We were in Ontario for four days and three nights to attend the Stratford Festival in early September. We found the accommodations in Stratford to be quite limited and rather pricey, so looked in the surrounding area. The drive from the Woodstock to the Festival is just half an hour, picturesque and really easy with GPS.
Our room was quite clean and quite a bit larger than expected, even looked newly furnished with a good king-sized bed and lots of pillows, new carpeting. There was a fridge and microwave, a small table suitable for two to use, a flatscreen TV, coffee maker. Our room had a stylish and comfy couch area with coffee table, a full length mirror and good wifi. There was a fairly good-sized bathroom with a shower in the tub. Towels were a bit small and in-room supplies were on the cheap side, but we had brought our own, anyway, so that didn't matter.
The hotel is half a block from the main drag, so we very much enjoyed setting out on easy walks to explore. There's a great little coffee shop on the corner and we found some really fun pubs and restaurants without having to move the car. The car - we should talk about that. Since the hotel is right downtown in a quaint area with many well-established businesses and homes, it has no parking attached to it. They give you a card to put in your car window that allows you to park in a lot that's ridiculously close; we've stayed in hotels that DID have onsite parking, but the lot was so big that we walked much farther. Some might complain about having to walk half a short block, but we found it to be no problem. And, if you're lucky enough, there are about twenty parking spaces available on either side of the street that are free from 6pm to 9am.
We found the staff to be very friendly and cheerful, always welcoming and eager to be of service. The breakfast is free, and that's about the only thing in its favor - all carbs and coffee. As I said, go find that nice little coffee shop. Our only disappointment with this place was the loud banging that began every morning at 5:30am. Turns out it was the employee whose job it is to set our the breakfast items, slamming LOTS of cupboards. Shouldn't be a problem for anyone who doesn't stay in room 201 -- that's the room on the other side of the breakfast bar! read more