While Andy and I loved our leisurely, grown up stay at Brookstreet Hotel a few weekends ago, the highlight may have been the fun we had with the kids.
You can visit my first post about Brookstreet to find out some details about why we really liked our stay, and why I could easily recommend it to others, but in this post I want to focus on the savvy mini travelers that usually accompany our adventures.
Upon check in at Brookstreet with the B Family package, kids receive a package of goodies just for them. Included in the reusable should bag is an activity book and crayons, a copy of the kids menu, and a reusable water bottle. While I would give points to Brookstreet just for offering a reusable water bottle, it gets better. Bring that bottle to the restaurant and they will fill it, for free, with anything the kids want (juice, water, chocolate milk, milk, pop.) Spoiler alert: I was a downer and made them ask for ice water only. Ha.
TIP: Check out the details of the B Family Package on the Brookstreet website to offer mini travelers a fantastic experience!!
Thanks to their very warm, special welcome package, the kids were already feeling pretty great.
The reaction to the room was one of excitement (although, in fairness, my kids in general love any hotel room), but the Brookstreet treated us to a Junior Suite with a separate bedroom and a pull out couch. It was roomy for our family and offered plenty of space for quiet time or nap time if you have smaller ones than me.
We walked around for a bit in search of activities that sometimes happen during the day but we may have missed them (or the schedule changed) because we didn’t find any set up at the time. That was okay, because it was already getting late in the day and we wanted to get to the pool. First, we made a detour to the outdoor Jazz Garden.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a hands-on experience at any hotel like this one before. Set up in front of the hotel is four large musical percussion instruments. For both the kids, the Jazz Garden ended up being one of the highlights of the entire weekend.
Brookstreet has two pools. The indoor one boasts two sections, one that has very shallow water, a see saw and a fountain for wee swimmers and another section that’s a regular pool. The indoor pool leads to the outdoor pool section. It was busy outside when we first went (a gorgeously hot day would do that), so we swam inside first, then started to notice it thinning out poolside outside. The water in the pool wasn’t cold, in fact it may have been a touch warm even, but for us it was perfect. We had a blast.
After drying off we prepped for dinner. The Perspectives Restaurant has a lot of family friendly offerings. The kids menu has a good selection, and kids eat free between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm if the family are guests. The service, again something I can’t speak highly enough about, was excellent and Andy and I enjoy a meal that was beyond delicious. I’m still thinking about it. The kids kept busy after they ate with the books, markers and stickers that I brought.
Tip: Guests at the hotel? Kids 12 and under eat free at Perspectives (one child per adult!)
We walked around the grounds after supper and went to the area where they were making S’Mores. Yes, a hotel had a S’More station all set up! That may have been one of my favourite things too!
Returning to our room to find milk and cookies for a bedtime treat was just a cherry on a wonderful day. The kids were wiped soon after and while the boys watched baseball, my daughter quickly fell asleep. She was so tired she turned down the cookies!
The next day after a delicious brunch (which I would love to try again without the kids around and stay for even longer!) we had some time in the arcade room while the rain poured outside. In the arcade room is not only games (that require tokens) but also a mini movie theatre, a Wii and an XBox. Movies and games are available to borrow (for free) at the front desk. Because it was World Cup time we borrowed a FIFA game for the XBox. My son was thrilled.
As a family, we really enjoyed our stay at Brookstreet.
I asked each of the kids what their favourite part of the weekend was, and what they would like to see/change:
My son, age 7: His favourite part was the arcade, the food, the music garden and the pool. (Thanks for narrowing it down!)
He suggests that there are more sports added or made available to play while there. (Interesting. How many years until he asks to go golfing there?)
My daughter, age 5: Her favourite part ‘Everything’.
She suggests a gym for people to dance in should be added. So. There’s that.
For us, we thought the service and offerings at the Brookstreet would be excellent if we were coming in from out of town or wanted a staycation. There’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Thank you Brookstreet for a fun, summer weekend!
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Disclosure: My stay at the Brookstreet was compensated. All opinions are my own. The kids’ opinions are clearly their own too.
I love the Brookstreet. I’m a Ottawa local too. We do pay per use to use the pool there. It’s great for our daughter because the pool isn’t as busy as the city pools. PLUS it makes you feel like your on vacation when you go there. Looks like you had a really nice stay!