Holiday Inn Kingston-Waterfront by IHG

Reviews

• JD

  Junior Din

  Aug 30, 2026
  3.0
  A little more value for the price needed. We are road trippers across Canada. We stayed in different hotels in different provinces. The hotel is well kept but it need to add more value for the price. The room we stayed in had no smart TV. This means we can't log in to our Netflix or Amazon account and watch what we would like. We were stuck with watching local channels. We've stayed in a hotel that offer half the price and it came with a smart TV, a beautiful view of the Ottawa River. Secondly, there was no body wash to bathe. We call room service and told them that there is no body wash for us to bathe. A room service brought up a body wash and left it in front of the door. After we bathe with bare water, we open the door and notice someone left a body wash at the entrance. I find that very disrespectful. Atleast knock on the door and say "Sir, we are sorry about that, this is the body wash requested". This response would have been very well recieved by me. Secondly, get rid of the security deposit. There is a growing Hotels that are now offering bookings with no security deposit required. The competition is getting stiff in this industry across provinces. Thirdly, lower your parking fees. $30 per night parking. Some hotels in the capital city Ottawa have a nightly parking fee for about $10 per night.
• PM

  Pavel Mokros

  Aug 30, 2026
  1.0
  We recently stayed at the Kingston waterfront Holiday Inn and had a very dissatisfactory stay! They started by asking us to pay for parking at a $300 per night hotel, then after we parked our trike we were asked to move from the handicap parking spot as “that is reserved for handicapped people”. My trike has the authorized licence plate handicapped sticked as well I had my placard but I was never asked for it nor did they check the plate on the trike first. To tell a handicapped person to move from a handicapped spot is just insulting! Yes I refused to move the trike. So I had to stand in line to check in, then stand in line again to validate the parking ticket I had to pay for, and again stand in line to get my room key as the room was not ready on our arrival. Refer back one paragraph to realize I am handicapped. Next we went to our room, the one with a balcony that we paid extra for, only to find the balcony was so dirty and covered with bird droppings that it was completely unusable. We were given 3 towels for 2 people for a 2 night stay, wow how generous! The bathroom and the room it self also need a good cleaning. In the evening we wanted to have a glass of wine but guess what, yup, no glasses or cups in the room! What the heck Holiday Inn! The next day we thought we would enjoy the outdoor deck behind the hotel but the ground was completely covered by goose droppings and the Adirondack chairs were filthy and sticky.Yet another unusable area. Come on IHG you can do better! If I ever stay at another IHG Hotel it certainly will not be the Kingston Holiday Inn Waterfront and I will never recommend this hotel and likely none of the IHG affiliates! We filled out the online survey, two weeks ago, that was emailed to us but as of yet no response. Yet another indication of how customer service works a IHG Hotels. Very unsatisfied customers
• NT

  Náuria Costa TV

  Aug 24, 2026
  4.0
  I had a pleasant stay at this hotel and would like to share some feedback that I hope will be helpful to the management and staff. One of the main reasons I chose this hotel was the beautiful view and, especially, the Balcony. The Balcony is a lovely space where guests can sit, relax and enjoy the surrounding nature. The view is truly beautiful, and I could see myself spending a lot of time there. However, I noticed that there were quite a few spider webs around the Balcony, including on the railings and other areas where guests sit and spend time. There were also some small insects around the area. Unfortunately, because of the amount of spider webs, I was not able to enjoy the Balcony as much as I had hoped. I understand that a hotel located close to nature will naturally have insects and spiders, and I also understand that it is not realistic to expect the area to remain completely free of them. However, I believe that including the Balcony, railings and surrounding areas in the daily cleaning routine could make a significant difference. Regular removal of the webs, together with consistent cleaning and maintenance, would likely help reduce the problem considerably over time. I am mentioning this as constructive feedback because I genuinely enjoyed the location and the view. In fact, the Balcony was one of the features that attracted me to this hotel in the first place. With a little more attention to this area, I believe the experience could be even better for future guests. Apart from this issue, everything else was very good. The staff were polite, respectful, attentive and welcoming. I appreciated the way the team treated guests and how willing they were to assist when needed. I have also worked in the hotel industry myself, so I understand that maintaining a property, especially one surrounded by nature, is not always easy. I know that housekeeping and maintenance teams have many responsibilities and that some issues cannot be eliminated completely. My intention is therefore not to criticize the staff, but simply to point out an area that could benefit from a little more regular attention. Overall, I had a good experience and appreciated the beautiful surroundings, the view and the friendly service. I hope the management will consider this feedback, because with some additional attention to the Balcony and outdoor areas, this hotel could provide an even more enjoyable experience for guests who, like me, choose the property specifically to relax and enjoy the beautiful view.
• JB

  Jeff Breckenridge

  Aug 11, 2026
  1.0
  The location is wonderful for exploring downtown Kingston, but unfortunately aside from that it was a terribly bad experience. I booked the premium king suite with water view. The day before check in I spent almost an hour on the phone setting up a surprise for my wife as this was her birthday gift. I arranged for a bottle of wine and a fruit platter to be waiting in our room, the kitchen manager assured me it would be taken care of. We arrived amd checked in, we were told we were on the newest floor. We got to our premium suite and found the ac to be non functional, I called the front desk amd after being disconnected 5 times they finally called back. I informed them about the ac, and also asked about the wine and fruit platter I had arranged. I was told there was nothing about it on my reservation, but they would have the kitchen manager call the room. They told us they would send someone to look at the ac, after waiting for over an hour I was finally contacted by the restaurant and informed that they had forgotten amd would I like it at that point. I told them no as the point was to surprise my wife and that had already been spoiled. As recompense they offered 2 free drinks at the restaurant. Following this i called front desk again about the ac, I was informed that there were other people in the hotel and they would get to us. We finally gave up on waiting and went for dinner. Upon returning to the room we found maintenance had been and despite being told it was simply a matter of turning on the thermostat we discovered that they had to change the entire thermostat unit. We went out onto the balcony were we were met with it being covered in old dirty cobwebs. The vent in the bathroom didn't work, the blackout curtains were torn amd full of holes, when we looked in the bathroom housekeeping must have decided that we didn't warrant a new roll of toilet paper as there was at most a quarter roll. The following morning we went down for the breakfast buffet which was the same as a continental breakfast given for free at most establishments but here you have to pay 22 dollars a person and that is the same price for children. We checked out very disappointed as we expected better when renting a premium suite, the next morning when we were at home I checked my card to see account activity and was shocked to see that they charged twice. So we had to drive 2 hours back to deal with that. I was told that it had never happened before but their system had made 2 bills for me. I was informed that the one charge would come off in 3 to 5 business days. I expected the security deposit to be held for that time but I was informed that the entire amount would be held. Thankfully it was resolved but the absolute aggravation of what we went through at this establishment has firmly locked in the fact that we will NEVER stay here again. If you are staying in Kingston I recommend finding another location to stay as this one is the biggest letdown we have experienced.
• II

  Izzy

  Aug 10, 2026
  4.0
  Stayed at the Holiday Inn Kingston with a harbour-view room and overall had a very good experience. The room was clean, updated, comfortable, and surprisingly well soundproofed. I had requested a room away from the elevators and it was very quiet, which I really appreciated. I visited in August and the air conditioning worked exceptionally well — the room was set to 19°C and actually felt like 19°C. Perfect after being outside in the summer heat. The harbour-view balcony was honestly half the reason I chose this hotel, so this was probably my biggest disappointment. The view itself is lovely, but there were quite a few bugs and spider webs, and I would have liked to see the balcony cleaned more thoroughly so I could actually enjoy spending time out there. That said, being directly by the harbour, I understand that keeping an outdoor balcony completely bug-free is probably a losing battle. I just think a little more attention to the space would make a big difference. The hotel is pet-friendly. There was a very mild wet-pet smell in some areas, but nothing that bothered me. If you’re travelling with pets, you’ll probably appreciate the little touches — there’s even a bowl of water by the main entrance for dogs coming back from their walks. The gym was another pleasant surprise. It’s a good setup, especially compared with some other Holiday Inns I’ve stayed at, and has enough equipment for a decent workout. The pool area was also clean, although the room itself was a little warm. There appeared to be a nice selection at breakfast, but I decided to explore the neighbourhood for breakfast instead. The location is a major plus. It’s very walkable and close to the waterfront, main attractions, restaurants, the main square, parks, cafés, bakeries and shops. There are also plenty of good dining options nearby, including Chez Piggy, Dianne’s for seafood and fish & chips, and Wooden Heads for pizza. Once you’re checked in, you can easily explore much of downtown Kingston on foot without moving your car. I also felt very safe walking around the downtown and waterfront area, including in the evening. Overall, I’m very happy with my stay. Clean and updated rooms, quiet, excellent air conditioning, good amenities, a great location and a beautiful harbour view. A cleaner, more usable balcony would have made the experience considerably better, especially since it was one of the main reasons I booked the hotel, but I’d happily stay here again. Emma at the front desk is very professional and made the check in quick and pleasant experience. Thanks