Rideau Carleton Casino — Attraction in Ottawa

Visited grand opening evening to attend the David Foster/Kat McPhee concert. The concert was great - though started an hour late due to miscommunication between the artists and the venue. Nonetheless, the event was great - and as a result averaged my review rating up to a 2.

Otherwise - whoa. Falling flat on their face on opening night.

Staffing levels were high - and the floor staff were for the most part friendly and trying their best. But wow - everyone was disorganized and in over their head. The leaders in the building had not prepared well for the night. Restaurants were overwhelmed. Lineups everywhere. Only 2 sit-down options available and they were slammed... the steakhouse not accepting walkups. The HR Cafe was a 45 min wait in line to be seated, only to wait another 45 minutes to be served food.

We ended up having to try their food court ... yes - the 3 other restaurants available for the evening are set up as a food court ... AND you can only order on 4 "McDonalds style" self-serve screens. Then, you take your ticket and wait to be texted to go get your food. My wife and I ordered 2 small pizzas and a garden salad and a diet coke. It came to $50. The can of diet coke was $4. And remember - this is not table service. My wife tried to order water, but it was not available on the ordering screens - then when we grabbed a staff member to show us how to get water ordered on the screen, she expressed that there was none available and muttered "we are no longer allowed" (??) before walking off. (Managed to get a small bottle shortly after from a kind server in the casino floor area).We then waited for 58 minutes (!!) to be texted to get our food. Unreal. Lineups of 20+ people waiting to try to figure out how to use the ordering stations, then lining up at the food service queues demanding their food after waiting over half an hour or more ... and again - the staff was there behind the counters to fill orders - the systems and the organization was just not in place to manage the business.

Once we'd finally managed to eat - we headed to the show. Expected to be late due to having such a long delay for self serve food ... but again, the show ended up being an hour late - fortunate for us in the end.

As we headed to the entrance to the Hard Rock LIVE theatre - we discovered that they had lined up everyone (1000+) coming to the show for the night, in order to feed them into a single-file line to check tickets and then check purses and bags. And that lineup ... fed like a snake through the casino floor, causing massive traffic jams for everyone in half of the building - not just those attending the show. Could not believe it. They even had the single line set up such that the (3) people scanning tickets digitally were set up behind each other, so that only the first was scanning people's tickets , and the others were standing there with their scanners doing nothing half the time? And the bag check? After having already scanned everyone coming into the casino that night with metal detectors, and slowing access already once at building entry. Hey Hard Rock ... maybe check in with Casino Lac Leamy and update your SOPs to something more Canada-friendly?

I'll stop here. The show was great. Artists were great. Sound quality in the theater also very good. Too cold - even David Foster commented on it 3 or 4 times in his show, and Kat had to get a jacket on for second half. But hey - at least not too hot, right?

One hopes executive leadership there will get things sorted out. But wow - crash on takeoff, here. Best wishes for a full recovery - my wife and I certainly won't make the trip out again, not...

Update: It has taken a week and 6 calls, and counting, to get charges removed from my credit card for a hotel booking they canceled! Hopelessly disorganized. Charges still remain on my account.

This is my first one star rating of a hotel. Take this as a warning to ensure all guests who will be staying with you are carrying valid ID, not just the primary contact on the booking.

Looking to try out a new hotel I booked a suite at the Hard Rock Hotel for my fiancé and I. Upon arrival she had a call to finish so stayed in the car while I went inside and checked in. You go through security and ID check on the way in, this will come up later. A smooth and relatively painless check-in process with friendly staff at a small check in desk.

I text my fiancé who said I need to come back to the front door as they won't let her in the building.

I go back to the hotel entrance and her drivers license has been rejected because it is 15 days expired. I advise the door check she is coming to the hotel and not entering the casino as I am the gambler. We were told there is no way to pass without valid ID as the hotel entrance and casino entrance are one and the same.

Greg "from the back office" came out to explain the 19+ requirement. I understand not being able to accept expired ID, even if we are multiple decades past 19. I explain to Greg while the casino can't change the law they can ensure the requirement that ALL guests of the hotel have ID to access their hotel room is clearly displayed on the website. I double checked and nowhere in the hotel booking process (website, confirmation emails, etc.) did it mention any of these requirements or that the hotel rooms were considered casino floor.

Their proposed resolution was to offer to cancel my booking and unapologetically wished me well.

This is a failure of communication on part of the marketing team (website lacks vital information), designers of the property for not having hotel access without casino access, and management for their careless and aloof lack of resolution. Registering the hotel rooms themselves as a casino space seems like an odd choice.

This isn't growing pains. It is clear why the Hard Rock Ottawa has such a low rating. I had mediocre hopes, but would definitely recommend skipping this one. The only upside is I have a funny story to tell about how poorly designed and managed this place is and an out if anyone ever suggests it.

Additionally, leaving I noticed the horrible safety issues of the parking lot. There is no safe way for the patrons, mostly elderly seniors with mobility issues, to reach the parking lot without walking in lanes of traffic. A horrible accident waiting to happen.

Update! Zero issues at the Hilton at Lac Lemay. After a brief recounting of the story of our experience at the hard rock at the front desk they threw in a free upgrade to "make up for our troubles". It is good to see a well run establishment is still available...

Disappointing Experience from Start to Finish - Hard Rock Cafe

Our visit to the Hard Rock Cafe Ottawa was one of the most disappointing dining experiences we’ve ever had.

We waited about 15 minutes for a table, which is normal. The host offered us a booth by the bar, which we happily accepted. Once seated, we looked through the menus and decided on our meals. Then we waited... and waited.

10 minutes went by. Then 20. Then 30. Still no server. I went to the host stand to ask if someone would be coming, and was told they’d notify our server. Another 10 minutes passed—still no one. At this point, we’d been sitting there for 40 minutes with no service. I finally went to the bar and asked to speak to a supervisor.

Luis, the supervisor, came over and apologized, explaining that we were mistakenly seated in a booth that wasn’t supposed to be in use. That wasn’t our fault—we were seated by staff. Luis took our order and got us drinks, which we appreciated. Meanwhile, the table next to us, who had been seated around the same time, also hadn’t been served. They ended up going to the bar to order and asked us what excuse we were given. It was clear there were major service issues.

When our food finally arrived, the disappointment continued. My mom and I each ordered the duo fajitas. What we got was three tiny pieces of chicken and a few dry steak chunks over some onions and peppers. It looked like one chicken breast was split between two plates. No seasoning, no flavor—for $25, it was a joke. My spouse ordered wings and flatbread, which were also underwhelming.

Luis checked back in, and we told him honestly how disappointed we were—not just with the wait but also the quality of the food. He apologized again and said they would be comping the entire bill. About 10 minutes later, a manager came to confirm that the meal would be covered, which was the right thing to do and appreciated.

We had a complimentary two-night hotel stay but ended up leaving after one night due to a change in plans. When we went to check out, we were surprised to see a $118 charge on our room. When we asked what it was for, we were told it was for room service—which we never ordered. The only thing we could think of was that the Hard Rock Cafe meal had somehow been charged to our room, despite being told it was fully comped.

Upon entering the restaurant, they had scanned our players card—so it’s possible they used that to identify us and link the charge. It was strange and frustrating. Thankfully, the front desk removed the charge after we explained the situation, but it left us feeling uneasy about the whole experience.

Overall, from the long wait and poor service to the disappointing food and confusion over the billing, this was a truly unpleasant experience. I expected better from a brand like Hard Rock. We won’t...