Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada ~ Attraction Information and Photos

April 2016, Weekend visit, 2 days

Welcome!

I am sharing information from our April visit to Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. Some of the sights we visited were Queen Victoria Park, The Stranded Scow, Hornblower Niagara Cruise,  Journey Behind the Falls, and Oakes Garden.

More information and photos can be found in the Niagara Falls Facebook album, and pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Holiday Inn and Quality Hotel 
located across Murray Street from casino 

Hotels

We stayed in the Hilton Niagara Falls - Fallsview Hotel & Suites. Other than the steep hike back up Murray Street, it was an easy walk to the falls and excursions from this hotel. The walk up the hill was a lot steeper than it looks in the photo below. We walked up and down this street a few times, and we never saw many others going uphill.

View of American Falls from pedestrian bridge across
Murray St. - between Fallsview Casino and Skylon Tower 

Some of the other hotels in this area include: Four Points by Sheraton, Fallsview Casino Resort (across Fallsview Blvd. from the Hilton with a covered walkway to the Hilton and Sheraton on level 5), Embassy Suites, Marriott Fallsview & Spa, Marriott on the Falls, Comfort Inn (not sure about the view), Holiday Inn (no view), and Quality Hotel (no view). 

Niagara Falls, Canada - Hilton Niagara Falls / Fallsview Hotel & Suites

April 2016, Weekend, 2-nights, King tower 2-room suite #5054

Sunrise from guestroom 5054
Falls visible if you click on the photo to enlarge it

We considered several hotels before choosing the Hilton Niagara Falls. Other hotels we considered were Embassy Suites, DoubleTree, and both Marriott hotels. The Hilton was offering a couples package, which is what we booked for one night. I redeemed points for the other night's stay. The Embassy Suites is located closer to the falls; however, I had read several negative reviews about the property. Many guests reported waiting in line forever for breakfast and for the elevator. The DoubleTree has a fabulous inside pool area, although the hotel is located a bit farther from the falls. The cost at the DoubleTree was less, if you are not interested in a falls view guestroom. Both of the Marriott properties looked great; however, the guestroom cost and value was not as good as the Hilton, and I did not have enough Marriott points for a free night.

You can find more photos and information for this property and the area in the Hilton Niagara Falls album on my Facebook page.

Arrival and status perks

We had booked one of the best room types available online, so I am not sure if there was opportunity for a guestroom upgrade. Maybe, if this hotel has a presidential suite or invisible room that is not listed among the guestroom types! I wish I had seen the corner suite photos online before our stay, because the corner suite photos I saw after our stay looked fabulous! It seems like guestroom 5050 on the corner would have a much better view than guestroom 5054. I am not complaining about the room we had. It was comfortable, and we had a good view, although it was also expensive. You can see more detail of our room location in the Facebook album photos. Cost and package details are at the end of this post.

I thought about checking in and choosing our room before we arrived; however, it was difficult to tell which room would best meet our needs. Since hotel staff is usually more knowledgeable about this, and a representative I had been chatting with online, told me she had set a room aside for us, I decided to wait until we arrived. Check-in time is 4:00 p.m., and we arrived shortly after 3:00 p.m. The line at the front desk was very long. There was no one in the Hilton Honors line located at the right end of the counter, and there were about 20 guests in the regular line. Three or four agents were working at the front desk, and I was assisted as soon as the next agent became available. Even so, we waited in line several minutes. I cannot imagine how long it took other guests to check-in!

The agent assigned us guestroom 5054, and he provided all of our coupons for the package night we had booked. For my Gold on-property perk, I chose bonus points for one night, and breakfast for the other night.

View from guestroom 5054

Guestroom 5054

This guestroom is located on the top guestroom floor near the center, just to the left when exiting the north elevators. A photo in the Facebook album shows the room location from the outside. There was actually one more floor at this hotel, floor 51, which could not be accessed from the elevator. I did not see a key slot in the elevator to allow access to floor 51, and I do not know what is on that floor.

Port Huron, Michigan / DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Port Huron

April 2016, Weekday, 1-night, King suite #364

Sunrise from suite 364

This was our second stay at the DoubleTree hotel in Port Huron. You can find pictures and details of our previous stay in my review from March 2015, and there are more pictures from both stays in the DoubleTree Port Huron album on my Facebook page.

Arrival and status perks

Check-in time is 3:00 p.m., and we arrived around 3:30 p.m. The front desk agent offered a cheery greeting and two warm chocolate chip cookies. She found our reservation, and said she had given us an upgrade to a suite. I also received the 1,000 bonus points I have chosen in my profile for my on-property perk. I did not receive two bottles of water like I did last time I stayed in this hotel. I did not ask about the water, as I had thought maybe it would be in the guestroom. I imagine they still provide this, and the front desk agent just forgot when we checked in.

Guestroom 364

This is a fabulous suite on the top/HiltonHonors floor. I did not realize or recall that I had not been on the Honors floor when I stayed in room 218 during my last stay. I saw the Honors sign in the elevator when we entered.

Port Huron / DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Port Huron

March 2015, Weekend, 1-night, King water/bridge view guestroom #218 

Status perks and check-in

Our key packet had not been prepared when we arrived at the DoubleTree Port Huron shortly after 3:00 p.m. The agent looked up the reservation and said we had a king water view room. I had reserved a basic king guestroom, so I thought this was an upgrade. I said great, and I asked if that was also a bridge view and on the top floor. She said she could give us a bridge view on the second floor, and that there was not a room available on the third floor with a direct view of the bridge. We happily accepted the guestroom on the second floor.

view from balcony

I received the two bottles of water and breakfast coupons for Hilton Honors Gold members. I had requested that my on-property benefit be changed from bonus points to breakfast. And, we each received a DoubleTree cookie, which all guests receive at check-in.