Howard Johnson Hotel by the Falls Niagara Falls

Great staff. Loved our stay

My parents both raised a polite and friendly son (me) and I am sad to have to write this review but I think people should know that if they stay here and an issue does come up, management will most likely be unfriendly, unprofessional and belligerent as they were with me recently.
Overall the place is OK for a HoJo’s — it’s not the Ritz, but for $ 99 CAN it was fine. Though watch out as they charge $ 15 for parking which they do not indicate on their site.
Here’s what happened that had management communicate with me in an unprofessional, unfriendly and belligerent manner. (though, I will say Janelle at the front desk was very friendly and courteous, but sadly she doesn’t have authority to do much in terms of what happened to me)
I had an issue with a bed headboard falling on me at night. While it didn’t fall high or hard and did not hurt me – I was surprised to wake up with a 5 foot piece of wood on my head? And it did wake me up from a sound sleep.
When I brought this to management’s attention they spoke in circles, and stopped short of accusing me of wrong doing. They would not even consider trying to recreate the scenario or admitting that this «could have «happened. (Though on the phone Kevin Liddle, the GM said IF the board was not on correctly from the beginning, that yes, this «could have happened».
And Kevin also said to me on the phone «I have 200 rooms here – we can’t check that the head boards are secure on every room». (And I actually agree with him). So while they initially said this could not have happened Kevin admitted it was possible it could happen under fairly believable circumstances such as a prior guest placing it on incorrectly. (Which is what I was trying to say all along)
I felt I was polite and friendly and showed them photos and all I really asked was two things
1. They fix it so it would not happen again
2. 10−15% discount to make up for the fact I woke up with a piece of wood on my head.
(I don’t make money traveling around to hotels doing this. I have a real job) –I just thought that they would have offered up something for my troubles. even a voucher at the Denny’s across the street!
But they would rather lose a customer and create bad will, than fork over a voucher for $ 10. Which is probably why the Howard Johnson brand has deteriorated over the years. Don’t take my word for it: google Howard Johnson brand deterioration and see what you find.
In the end I have no idea if Kevin or Mike are bad or good people but they handled my situation poorly and unprofessionally in my opinion. I am disappointed in my experience there and vow never to stay or recommend this HoJo’s.

I booked 2 rooms for my family via Expedia. When we arrived we asked to see our rooms. Upon entering, we noticed a HORRIBLE STENCH that was like a foul punch in the face in both rooms. It was a smell of musty stale air and dirty carpet. We told the front desk about the smell. They had us look at 2 different rooms. The 2 new rooms also smelled but not as bad. We told the front desk that we refused to stay there bc of the unbearable odor. The manager was polite and understanding and said we wouldn’t be charged anything. Unless you want to sleep in an AWFUL SMELLY room, stay elsewhere. We walked to the hotel next door (Days Inn) and asked if they had rooms available. They did… for $ 99 a night… along with FREE parking and FREE continental breakfast. (At the hojo parking was $ 9 per day and there was no breakfast).

Great for a weekend trip, clean rooms nothing fancy, bonus that there is a KFC/​baskin robins downstairs connected to the hotel

this place is more like a motel but for the price of a nice hotel. it looks like something out of the 70’s. the carpets are old, the rooms smell weird, the hotels smell like old people, the elevator smelt like rotting flesh. horrible experience. the employees (aside from some black guy) seemed SO racist i wanted to throw something at them. the way they look at you if you aren’t white is disgusting. they had no customer service. i didn’t get a hi how are you at check in or a bye have a nice day at check out. i can’t believe a business conducts themselves like this. in my short 22 years of life i have stayed at many hotels and if i haven’t been extremely pleased by the room i was very impressed by the customer service. not only have i never stayed at such a dingy hotel but i have never felt so unwelcome anywhere. the only reason i had to stay at this hotel is because when i decided to extend my stay Sterling Inn (BEAUTIFUL INN!) was booked full. would have rather slept in the car if i had known how dirt this hotel is.
P. S. washroom looked like there were permanent pee stains in the tub

We booked our hotel through
At check in the clerk told me we had to pay for the room. They were quite indignant about it and I did not have a printed copy of the receipt from priceline, so I paid. Now that I am home I see the charges are not on my credit card statement so I guess they reversed the charge. They said nothing about this at the time. Just poor service and attitude.
We were «upgraded» to a ground floor «spa room». Although the room was quiet and appeared clean, it was odd. There was a «heart shaped» Jacuzzi tub in our room, beside the bed. The sink was also in our room. The shower and toilet were in a «bathroom».
Parking was $ 9 a night and we had free wifi which was a bit spotty for my IPad, but fine for my phone…
We ate a Denny’s next door for breakfast. 4 omelettes and coffee was over $ 80!!!
** Beware in the tourist area** they have unpublished prices for locals. Everything (including Starbucks) has increased prices. Niagara Falls also has a «tourist tax» they charge you (3%). Locals do not have to pay it.
My advice stay at a hotel in the non tourist area. then drive and park at the casino, get their players card then you park for free!
I grew up in Niagara Falls and it is getting worse in regards to how they gouge tourists. Shameful really.

This is the letter I sent corporate explaining the experience. This describes it all.
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to let you know about the awful experience and absolutely abysmal customer service I recently received at your Howard Johnson located in Niagara Falls, Ontario on Victoria Avenue. My stay was from ¹⁰⁄₉ thru 10÷13÷14.
When checking in, the front desk agent asked for payment in full on the room, and I had to explain to her that the room was fully prepaid. She went in the back to speak to a manager and said that I was right and joked that the manager told her that she should have known that.
While on vacation, my car was broken into (in the paid Hojo lot) and over $ 200 in items were stolen. I went to the front desk agent to alert them and see if they could do anything since the spot was clearly on multiple security cameras which can obviously be seen on the monitor that faces the customers at the check-​in counter. With no apology or sympathy, she went to the back and came back out and said there was nothing they could do and I should call the police if I wanted to make a report. I asked twice to speak to a manager and he finally came out to speak to me, and first said we don’t even know if you car is on camera so there’s nothing we can do and I should just file a police report. I told him the location of my car and he confirmed it was on camera and said he would try to take a look but it would take a while.
At this point, I called the Niagara Falls police and officer XXXX (Badge #XXX) arrived and surveyed the car and took a report. He then went in to speak to the manager and was told that none of them were allowed to look at the security tapes and the owner could look once he returned from his vacation. The officer said he would follow up in a few days, but he still hasn’t heard from the owner. The incident number is XXX. This incident occurred on 10÷10÷14 (Friday) and I’m writing to you on the Tuesday after, still with no resolution or response. While I understand/​hope that the hotel or it’s staff was in no way responsible for the theft, they could have been even remotely helpful or apologetic in their response rather than just blow me off. It can’t be good for business having someone vandalize vehicles in their private parking lot.
After the incident we went back to the room to relax and unwind after an exhausting and frustrating day and realized that the jacuzzi tub was not functioning nor was the cable TV. The cable channels had a message saying that their credit card on file was expiring and essentially they needed to pay their bill. I have pictures of this for verification. I went back to the desk to speak to the manager and he said he knew about the problem and IT was working on it, without so much as an apology of any type. He then sent the maintenance man to check on the tub. The maintenance man was the only guy in the entire place with a nice disposition or attitude. He flipped some fuses and got everything fixed in seconds and had an excellent mood. Unfortunately, no one else in the hotel shared his enthusiasm for customer service or basic human empathy. The cable channels remained down for the rest of the evening.
To finish off this less than stellar experience, I asked at checkout to speak to a manager in an effort to at least have the parking fee of $ 40 waved and she told me that they don’t waive parking fees and no manager was available. I reminded her that my car was broken into on their property and she said she knew, but that they weren’t held responsible and my card would be charged for parking anyways regardless of what I said to her. That more or less covers the abysmal service I received at your property and the $ 350+ dollars wasted as well as a rare vacation.

This was our first time in Niagara falls Canada and this hotel was awesome!
I was a little scared at first when reading some of the bad reviews! But I had a fabulous time the hotel was clean the staff was super friendly. The pool was clean as well, the room was big, bathroom cleaned. I had no compliments! Pricing was not bad deff the cheapest in the area

Meh. It is what it is. Not upscale by any means, but functional. I did notice the front lobby and my room (405, facing the street) had an ever present odour of fryer fat – presumably emanating from the KFC/​Pizza Hut combo in the same building. Location is pretty good. You can access Clifton Hill and the falls in a few minutes on foot. Lots of restaurants all around.

Came here for my boyfriends 40^th birthday. The hotel went above and beyond to make the stay special and romantic. Service was amazing. The room was super clean and had a nice whirlpool tub, fridge and microwave and fireplace. Super close to all the action but far enough away it wasn’t noisy at all. Great budget hotel still in the heart of all the action.

Stayed one night, bought the adventure package ($ 400). Not at all worth the money. It was too crowded to do all the things that were included with the package. Also the food in the area is so overpriced that the «coupons» they give you are worthless. The hotel itself is dirty and outdated at best. For the amount of money people spend on the rooms there really is no excuse for the condition of the hotel. Plus they tack on tourist fee’s and weird «improvement» taxes to your bill. I wonder where that money goes? The only plus is you can walk to the falls? If you have a car I strongly recommend staying at a hotel out of the area and driving in for the day.

I visit Niagara Falls multiple times a year and always stay here.
The hotel is clean, and doesn’t look cheap like some other hotels I’ve seen. The staff are great, friendly and always very timely whenever I need anything whether it be questions answered, fresh towels, and even a change of gauze when I had an injured foot one night, lol. Even when we got booted out of my sisters’ room and back into our own for making a bit too much noise after 11pm, they were STILL very friendly with us — go figure!
I’ve never once ran into any front desk or house keeping staff that didn’t have a smile on their face and say hello to me in the hallways or elevators. Even the maintenance staff are fantastic and very timely if the door entry battery dies or something gets stuck in the safe. (Oops!)
The pool, hot tub and sauna area has always been very clean and tidy when I’ve gone down, but can become a little crowded at peak times. The gym room is small, but can definitely serve your basic fitness needs if you’re on a weekend or a few day trip and don’t want to miss out on some quick work outs.
The Hojo can be a bit pricey on holiday weekends, but still remains much cheaper than any other options I had looked at for Easter Weekend. My only gripe would be that they recently upped their cash deposit from $ 100 to $ 200 without notice and were I not the type of person to read the fine print, I would have had an unpleasant surprise upon checking in — so if you’re the type of person that deals in cash like I am, keep this in mind!
The wifi — for lack of a better term — BLOWS, but aside from checking up on my facebook once in a while, I’m not in Niagara Falls to surf the Internet, lol.
Speaking of cash, I will normally use my debit visa to book the room but pay up front in cash and the staff at Hojo have always been very accommodating and never bothered by it even though doing everything by credit would obviously be easier. When I check out, they give the room a quick look at and I’ve never had any dispute over getting the deposit back. (Probably because we’ve never trashed our rooms, but I’ve had little issues with other hotels in Toronto over my deposits.)
I was at the Hojo from April 17^th to 21^st and the stay was wonderful. During our first night there, they had even come to each room to install new mini-​fridges, which is awesome! No more filling up the recycling bin with ice to cool off our drinks. ;) We also had been surprised with an upgrade from the two queen bed room to the king, pull out couch room with the hot tub. I’ve stayed in that room before, but it is generally a very expensive room — the mirror over the bed is tons of fun — whatever your idea of fun is, be it the adult or selfie variety, lol.
Having the Basking Robins, KFC and Pizza Hut in the lobby is a fantastic convenience and they’re typically open fairly late in case you get those 12am cravings. There’s a 24-​hour Denny’s next door, but I’m not a huge fan of the price VS value over there. There are also vending machines that are fairly pricey but useful if you forget a mixer or need a chocolate fix and all the little corner stores are closed.
All in all I have a fondness for the HojoByTheFalls and I’ll continue coming back!

Very average. The rates are good and the location is good. Indoor out door combination pool. Parking was ample and was $ 9 a day. Bed was a bit firm for my liking and there was no refrigerator in our room. Small dogs are welcome at $ 20 per night. It is pretty basic but fits the bill.

The elevators are slow, but the WIFI is slower still. Otherwise, given the prices, can’t really complain.

Look, this place is what it is… it’s cheap. If you want to stay in a fancy place then by all means pay for it and enjoy your stay. We just don’t like to stay in our rooms so really just wanted a bed to pass out in. The Ho-​Jo worked just fine for that. It is nothing much to look at and is entirely dated. However the people we ran across working there were fine and we had no problems. The pool and hot tub were nice for an afternoon beer and swim. You can walk to Clifton Hill area in like 2 minutes so that’s not an issue whatsoever. There’s one casino closer than the other but if you can walk more than 10 minutes you’ll be fine there too. It’s a good location, Tim Horton’s nearby, and good enough for the price.

We stayed there this past June on a cross country moving trip. I have to say it was the most revolting experience of our lives. There were massive bugs that were all over the room. The carpet was so filthy we had to walk around in our flip flops which included in the shower as well. The bed comforter was so stained and dirty we couldn’t sleep with it. With all the bugs crawling, the odor and the filth we ended up having to sleep with the lights on, on top of the sheets with socks and shoes ready by the side in case we needed to step on the floor. The towels were the size of hand towels. The entire hotel was disgusting with stains that looked like someone either puked or died in the hall way. Can hear through all of the doors and walls. If it was under $ 70 i would say it would be fine since we could park our uhaul but for over $ 130 it was a rip off. We ended up getting no sleep and are still having nightmares from the experience.
Advice…treat yourself for another $ 30-​$ 50 bucks and get a clean good night sleep somewhere else

Home away from home.
Always stay here when in Niagara.
Courteous, professional staff
Clean rooms, remodeled recently.
Best value for your money in Niagara

Stayed here this past weekend with some friends for another friend’s birthday (SCOOTERFEST 2011 FTW!!!). Gotta say that we were content. A younger me wouldn’t have minded a hole in the wall motel like my guy friends settled on, but I’m realizing I’m waaaay to old for that now (and let’s admit it, a little snobby for it too). My friend Julia and I opted to split a hotel room at the HOJO instead with our boyfriends. Funny enough, when we split it, we each paid the same amount as my guy friends did at their «cheap» hotel. (Note there were 4 of us in our room, and 3 in theirs)
I am so glad that we decided to stay at the HOJO versus with my other friends. It was close to everything!!! I loved being in walking distance to everything we wanted to do. The room was tidy and the bathroom was spotless — it looked as though it was recently renovated. What I also appreciated was that there were a few loud rooms that we could hear when we were in the hallway, but we couldn’t hear a thing when we were in our room. Great value for the low price. I’d come back again… perhaps for Scooterfest 2012!!!

Being a frequent-​ish visitor to Niagara Falls and always travelling with a large group, I’ve always been on the look out for a hotel with a good price, location and convenience in terms of in-​hotel dining options and connecting rooms etc.
This Ho-​Jo fills each of these conditions around half way except for location for I think it’s ideally located around the major attractions. You do miss out on the drunk people at night and crowded tourists during the day in the Clifton Hill area though it is a bit of a walk to the Fallsview Casino though.
For the quality and size of the rooms and friendliness of the staff the cost is a little higher than I would like, but then again, if you just want a bed to sleep on it does the job OK. It’s certainly better than some of the super cheap motels you see scattered around the area.
They have a Pizza Hut Express, KFC and baskin robbins on the first floor and is right next to a Denny’s. So getting pizza is a very quick process. But there are multiple restaurants a blocks walk in any direction so in terms of location for food this hotel is great.
Rooms are not too small, no fancy TV (which I always like to see in hotels) and the washrooms are just «Meh». Basically everything works fine although they might not look good working fine.
But the staff behind the desk always jumped to conclusions when they see a group of guys checking in and don’t go that extra mile to be nice. There are far nicer hotels around for a few more $ that I always opt for instead of having to stay here in a large group.