Room Service: Days Inn Niagara Falls Lundy's Lane (Niagara Falls, Ontario)

Days Inn Niagara Falls
Lundy's Lane
Niagara Falls, Ontario

It may not be the closest hotel to the Falls District, but the Days Inn Niagara Falls Lundy's Lane is a property that is quite convenient with easy access from the Queen Elizabeth Way. Before you immediately turn down this option for that reason, please consider the simple transit system this city now has - the property is in front of one of these important stops, and since parking with hotels closer to the falls costs a pretty penny (and since parking is free on this property), it's probably cheaper to buy a day pass on the shuttle and book a room here. The local outlet mall is also barely a three minute walk away.

Check in was relatively straightforward, as I showed up a little early and it was the middle of the low tourism season. The clerk who served me was so concise in the process, not letting dialogue get in the way, that she might have been a little too snarky with the welcome. There was a couple who checked in before me, so she might have thought I overheard the important details already. A little smile could have made the entire matter more cordial. The hotel's lobby is a fascinating place, with a lounge complete with fireplace along with a conveniently placed computer completing the space.

The room itself was much more welcoming, the result of fairly recent renovations that have made the environment comfortable yet minimal. The modern touch extends to the seashell toned contoured wallpaper, while the furnishings were a nice dark shade of brown. The smallish flat screen television has a cable lineup that is noticeably limited, since only local stations and select channels from Buffalo are carried. There is also a single-cup coffee maker (a plus for this room rate), although a proper carafe and more coffee would have been satiating. An alternative to packaged coffee creamer would have a plus as well. A couple of pretty framed photographs hang on the walls, which counteracts with the modernity of the decor.

When it comes to the bathroom, it has a similar decor but the taps, toilet and sink are either old or dyed in an aged egg yolk colour atypical of today's tastes. The plug mechanism for the sink is covered generously with electrical tape - an eyesore since the room was so comfy until I found out about it - and the lights above the tap and shower curtain rod are starting to rust a PEI potato red; nothing a proper deep clean could not fix.

I was given a room right beside the elevator, but apart from occasional noises from the hallway, it was a non-issue.

Big drawbacks are a lack of free breakfast (an attached restaurant offers hot food at a price) and the unusual location of the swimming pool. Hotels at this price range easily provide a complimentary continental offering, while the creatively designed pool is literally beside the entrance. This generates a fair bit of anxiety for me since, theoretically, auto and foot traffic from Lundy's Lane can take a peek from the windows. I'd be dishonest if I ignored that point.