Niagara Riverside Resort — Hotel in City of Niagara Falls

My family and I stayed at this hotel from 10/6-10/9 and I am so thankful that I did research on the reviews before our long weekend. It seemed to be a mixed bag of positives and negatives, so to be safe, I planned for all the negatives and brought our own bedding and cleaning supplies just in case. When we first got to the hotel (which we were paid $150 a night in advance, and they were only charging $70 online.. no refund was provided- red flag #1) check in took at least 25 minutes. There was a line of everyone out the door and only 1 luggage cart available. When we finally got our room and grabbed the luggage cart, we had to wait another 20 minutes to even get up to the 5th floor because there is only 1 working elevator. There are 2 elevators, but the second one has been broken for OVER A YEAR. The elevator was tiny, could barely fit the luggage cart in and God forbid that anyone else needed a ride. The housekeeping bins they used for laundry took up the entire elevator, so 9 times out of 10, if you finally got the elevator to you, you would have to wait to even take it for there to be room. Not sure how all those people are even safe being crammed in there... aren't there weight limits?

While in a rush, I decided to take the stairs up to my room real fast and what a mistake. There was Chinese food literally THROWN down the stair well... broccoli, noodles, chicken, everywhere. It was DISGUSTING.

The room was tiny. The beds were terrible. One was all springs, the other was rock hard. We went to put our sheets on one of the beds and the mattress looked like a piece of evidence from a crime scene (room 515, the bed closest to the window.) It was red and stained and absolutely vulgar.

I recleaned the entire room upon arrival. Sprayed everything with Mircoban and Lysol because everything felt sticky.

The phone didn't work in our room, I tried calling the front desk a few times and it wouldn't dial out. Tried calling from my cell for 10 minutes and no one answered (which is an issue we experienced before our trip. NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE!)

We went to turn the heat on in our room and it smelled like burning mold.. so we turned it back off and just went to Target close by and bought additional blankets.

The only thing going for this hotel is the river that sits behind it. The pool was nice for the kids, but the water was BEYOND murky and I thought maybe it was just the color of the pool, but then I realized that you couldn't even smell the chlorine.. so it was just dirty filthy.

They elevator floors were disgusting. The room floors with filthy. We cleaned up tons of cobwebs and spiders in the windows. The cleaning staff needs retrained- a person down the hall found a ton of belongings at the foot of her bed from the previous person.. like how is that missed?

There is no continental breakfast, which, whatever. But it was overpriced and not worth the money.

The only good thing I have to say about our stay was the gentleman who was at the front desk on Sunday night 10/8. He was helpful in getting some ingredients to help my husband with his painful toothache. I never got his name, but he was the only positive I walked away with.

Take your money elsewhere.. somewhere that is a hell of a lot more cleaner that this place. I went home and washed everything we brought twice in hot water to kill anything we came...

Our recent stay at the Niagara Riverside Resort, BW Premier Collection, was far from the pleasant experience we had hoped for. Here’s a detailed review of our stay:

Pros:

Dog-Friendly: The hotel is pet-friendly, which was important for us as we brought our dog. There is an $81 fee for pets, but there is a large redevelopment area next to the building where we could let our dog run freely. This was one of the few positives of our stay.

Location: The hotel is conveniently located near the river, which would be great for outdoor activities if it weren’t for the numerous flying bugs.

Cons:

Long Check-In Process: The check-in process was incredibly frustrating and took a staggering 40 minutes. There were only two parties in front of us, but a party whose room wasn't ready before we arrived jumped ahead in line. The manager at the front desk seemed overwhelmed and disorganized. The process was unnecessarily complicated, requiring us to sign multiple documents despite having completed everything online beforehand. Bugs Everywhere: The presence of flying bugs made it impossible to enjoy any outdoor activities around the hotel. This significantly detracted from the experience, especially given the hotel’s riverside location. Room Condition: While the rooms appeared clean, they were worn and outdated. We noticed cracking paint, deteriorating grout, and an overall feeling of neglect. The floor my child was on had a pervasive smell, reminiscent of something having died in the hall, which hit us as soon as we stepped off the elevator. Restaurant Closure: The hotel restaurant was closed in the morning at 10 am, which was inconvenient as we were hoping to have breakfast there. Room Availability and Cleanliness: I requested another room with two beds but was told the hotel was fully booked, despite there being only four cars in the parking lot. This made me suspect the rooms were not actually clean, as other parties, including ours, had to wait for their rooms to be prepared. We checked in after 5 pm, which should have been ample time for the rooms...

We stayed at this hotel for my cousins wedding. We were all from out of town so there were many, many guests in our group. It seemed to be a popular hotel because it was extremely busy. I actually don't think I've ever seen such a busy hotel. The people helping with the reception were great. Everything was brought out and cleaned up at exactly the right times. The people at the front desk were wonderful as well. The view from the dining room is gorgeous. It's nice to be within a 10 minute drive of the falls. The lobby, restrooms in the lobby, and bar area are all clean and very upscale in appearance. But thats the end of it. Our room was insanely small. My dad said it was about the size of a hotel room in the 60s. We usually stay at chains in a double queen room and this was supposed to be the same but significantly smaller. And the bathroom isn't even big enough to turn around in. Everything is very outdated, from the bathroom to the furniture. Our toilet was broken and I had to take the lid off and fix the pump manually. It all appeared clean though. The elevators are so small it's nearly impossible to even get the bell hop cart in it with another person. The pool area is this super weird room that's a huge empty area with carpeting and nothing else, then a small area to the side with the pool. The cold pool. My 7 year old was so excited to swim. We couldn't stay in more than 10 minutes. It was so, so cold. I've never seen an indoor pool that's not heated. We went right back to our tiny room to take a hot shower and warm up. The pool is also in a weird spot. You have to walk through the fancy lobby and bar area in your swimsuit.

Our experience with the staff was great. The location is great. But the rest is definitely not worth the...