and comfortable temperature, clean and well maintained. My niece and nephew found it more than accommodating. The deepest end of the pool is 5 feet and the lowest is 4 feet. It took a lot of calls in order to get them out at the end of the night. They give this area two thumbs up.
To the right of the pool through a door leading outside is a BBQ area, outdoor sports court with a basketball net and a nicely landscaped sitting area. I called to the front desk and they loaned out a basketball to my nephew free of charge.
The Homewood Suites is directly next door to the Garden Suites Hotel and if you go next door and check in with the reception desk, explaining that you are staying next door, you get full access to their pool and fitness area as well. There is virtually no difference between them except that the Garden Suites Hotel has a hot tub. We checked it out, had a “tub” and thought the standards at that location were very good as well.
Added Features:
The thing that impressed us most about the Homewood Suites was the little extras they provide to their guests. The next time we travel out of town and require a hotel stay, we will certainly try to locate a Homewood because of these items listed below.
- Complimentary hot and cold breakfast each morning. It is buffet style and you are free to help yourself to everything laid out in the pantry type area. The morning we had breakfast there were scrabbled eggs, bacon, home fries, waffles (self prepared with instruction), yogurt, a wide variety of cereals, milk, juice, toast, jams, fruit and bagels with cream cheese.
- Complimentary evening reception. This is Monday-Thursday only from 5:30-7pm if I remember correctly from the posting at the front lobby, but not on the weekends. The notice on the fridge gave a daily menu option for this reception…a light meal and beverages complimentary and if you wanted an alcoholic beverage it was available for $3.00 charge. Seemed very reasonable. The menu included cabbage rolls, lasagne, and those types of foods. Sounded great!
- Complimentary Internet. Either in the room or the business centre. I’ve been to hotels where you pay $10.00 a day for this option. What a deal to get it free at this place!
- Onsite Laundry. Located on the second floor was a laundry facility that looked to be coin operated. Didn’t go in to check it out.
- Convenience Store. There is a 24 hour shop for those little extras you forget to take with you.
- Grocery Shopping Service. We didn’t use this service but according to the literature in the room, the hotel offers a complimentary grocery shopping service for their guests. That would come in so handy if you were away on business and sick of restaurant food. The fully equipped kitchen would do the trick!
In closing, although we were only blocks from home during our stay and didn’t spend a cent of our own for the room, this hotel made us feel like valued guests from check in to check out. The rooms are top notch, the staff was friendly and efficient and the stay was comfortable and enjoyable. I would recommend this location and this chain to anyone I knew.
| Ramada Inn | Dylan ~ Peterborough, Ontario |
Arrival: June 30, 2009
Front of building and lobby appear nice, first impressions can be wrong.
Other Comments:
Avoid at all costs. Checked in and checked back out within 10 minutes. Building in rough condition, rear entrance did not lock, dirty/outdated room, and to top it off, the stained mattress had several 'magazines' under it.....we ran.
| Hessenland Country Inn | Kelly & Carlos ~ Burlington, Ontario |
Hessenland Country Inn
RR # 2, Zurich
Ontario Canada N0M 2T0
P.0. Box 99,
Zurich, Ontario
N0M 2T0
Phone: (519) 236-7707
Fax: (519) 236-7505
Toll Free: 1-866-543-7736
http://www.hessenland.com/
For two evenings during the last weekend of July 2007 (July 27-July 29th) my husband and I (agest 40 & 37) had the opportunity to stay at the Hessenland Country Inn in St. Joseph, Ontario. St. Joseph is located approximately 10 minutes east of Grand Bend, Ontario and 10 minutes west of Bayfield, Ontario. It is German style country Inn located on an increcible beautiful piece of land with horses and barn located to the side and back of the property. The Inn played host to my cousin's large family wedding with a number of us staying at the inn, hosting the wedding at the little gazebo in the back of the property and the reception to the right of the gazebo in a lovely reception facility with outdoor bar and sitting area. It was absolutely perfect for a mid summer wedding ! If you are considering this location for a wedding, you have found the right place!!!
Check in to our room was seamless, just an imprint of the credit card and we were given our room key (number 3). They are simple rooms, not too big and not too small, with either two queen, one king or queen and pull out sofas for room choices. We had two queen and it was more than enough space for us to enjoy our stay. There is a tiny little bathroom in room number three but it had a good arrangement with the sink outside the bathroom proper to allow for one to shower and the other to get ready on the other side of the wall.
There is a television in the Inn rooms but the channels are limited...I believe they are still on aerial because we got only 2 channels clearly. We weren't there to watch tv, so no biggie for us. The rooms seem a bit dated but I think they are more antiquey than dated. No musty odours, no issues with water pressure, all in all we were very pleased with the rooms. I understand that the other side of the inn from the one to the west is considered a B&B but never saw the rooms inside so not sure of their layout but my uncle reported that his room over there had no television set.
If you are going in the summer time, you will be able to enjoy not only the green grass, views of the horses and beautiful flowers that crop up throughout the property, but also a decent size below ground pool with several loungers for your enjoyment and a good amount of shade from the trees in front of the restaurant area. As well, there is an enclosed hot tub with screened in room so I'm sure you can enjoy that in the winter months. I spent all day Friday at the pool and hot tub awaiting the arrival of other wedding guests and it more than did the trick of cooling me down and relaxing body and soul for a few hours. Very relaxing.
There is a full service german style restaurant on site and it looked really lovely and had many guests on both the Friday and Saturday evening but we had the rehearsal party on Friday and reception on Saturday so no chance to try the menu items. I heard from others though that it is very good !
The wedding and reception went off without a hitch, my aunt was very impressed with the service received leading up to the day of the wedding along with the day of and I can honestly say that it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies in the back gazebo that I have ever attended. You can tell that the owners spend alot of time concentrating on the landscaping of this property.
I highly recommend this property for weddings, receptions, anniversary celebrations, romantic getaways and just time away from the day to day.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at kcponce at sympatico.ca.
| Benmiller Inn and Spa | Kelly & Carlos ~ Burlington, Ontario |
The following is my review for the BENMILLER INN, located in Goderich, Ontario and considered a four diamond facility by "Ontario's Finest Inn's". Leading up to our anniversary weekend visit to the Inn, I was unable to locate any detailed reviews for the establishment and went strictly on a couple recommendations from co-workers. This is the reason I post to your site today, to give a better understanding of the Inn and the individuals it best caters to.
The Benmiller Inn is located approximately 10 minutes outside of Goderich, Ontario...which is a very quaint, pretty city with beach, lakefront hiking trails, and outdoors type activities. The city square reckons back to a different time when the downtown core was central and there were no such things as mega malls and shopping centres.
Upon arrival at the Benmiller we were greeted by one of the reservation clerks that I had spoken to many times regarding our visit, both by telephone and email and she was once again very pleasant and welcoming. For the record her name is Jaclyn and she can assist you with your getaway plans. She certainly stood out for us. We actually arrived 20 minutes prior to the check in time of 3:00pm yet it wasn't a problem and we were quickly acquainted with the map of the property, breakfast serving time and facilities. Following check in we drove just next door to the River Mill section where parking was very easy to come by and the building simple to find. The River Mill is as it sounds, a converted Mill from the 1800's overlooking the river on one side and the swan pond on the other. By being in the River Mill you are directly connected to the indoor pool, hottub and spa, therefore making it not necessary to dress for those facilities in the changeroom....you simply put on the robe provided and head downstairs.
Our room was #40, what they call the loft and a "country room". This is the type of information I would have wanted prior to making my reservation and I hope it assists you in your planning. Number one thing to know about the Benmiller Inn is that although it is very pretty surroundings, it is indeed "country style" and not the lap of luxury. The rooms look very dated and are supposed to come across as such. I have stayed at the Pillar and Post in Niagara on the Lake (see review on Debbie's site) and found it very impressive....the rooms top notch, and such but here the walls, the tile, the carpet....all very antiquey...old looking, almost too dated. The first sight of the room certainly doesn't blow you away. Secondly, and very important for us anyway......there is a tv in the room for an hour of relaxing tv viewing following a walk or pool time but here there is no cable, barely any antenna to speak of and if you are lucky there is one clear channel out of three! Yep, three. Now of course I know that you don't go to an Inn to watch tv all the time but watching Letterman or Leno or even Saturday Night Live prior to hitting the pillow just isn't possible. Here is my suggestion for others who enjoy watching something while getting ready for dinner, or just before bed...we learned on the Saturday morning that there is a DVD player available for your room and there is an assortment of DVD's to borrow for free. We had it hooked up, borrowed one movie and actually drove into Goderich and got a couple more from the Blockbuster on the main street......I guess we just aren't the peace and quiet relax type.....:-)
Regarding things to do.....there is a bunch of hiking possibilities if that is your thing....they provide trail maps and there is a conservation authority within a couple minutes for a small fee entry into the park. As well there is a lounge area with board games in the evening, a very nice bar called Jonathon's with fireplace and live entertainment on Saturday nights. Nice while nursing a glass of wine:-) When we go away (such as when we went to the Pillar and Post in Niagara on the Lake) we like to sit around the pool, spa area, read a good book and enjoy doing nothing. We could and this at the Benmiller but do have a couple issues with the facilities.....number one, the pool is COLD....I guess I was spoiled at the last couple locations we have visited because the pool was in the low 80's...very nice, refreshing and warm...but at the Benmiller the pool was 67 and biting cold. Couldn't get into it and when we complained we were told that the pool person tries to keep it at 80 but sometimes it is lower. Certainly didn't see anyone address it after our complaint which was disappointing. So instead of using the pool as we usually would, we simply used the hottub. The hottub was ok but certainly not very hot....more warm, maybe 98-100 degrees but still much better than the pool. As well it didn't have any real "bubble power".....hard to tell it was even on....and lastly there was a sauna and it was good. As well in the pool area there is access to a very nice balcony overlooking the river and it would have been great if there was patio furniture on it so that we could sit out there, maybe have a drink and watch the fly fishing or something but there was nothing on it, no where to sit and I actually dragged a chair out myself from the pool area. And my final pet peeve about this facility was the lack of lounge chairs around the pool. There were only 2 loungers, and two sets of tables and chairs. We saw people arriving after us having to sit on the floor to read there book and try to relax. We were lucky because we seemed to get there earlier each day and took the comfy chairs as our own. You'd think that for what you pay, they could afford to equip the area better.
Regarding work out facilities...there is none..so if you wish to use the treadmill or the stepping machine, they are out or order and set up in a very tiny, hot room above the pool with signs reading out of order. Not my cup of tea to work out on vacation but for some this might be important.
Another suggestion to the inn is to put the dart and pool table in the lounge where people can access while enjoying a pint, actually know where to find it and not feel that you are in a dungeon. My husband and I enjoy shooting darts or pool with a pint on occasion but there facilities are located in one of the building basements, where it smells very musty, is not upkept very well and just not welcoming. They could really do better by that!
Regarding the B&B part....if you take this package you do get breakfast each morning and it was very good! Well presented buffet style and good service in the dining room. At night you can also make reservations for dinner but be forewarned...for three courses....appetizer, dinner, dessert...you are likely looking at, including a couple drinks, $160.00. That was our bill had we not taken the pre-paid dinner setup.
So overall.....we made the best of our 12th wedding anniversary weekend but it could have been better. From what I had heard in the past about the place I guess I expected top notch and got 3 star at the best. We sat around the pool, walked around Goderich a bit, had a nice dinner in the dining room but we will not return to the Benmiller Inn......I've said it before but if you want top notch, no disappointments....check out the Pillar and Post in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario. Still impresses months down the road and we're headed back there in the fall !!! If you have additional questions regarding this place, don't hesitate to email us. kcponce@sympatico.ca.
| Arden Hotel - Stratford | Lynda |
It has been reported that this hotel is only 8 years old
My daughter and I stayed one night at the Arden Hotel In Stratford Ontario at the end of August. The room was very nice and the hotel is very central. It is on Ontario street. It is an older hotel, but well kept. It provided nice rooms, a swimming pool, which we did go in, and a very elegant restaurant. They also give you free internet in the lobby. The only downfall is the price, it was $175 per night, which I thought was expensive, however we landed in town and was not able to look around. After speaking to different people the next day, they advised the B & B in Stratford are wonderful, and not as pricey as the hotels. Overall it was a good stay, just to much $$$.
Last Updated: July 15, 2009
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