Jim's Driving School, Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario (613-731-1777)…read more What a great school! Very Professional. Sophia the Office Manager is very pleasant and excellent to work with. She helped us out a great deal. The course my daughter took was 30 hours on line theory and 10 hours of actually driving. The price was very competitive. The Driving Instructor was Gihad Qassem who was also excellent. My 16 year old daughter said Gihad was very professional, funny, knew how to teach, and made the driving lessons very enjoyable. My daughter took her G2 Driving test two days after passing the Drivers Education course, SHE PASSED the first time, so Jim's Driving School and Gihad must be doing something right! We highly recommend Jim's Driving School on Bank Street in Ottawa.

I took in car lessons with them, my instructor was very patient and very organized. I passed my…read moreroad test with them. I highly recommend them.

No, if you are a fancy gym user…read more I have been to Cherry YMCA in Toronto and it was just perfect. This YMCA has a really old and dark gym space with a really old equipment. Another thing is that it's very dirty over the place. I would say that there some other options like GLife or Elgin Fitness if you need some new equipment. If you are ok with old machinery then go ahead. The monthly prices range from $45 to $70. Unfortunately, it is very sad about gyms in Ottawa.

My mom has been going every morning for years. Today, June 23, 2023, I decided to sign up so I can…read morelift weights and get back into shape. I'm 50 years old. We'll see how this goes. Today I signed up for the free three day trial. so I can use three days over the next week. Went right to the weight room and I lifted weights for a while and then ran on the treadmill. It's a great room. So many machines. I don't even know what most of them do. It's a great relaxing atmosphere. I'm going to start going every morning instead of my usual jog along the canal. Oh, and my dad goes every month for a talk they have in one of the rooms with a speaker for mostly retired people. It's great. I've gotten to some of those.

We are very disappointed with this school. We paid for extra in car training (15 hours vs standard…read more10 hours), but it is taking forever to get the training done. Our instructor is new to the area and lead us to believe that my daughter would be receiving weekly training and she would be ready to do her test by the beginning of March, but we still have 5 hours left to go. Also, we have been asked to meet up at the Walmart parking lot in Barrhaven for 95% of the lessons (we live in Metcalfe). When I asked to have my daughter picked up from school in Manotick for lessons, the instructor agreed, but it has not happened yet.

I went into the Cordon Bleu's afternoon tea expecting an afternoon tea experience which I did not…read morereceive anything close to it. First off, there was no loose leaf tea, only bagged, and I was brought a tiny cup of hot water which didn't even fill my mug. Additionally, tea cups were not used. Then, the savories came, and it was not on a three-layer display, as is typical with afternoon tea. These were very yummy though! The chefs came around with more if you so chose which was nice as well. Then, the scones came and they were warmed which was really special. They didn't come with clotted cream as advertised. When I asked, the student went somewhere to double check, and then informed me it was mascarpone. After, the deserts came out and I loved their display; however, our table was then ignored for 15-20 minutes as I tried to flag down someone for more water. That was extremely disappointing as I saw the table next to me be checked up about 5-6 times in between and nobody acknowledged us, even when I was clearly looking around and trying to flag someone down. To their credit, the deserts were fancy, and yummy, and they came around with more if you wanted some. The trolly with marble cake at the end was cute; but wasn't anything special. Overall, I would say this was disappointing and not worth the $95. I know it's students, but for this price point, much higher quality service is to be expected. I wouldn't come back for another event here. I would like to credit the older French man's service. He was very personable, and made the service feel special. It was just a shame when he stopped coming around in the middle because we were then ignored for a while by the others.

I attended a short course in tarts, and it was incredible. The service was over the top. We were…read moretreated so well. While we waited for the course to start we waited in a beautiful lounge area. The kitchen was so well stocked and the support staff was so helpful (students). The chef was also on the TV screens so we didn't miss anything. It was just a great course. We made and took home two tarts - and I am excited to make them at home as well. Just fantastic - I will be back for more courses. The parking was also super easy and they gave us an apron to take home - super cute!

I had a bad experience at Alliance Française in Ottawa, although I've heard good things from other…read morepeople. I had a received a credit towards any class or private classes after cancelling a course (they don't do refunds). I emailed the school multiple times to set up private classes and no one ever got back to me. I finally I went in person and spoke to someone who took my availability and said she would email me later that week to set something up, she never did. Nor did she answer my emails politely asking for an update. About three weeks later I went in person again and she finally set up two private classes. I had specifically asked for someone who speaks with a European accent, and they gave me a teacher from the Caribbean. Not a big deal, she spoke very clearly, but for an $80 session I thought it was a bit weird that they wouldn't grant my request. The first class I asked the teacher if we could focus more on conversation and listening, and I could make a note any errors I was making. Since I was studying to take the TFI French exam, she said we could make that the focus of our next class and she would bring all the teaching material to go over the following week. The next class she didn't show up, I waited and eventually had to ask the reception to call her and she showed up 30 min later. She didn't bring any of the coursework for the TFI exam that I was looking forward to reviewing, and she had nothing prepared. I figured we might as well do conversational French again, as I wanted to take advantage of having a native speaker. But she insisted on spending our time writing on the board. I explained that I know how important verb conjugations are (I practice them at home), but that I would like to work on my speaking and listening skills. She reluctantly agreed, but her attitude changed and she started acting bored and irritated with me. It got so bad I eventually just walked out. Needless to say, I'm not planning to go back. I am now using a service called italki to speak with native speakers over Skype and I am much happier with it. Good luck to everyone in their language learning adventures, I hope your experience with AF is better than mine!

From the owner: Alliance Française Ottawa is a language center, an exam center and cultural center that offers…read moredifferent francophone activities to the community, in addition to the library and Culturethèque (online library). It is also a language center that offers French courses for adults, companies, and government employees. The organization is part of a wide international network created in 1883 whose missions are to promote French language and Francophone cultures around the world. Found in 134 countries, the Alliances Françaises are non-profit organizations founded locally. As such, Alliance Française Ottawa is a Canadian association founded in 1905.

I took only 1 driving lesson with Ameer from Safe2Pass driving school, and guess what, I still…read morecan't believe that I passed the test without any previous practice or guidance. Ameer is such a great instructor, positive and polite when it comes to giving instructions. He figured out the areas that i needed to work on and finding out my abilities in less than an hour. He motivated me saying that I should be relaxed without pressure or tension during exam in order to pass the exam. He is very knowledgeable in his driving habits which increased my confidence. I strongly appreciate Ameer for his encouragement, support and guidance. Without him, i think that i would never be able to pass the test. Thank you so much Ameer!! :)

My instructor Lina was excellent- encouraging and kind, but very precise with instructions and…read morecorrecting errors. I passed my G the first time with confidence. I really appreciated having a female instructor too.

Booking to do your road tests and Walkley? Think again…read more When I went here to do my Written test for my G1 Test, I had no problem with passing the written test, and I had no issue with waiting times, the person I was with at the main desk was for the most part nice, and the people at the part to do your written test were for the most part nice. However, don't let that fool you, I just did my G2 Road test yesterday, and I feel like the examiner I had took me a bit too seriously when it came to my turns, whenever directed me to turn left or right, he repeated the same directions twice, which give me a sign that he probably thought I was putting my turn signals on too late, however... That wasn't the case, last time I checked, you're supposed to only signal when you get to the intersection you intend to turn in and never do it at intersections you're not even going to turn in because then pedestrians and other vehicles will think that's where you're turning instead of where you ACTUALLY intend to turn, additionally, the examiner I had was just hard to understand because he had an accent. But none of that was the real issue. The issue I have with this place is, the area is just a bad area to do road tests in, especially during rush hour, people always do things improperly and do the wrong things, which was part of what intervened with me screwing me up my road test, I won't say why I ended up blowing my road test, because it was actually something I didn't know. In conclusion, 2 stars is my rating. I looked at the drivetest center in Whinchester, and based of what I saw, the one in Whinchester looks way more promising for road tests then this. Good luck to those who hopefully pass.

had examiner #386 at Walkley and unfortunately found the experience very unprofessional. I want to…read moremake it clear that this isn't because I failed. I took my previous test about a month ago at the same location, and that examiner was calm, respectful, and clearly explained my mistake afterward. I accepted the result with no problem. With #386, I felt rushed from the very beginning. He arrived about 15 minutes late, but then seemed to be rushing through everything. Normally, before you sign at the beginning of the test, the examiner goes through the instructions and explains what is expected. With him, I was asked to sign first, and only afterward did he turn the screen toward me and quickly read about three lines before moving on. Even the vehicle check felt rushed. Before walking to the back of the car, he told me to go through the left signal, right signal, and brake one after another by myself. In my previous tests, the examiner asked for each one individually while checking them. During the actual drive, some of his directions also felt last-minute, and his tone and manner added unnecessary pressure. Walkley definitely has some good examiners. My previous examiner made me feel calm even though I was already nervous about the test. A road test is nerve-racking enough for many people, so there's really no need to add more pressure. An examiner doesn't have to be overly friendly, but being calm, clear, patient, and professional makes a huge difference. I was also surprised by the number of errors marked this time compared with my previous test, but again, failing is not what bothered me. If I make a mistake and it's explained to me, I can accept it. My issue was the way the entire test was conducted and how rushed and uncomfortable the experience felt. After my test, I searched examiner #386 and came across another Reddit post describing a similar experience. That's actually what made me decide to share my experience as well

Booker BEWARE! This…read morecompany is a huge scam, We (my daughter) booked this company (Baseline location) for her drivers ed experience, after making the full payment and waiting over a week and book in-class sessions, we received a text to reschedule her in-class at 11pm the day before (due to lack of participation), my daughter booked that week off being in a PSW environment she had to get other to cover her shift to complete these mandatory sessions, she went in the next day and the lady working couldn't find her a better time there for my daughter asked for her refund to be able to book elsewhere to accommodate getting the session done while off. Lady said refunds are completed by the owner in another country (a lie) after many phone calls and yelling matches and name calling and me try (her mom) finally we got a refund days after the confrontation with said dude who was the irrate person. He's unprofessional, rude, abrupt, disrespectful. After threats of the BBB and a legal action we finally got our refund at 11pm at night! This man is scamming our young people ! BEWARE !

Fortunately I am not a student at this school because when I called to inquire, the guy answering…read morethe phone was so rude, talked over me and hung up on me. So I took the registration for 2 people to Young Driver School, and signed up for the most expensive course at Young Driver (which is twice what I was willing to pay at Universal Driving). That is to say I am willing to spend money on a good program, and clearly Universal Driving School is not one. I read the review from other people and I can confirm the experience is bad. When it comes to driving, you want a good school that care about teaching you how to drive safely, and tend to your concerns rather than someone who is just after your money.UsefulFunnyCool