Ottawa: LF Car rental, Internet, Food

Taking a trip to Ottawa for a week in mid-April.
Air fare and hotel are taken care of, now just need to rent a car, hook up to the internet once in a while (need my RFD fix ) and find a few good places to eat.

Car will probably be Thrifty, been using them for years and no problems so far, just never in Ottawa.

Internet-wise the lappy has built-in wireless so that would be the preferred method. Hotel charges $13 a day to plug in.

And hoping to get some recommendations on restaurants in the "Fairmont Château Laurier" area, or something fairly easy to get to from there.

And of course any "must see/do" comments would be appreciated as well.

TIA

Originally Posted by charge

Internet-wise the lappy has built-in wireless so that would be the preferred method. Hotel charges $13 a day to plug in.

And hoping to get some recommendations on restaurants in the "Fairmont Château Laurier" area, or something fairly easy to get to from there.

And of course any "must see/do" comments would be appreciated as well.

LOL!! If you are staying at the Chateau then that could be why the internet rate is $$$$. Really nice Hotel but I hear that some of the rooms may be small. The 4th floor is haunted, but I can't remember the story behind it . . .

As for places to eat it really depends on your budget and what kind of food you want to eat. Ottawa has about every ethnic taste, but not in large supply like Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. The Byward market is a short walk from the Chateau and there are restaurants there for every budget and taste.

Umm as for MUST see's and do's it really depends on what you want to see and do.

There are lots of great museums in Ottawa, none are really that far from downtown. Touring the parliament buildings is free. The National Art Gallery is free, and it's in a really nice building. Across the river into Quebec the Casino du Lac Leamy is also an option if you like to gamble. Also there's the Wakefield SteamTrain (www.steamtrain.ca) but I don't think it's running while you are here.

Festival season generally starts in May and lasts all summer. There's usually a festival of some sort every single week during the summer.

I odn't think I helped much but if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

KERLO [:-)

Just wanted to mention that the Art Gallery isn't free anymore. They started charging admission last fall for the whole gallery. It's $6 for adults, however, like most museums, it's free on Thursdays after 5pm (just the permanent collection). The Museum of Civilization in Hull is also free on Thursday evenings. Half of the Museum of Nature is currently under construction, so admission is currently by donation.

The Byward market has a lot of restaurants as Kerlo mentioned. There's a whole lotta asian restaurants on Somerset, and italian places on Preston.

As for Internet, some cafes have free internet access. Off the top of my head, Bridgehead on Bank St has internet. There are other locations in Westboro, and in the Glebe. There's also a bunch of free TelecomOttawa wireless zones downtown, but I've never actually gotten around to trying them out, so I don't know if it's easy to connect to. http://wirelesszone.telecomottawa.com/

I can't think of any festivals happening in April. The Tulip Festival happens in May.

There's the Ottawa Tourism site, that you can check out for a more complete list. http://www.ottawatourism.ca/

Hope this helps!

Not sure about car rentals, but you can take the bus downtown from the airport if you are only staying around there ($2.60 or 1.80 if you buy tickets) http://www.octranspo.com http://www.ottawa-airport.ca/groundT...cTransit-e.php

For the wireless internet, you may be able to just find a local wifi that is unsecured: check that out before you subscribe to the Hotel's rates.
http://www.oclug.on.ca/wiki/index.php/WirelessHotspots here are a few more, but some are also pay per use.

In terms of restaurants, you have tons and tons right besides you in the area known as the Byward Market (just northeast of your hotel). They are all within walking distance. A pretty cool Italian restaurant I've been too is Cafe Spiga: good prices, nice menu, good food. Look for it at http://maps.google.com/ . If you have tons of money, go to the Ottawa Marriot (100 Kent Street). There is a high class rotating restaurant that gives you a nice view of Ottawa, especially in the evening. Be warned though, it is 90 bucks for 2 for the Table d'hote (which is so awesome). It's a few blocks west of your Hotel.

Things to do... walk around in the Byward Market; if you rent a car, then drive down the Ottawa river parkway, can't think of much else at the moment but I'm sure you can find some things on google!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...a_Ontario.html

If you're staying at the Chateau Laurier, you almost don't need a rental car, cause it's quite central. The Parlament buildings a block away. The market, where there's plenty of restaurants, are a few blocks away. Lots of stuff down Elgin street, another few blocks away. The Rideau Centre (mall) is across the road from the hotel.

If you want to see the Gatineaus, then you might want to get a car. I can't comment on car rental though. I'm sure you won't have too much of an issue with Thrifty.

Originally Posted by justlooking

If you're staying at the Chateau Laurier, you almost don't need a rental car, cause it's quite central. The Parlament buildings a block away. The market, where there's plenty of restaurants, are a few blocks away. Lots of stuff down Elgin street, another few blocks away. The Rideau Centre (mall) is across the road from the hotel.

If you want to see the Gatineaus, then you might want to get a car. I can't comment on car rental though. I'm sure you won't have too much of an issue with Thrifty.

Thanks for all the info everyone.

Re: rental car, I just always get one. Its ~ $100 for the week so even if I only use it twice its paid for itself. And I hate waiting for taxis.

GAAK!!

Parking
The hotel's parking is accessible from Rideau Street (front of the hotel) or MacKenzie Street (back of the hotel).

Indoor valet parking: $28.00/night with unlimited access;
Indoor self parking: $21.00/night with unlimited access.

hmmm, maybe a car isn't that important.

Or maybe a different hotel...

take the #97 bus, it goes right close to your hotel. You can then take the bus to almost any popular destination using the OC transpo trip planner http://www.octranspo.com/Intro_Trip_Planner.htm . If you want to explore though (gatinaus/parkways), you're probably better off with a car.

Taxis in Ottawa are in the middle of a big strike right now. It will probably be over by then, but you never know.

If you decide to go with renting:
-Parking is free in parts of downtown on the weekends http://ottawa.ca/city_services/parking/16_9_en.shtml
-You could park at Greenboro station park and ride, about 20 min bus from your hotel, and get bus tickets (1.80 each way = 3.60 a day) to get there and back
-or change your hotel to a one like this http://www.daysinnottawa.com/ -> free parking + high speed + breakfast, though obviously not as nice as or in as good as a location as the chateau laurier.

I was going to start my own thread, but I figured that I could just use yours if thats ok.

I will be visiting Ottawa for a week during May (GF is attending a wedding), just was looking for advice on hotels etc.

Also I was looking at renting a fairly nice car, preferably sporty and convertible(IE Eclipse Spyder, Mustang etc.) Any ideas/links for place that rents similar cars?

Not to hijack your thread there charge.

Thanks

Try and drive up to Gatineau Park if you can and do some Hiking. Great views!
The Mint is cool. You can't avoid the Byward Market, so don't. Museum of Civilization is cool, especially for kids. Also, if you do have kids, drive out to the Museum of Science and Tech.

Sit in on question period and watch the sparks fly

Welllll... been there, done that.

It was a work trip so not a lot of time for sight seeing, which was good since it was too early for most of the tourist stuff to be operating.

Here's a quick review of the main expenses. (the RFD perspective)

Car rental, Thrifty: not the best time I've had renting a car.
I was aware that they were not at the airport but... I was less than impressed when the shuttle pulled into a carwash parking lot and sitting in the corner was a midget portable "office" and about 4 vehicles parked around it with a Thrifty/Dollar sign on it.
Had to wait a good hour for the rental vehicle to show up, then when we went to drive away the gas wasn't full... fun fun fun.
Sometimes you get what you pay for, and this was very cheap, under $90 for midsize for a week(plus taxes).

Hotel, Albert at Bay: H*ll of a deal, converted/renovated apartments rented out as hotel suites. Full kitchen, separate bedroom, free wireless internet(B) and centrally located. Only minuses were the renovations in the lobby, not that big of a deal, just limited some of the services they offered(supposed to be done in another couple weeks). And the downtown noise, not bad if you stayed off the balcony and closed the windows.
Very nice, would go back again, $120(plus taxes) a night.

There is also a hotel suite type place on Cooper street (I think it is called Aristocrat or something). I stayed there a few years back. I used to have an apartment on Cooper st. (down by Elgin St.) but I had to go back a few months after I moved out of Ottawa for a wedding and I stayed at the Aristocrat.

That Albert on Bay seems nice too but it is a bit more of a walk to Byward market or Elgin St.