Downtown Gatineau Hotels Across From Ottawa, Compared

The Holiday Inn Express and Suites Gatineau-Ottawa is the best rated hotel on this page, with 8.3 from more than eleven hundred reviews. It sits in downtown Gatineau, has a fitness centre and rooms with flat-screen TVs and private bathrooms, and it accepts pets, which helps travellers with a dog. It describes itself as close to skiing, cycling and the casino, and as suited to families. For most trips that combine Ottawa's sights with time in Gatineau, it is the address I would book first, since the rating is solid across a large number of guests and the location keeps both sides of the river within easy reach.

For a family that wants a pool and space, the Best Western Plus Gatineau-Ottawa Downtown is the most practical option. Rated 7.4 from more than fourteen hundred reviews, it offers family rooms, some with balconies and kitchen facilities, an indoor saltwater pool, a fitness centre and free on-site parking, a real advantage in a downtown area. The lower rating suggests a more variable experience than at the Holiday Inn Express, but the kitchen and the pool make it useful for longer stays with children. Free parking also means you can drive across to Ottawa's museums and return without paying city-centre rates every day.

For couples, Le Parc Gatineau, part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, has the most romantic features. Its rooms include jetted tubs and electric fireplaces, and the hotel has a relaxing spa, an indoor pool and an on-site restaurant, Risotto Pasta and Grill. It stands across from the Casino du Lac-Leamy and a few minutes from downtown Ottawa. Its rating of 7.2 is the lowest on this page and rests on fewer reviews, so I would book it for the room features and the spa rather than for consistency, and read recent comments before choosing it for a special occasion or a weekend away together.

Two simpler hotels round out the list. The Comfort Inn Gatineau, rated 7.9, is a non-smoking hotel with a free hot breakfast and some rooms with direct parking access, close to downtown Ottawa, the Casino du Lac-Leamy and Gatineau Park. The Auberge de la Gare, rated 7.7 from more than seventeen hundred reviews, the largest count here, sits in the Hull district with contemporary rooms, free WiFi, a small fridge and tea and coffee facilities. It is about ten minutes by car from central Ottawa, two kilometres from the casino and seventeen kilometres from Ottawa's Macdonald-Cartier Airport, a practical base for a short stay.