Disclosure: I received a discounted rate at the hotel. All opinions here are my own.
Sure, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel has been an Ottawa landmark for over 100 years. The venerable property looks a bit different these days, though, with a ton of new COVID-19 safety measures in place. What’s it like staying there now?
My husband Paul and I enjoyed a quick in-town getaway there recently, and I’m happy to report that many things haven’t changed about one of Ottawa’s best hotels. Attentive staff, great food, comfy beds—all still there. But there are definitely differences—all very welcome in 2020.
What has changed at the Chateau Laurier?
Masks are required indoors for all guest and employees, of course. When you arrive, you’ll need to stop at a small table in the lobby to get your temperature checked and answer a list of COVID-19 screening questions. There and at the nearby reception desk, plexiglas screens now separate guests and staff. Signs on the floor mark off two-metre distances.
There are hand sanitizer stations everywhere, including inside each elevator. More signs ask visitors not to share elevators with people not in their group.
In the rooms, which were recently renovated and redecorated, a few things are missing or different. For instance, the TV remotes are inside small plastic bags. The mini bars are now empty, and alarm clocks have been removed. Happily, though, our junior suite still included a Nespresso coffee maker and kettle inside a cabinet, along with a good selection of coffees and teas. Teacups, wine glasses and an ice bucket were provided, too, and a pair of fluffy Fairmont robes hung on the inside of the bathroom door.
Services that aren’t available at the minute include valet parking, concierge services, the business centre, massage therapy, bike rentals and the Fairmont Gold floor. We didn’t visit the health club or the pool, but both facilities are currently open to hotel guests by appointment. Self-parking is available, as is contactless checkout.
More about the junior suite
The Chateau’s junior suites are an excellent option if—like us—you’re a couple with one morning lark (me) and one night owl (Paul). With 550 square feet (51 square metres), the suites give each person lots of room to move around, read or work without disturbing their companion. Our suite had a large living area with a couch, a chair and a TV approximately the size of an arena Jumbotron.
There was also a comfy wing chair and ottoman near the window, and a large table with two chairs that was perfect for the room service breakfasts (more on those later).
The cushy queen-sized bed with its pillow-top mattress was in a separate room with another smaller but still very sizeable TV.
If you’re also a light sleeper, take note: In some of the junior suites (such as ours, room 671), the bedroom doesn’t have a door. So you’ll hear the TV on the other side of the bedroom wall and light from the living room will spill in. (The living room windows have pretty roman blinds, but some light does seep around the edges of them.) If those are issues, bring earplugs and/or a sleeping mask.
Our compact but sleek bathroom had everything we needed, including a stock of the Fairmont chain’s lovely Le Labo Rose 31 toiletries.
Restaurants and room service
A suite is all well and good, but humans can’t live on coffee and TV alone. What about meals? I hear you ask. Contactless room service breakfasts are available, and you can visit two of the hotel’s restaurants for other meals. Read on for details.
Room service breakfasts
Since the hotel’s restaurants currently aren’t open in the morning, you can order breakfast the night before for delivery the next day. We tried three different meals—including bacon and eggs, and steel-cut oatmeal with dried fruits—over our two-night stay, and they were all delicious. My favourite, though, was the Kettleman’s bagel loaded down with smoked salmon, capers, dill, red onions, lettuce and cream cheese. It was so big I had to eat it with a knife and fork, and that’s a first for me.
La Terrasse: Outdoor dining with a view
La Terrasse, the Chateau Laurier’s patio restaurant, has a location most other Ottawa restaurant owners would envy. It gives diners an amazing view of the East Block of Parliament Hill, Confederation Square, the Bytown Museum, the Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal, the Ottawa River and, in the distance, Gatineau and the Gatineau Hills.
Luckily, La Terrasse’s food is worthy of the location. With an abbreviated version of Zoe’s menu (see the next section), it offers a good range of sandwiches, salads and other casual dishes.
Paul gave his medium-rare steak frites a big thumbs up, and I was delighted with my pork banh mi. The Vietnamese-style sandwich had the perfect blend of tastes and textures, from the soft bun and the crunchy pickled carrots to the spicy pork and fresh cilantro. (At my request, they held the daikon radish.)
The Caesar salad was delicious, too, although be forewarned that—like trendy restaurants everywhere these days—La Terrasse serves it with big romaine leaves that you’ll need to cut up.
We were among the last diners to enjoy dinner there this season. Currently, the restaurant is open from noon to 4pm daily, weather permitting. (If you’re worried about rain or blinding sun, I have good news: There are lots of cheery red awnings above the tables to shelter you.)
Zoe’s: Indoor restaurant now open
Much to our surprise, our visit also coincided with the reopening of Zoe’s restaurant. We made a reservation for the inaugural night and found much was the same as we remembered. The long communal table near the entrance is gone, the other tables are further apart than before and all employees are masked (as are diners, when not at their tables).
The menu features small plates, mains and a few desserts, and I was pleased that my old favourite—the bacon cheeseburger—was still available. Other choices include a charcuterie plate, cauliflower pakora, scallop ceviche and the ever-popular steak frites.
Zoe’s serves all the usual cocktails (their bartenders make a fab vodka martini), as well as a large list of the restaurant’s own concoctions. One of the most flamboyant of these is The Statesman, a rye-and-scotch-based drink that arrives in a cloud of cedar smoke inside its own little glass cabinet.
As I write this in mid-September, Zoe’s is open daily from 4:30pm to 10pm. Starting September 25, it will also be open from 1pm onward for afternoon tea on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And starting October 1, it will be open daily from noon until 10pm.
To sum up
I know that not everyone is interested in a hotel visit right now, and I totally get that. And every place beyond your own front door presents some degree of risk—I’ll never say that anything these days is 100% safe, as no one can honestly make that claim.
If you are prepared to try a restaurant meal or an overnight getaway, what I can say is that the Fairmont Chateau Laurier appears to be taking every precaution I’ve seen recommended—plus a few more—to curb the spread of COVID-19. All “soft goods” (such as pillows and duvets) are left alone for at least 48 hours after each guest leaves. During our visit, every hard surface we saw sparkled and shone.
There were few people; we only spotted the occasional employee or guest in the corridors, and we never encountered anyone else in or around the elevators, or on the stairs. There were more people in the restaurants, but La Terrasse and Zoe’s felt safe to us, as tables were widely separated and cleaned repeatedly (and La Terrasse is outdoors). Aside from people eating or drinking, everyone we saw throughout the hotel was masked.
As with every activity these days, the important thing is to take all the recommended precautions: sanitize your hands, wear your mask, keep your distance and, if you’re feeling ill, please stay home.
If you go
The Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel is located at 1 Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa, immediately east of Parliament Hill and just west of the CF Rideau Centre. For more details, see the hotel’s website.
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As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.