Laurier House National Historic Site — Attraction in Ottawa

Afternoon tea + walk about the house later on. The tea was good at a $16 price point, but there were a few things that bothered me. One was that they originally gave one of my baskets to a different table, who opened and looked through it before alerting the staff that it was the wrong basket. So they took it from their table and put it on mine. This kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I understand they probably only have a limited amount of pastries, but I've worked in service before and you would never give a plate which had been touched by one table to another. It's just a sanitary thing. The other was that it was a bit of a hassle to have to go up to the little self-serve table every time I wanted to add milk or sugar to my tea, and the tea itself was weak even after a long steep. These are not issues that would prevent me from going back, I intend to just because the tour of the house was so nice, but I didn't appreciate being given a basket which had been opened and potentially picked through by someone else. That's just my...

When I arrived, our reservations had been changed without my knowledge. I had made them online a month before. The server I spoke to was more than a little rude and offered a reservation for 3 weeks later. This did not work as my companion was only in town for the day. With a shrug of her shoulders, she said, "You can go across the street. They have good food. "Across the street" is the affiliate restaurant that caters to Laurier House. Of course, this was not the point. You can not compare a high tea with lunch! I was not impressed with the customer service on this day. Rudeness and lack of empathy or any sign of compassion is unconscionable at any time. We did go across the street because we were hungry and had a delicious lunch served by a lovely young woman who was shocked that someone was that rude. All that being said, my 1 star was for the rude behaviour and our lack of high tea. I will try again, and I am quite sure that the food and the location etc. is well worth...

What a wonderful old home right in town. The main floor wrap-around front porch was grande and enormous. You can imagine guests visiting the Lauriers and Kings being entertained outside on a temperate summer night. This is a home steeped in Canadian National history and importance. I hope it stays protected. Research into its glory days contents and visitors to the site would be a great expansion to the Nationhood of this country. There is mix no pay/paid parking on the streets in all directions from site. Immediately across the street is free 1 hour parking. If there is no wait that's about how long you need to have a good look around. Bathrooms on-site. The fee on-line is not the fee at the door to get in. It says $4.50/adult, kids under 17 free, on the website. At the door, the volunteers in the green shirts, explained they don't control the website, it was $ 9/person including our kids 5-12 year olds. Luckily we already have the Discovery Pass or we would have...