Wingate by Wyndham Kanata West Ottawa — Hotel in Ottawa

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the customer service my husband received at the Wingate by Wyndham Kanata. Despite having stayed at this hotel for two weeks previously and having our current reservation paid in full, my husband was refused check-in because he forgot his credit card.

Upon arrival after a long 4.5-hour drive from Toronto, my husband was met with an unhelpful and inflexible attitude from the front desk clerk, Ousama. He was informed that without a credit card, he could not check in, even though his stay was fully paid for and his previous stays at the hotel should have been easily verifiable in their system. Ousama mentioned that the general manager was not available to assist in resolving this issue.

What is particularly frustrating is that this hotel has been our choice for previous stays, and my husband had no issues during his prior visits. One would expect a certain level of understanding and flexibility, especially for returning guests. The inability to check my husband in, despite our payment and history with the hotel, demonstrates a lack of appreciation for customer loyalty and poor management practices.

I understand the importance of adhering to protocols, but there should be room for discretion in situations where a guest has a proven track record with the hotel. It is deeply disappointing that the general manager could not be reached to rectify the situation, leaving my husband stranded after a long journey.

We had expected better from Wingate by Wyndham and will be reconsidering our future stays at this location. I hope this review prompts the management to revisit their customer service policies and training to prevent such incidents from happening to other guests.

To Your Reply.....

Dear Mr. Kirkby,

Thank you for your prompt response and for acknowledging our concerns. While I understand and respect the hotel’s policies regarding the presentation of a credit card and photo ID at check-in, I would like to clarify a few points and provide further context to our experience.

Firstly, my husband and I have stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham Kanata on multiple occasions, including a two-week stay just the week prior to this incident. Throughout these stays, we have always adhered to the hotel's policies and have never had any issues. The booking for this particular stay was made in full and well in advance, reflecting our continued trust in your establishment.

Given our history with your hotel, we were particularly taken aback by the rigidity displayed when my husband arrived after a long 4.5-hour drive from Toronto. He had unfortunately forgotten his credit card, a situation that can happen to anyone. Despite this, he was met with inflexibility from the front desk clerk, Ousama, who stated that the general manager was not available to assist. The insistence on the credit card, despite our prior payment and history with the hotel, felt unnecessarily stringent and unaccommodating.

While I understand that these policies are in place to ensure the safety and security of all guests and staff, there should be some room for discretion, especially for returning guests who have a proven track record with the hotel. It is disheartening that no effort was made to check my husband in, even after verifying his identity and our previous stays.

Furthermore, the delay in resolving this issue caused significant inconvenience. It was only after a considerable amount of time and effort that my husband was finally allowed to check in, which could have been avoided with a more customer-centric approach.

Our expectation when choosing a hotel is not just about the physical amenities but also the quality of service and the ability to handle unforeseen situations with empathy and flexibility. In this instance, the service fell short of these expectations.

We hope that this feedback will prompt a review of how such situations are handled in the future, ensuring that loyal and returning guests are treated with the consideration...

A nice place not without flaws. It's easy to get to and right across the street from the Tanger outlet mall and kitty corner to Cabela's. A short drive to the arena too. We came in for a long weekend. Check in was easy and the room well put together. We stayed in a 1 king, 1 pull-out bed room. The room was nice, with a comfortable bed and pull-out, washroom was nicely done (aside from a spot where the wallpaper was peeling near the ceiling) and the room was warm and stuffy. We ended up having to put the air on to clear the stuffiness and overly warm temperatures. The TV was alright, and having a fridge was nice (but lacking a freezer in it, so we couldn't freeze our freezer packs from our cooler on the trip). The clock radio was broken in the room - it was on briefly when we arrived, then randomly turned on again the next evening, then shut off and never worked again. But we had phones, and the room was full of power and USB ports so charging items overnight was a snap. We did try using the in-room coffee breqwer but found the coffee and supplies were about a year older than their best before date, so that was a bust. We had breakfast there, and was definitely quieter on Saturday than Sunday. The serving and cleanup left some to be desired - there were no trays on Sunday, the plates are in one area, underneath the food on a shelf, and the cutlery in another area. There was an unattended spill near the milk which took at least 20 minutes to be cleaned up, and someone had made a mess of the beans. It was nice to have beans there but it was an add-on as it was sitting in a crock pot to stay warm, while the sausage and eggs were in a more purpose-built heating thing. (Also, why no bacon and sausage only?) The coffee was horrendous. The first time, it smelled like someone had put out a cigar in the coffee and it was full of coffee grounds. The next time it was much better, but still had a lot of grounds in the coffee. The waffle maker was dirty and instructions a bit confusing for a first timer but we got it done. There is a pool and hot tub which was nice for the kids. It was a bit disappointing that guests treated the place like a pigsty, leaving garbage around even though it says no food or drink in the area. Having one of those machines to quickly dry out a wet swimsuit would be appreciated since we're travelling and don't want to have to do laundry to dry suits out, especially if trying to swim a few times in a day. Also, to the people using the pool: dry your feet off before you leave. A trail of wet feet into and out of the elevator isn't cool. Beyond that we were not interrupted by staff, and it was generally pretty well insulated for sound. The curtain on the window goes exactly to the bottom, which left a thin area of light to shine in the room. Overall, it's a nice building in pretty good shape that we'd stay at again. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. IF you're just in the room to sleep, it fits that bill...

My friends and I booked a night at the Wingate by Wyndham Kanata hotel, hoping to have a good night together to de-stress. We were excited for the pool and the hot tub. However, once we arrived, we were turned away as they stated they do not allow 18 year olds to stay a night, even though we had a credit card and valid ID. There were no warnings when we booked the room on their website and the laws in Ontario state you are only required to be 18 to book a hotel, even if there is a bar present.

When one of my friends arrived to check in at 8:30 pm, while myself and my other friend went to get food, she was met with a rude man at the front desk who declined our stay and refused to accommodate us in anyway. Not only were we turned away, but they couldn't be bothered to give us another place that would accept us, nor a refund aside from the deposit. I understand they have a 24 hour cancellation, but we only booked our room earlier that day at 4 pm. After hearing this, we were left to figure out what to do on our own, with nowhere to go for the night. That alone was enough to ruin our night, especially because we didn't have enough money to stay at a different hotel when we already spent money on this one. We were preparing to drive back home, a 4-hour drive at night, through no service areas because we had no other options. I had to call my brother to ask if he had friends around who could stay the night with us, while my mother called the hotel to see if we could find an arrangement that could work with the hotel, they still refused to help and would not give an answer about a possible refund until two days later. Thankfully, my brother's friend was able to help us. We drove to pick her up and brought her to the hotel with us so she could stay the night with us. Over one hour later, we were finally able to find a solution and check in for the night. By the time we arrived to check in, it was past 10pm. We were once again met with the same man, who couldn't be bothered to give us a welcoming reception. He gave us unnecessary problems and was being difficult as we checked in, even bringing a passport to "check in the back" to make sure my brother's friend was over 19, despite them being 23 and clearly looking it. After finally getting into our room and settling, we weren't even able to go to the pool because it was closed. And, even if we went back in the morning, the hot tub was temporarily closed for maintenance. A cherry on top of our beautiful disaster.

Overall, the beds were good, the room was fine, but the disrespectful service and lack of help when being turned away was more than enough to ruin our stay and will keep us away from any future stays. And, we didn't make it to the pool or the hot tub, which was the main reason we chose this hotel. We are very disappointed in the Wingate by Wyndham Kanata hotel for turning away young adults onto the street in the middle of the night with...