Niagara Falls
Hotels:
Doubletree $$-$$$ Lodge Themed [
website]
6039 Fallsview Blvd, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada L2G 3V6
Pricing similar to Embassy Suites, although the falls are but distant lights from the windows. The pool is well designed with a salt base as sanitizer. It includes a shallow end and a deep end in two separate pools. Nice, clean, an average hotel room. Although, they do have very delicious free cookies :) It is a little bit of a walk to get to anything such as the casinos or the falls, but it is recommended for people that like to stroll to their destination and back.
Embassy Suites $$-$$$ Business/Falls Focused [
website]
4700 Fallsview Blvd., Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada L2G 3W6
One of the cheapest views you can get of the Niagara Falls. It is also VERY close to the Horseshoe falls so the view from the window is amazing in the afternoons and mornings, but since there is only illumination on the American falls, you can't see the Horseshoe falls during the night. Also, unless you get the American falls suites, you don't get to see the American falls at all. All of their rooms are nice suites that include a small dining room separate from the bedroom and a sizable washroom. Their facilities are nice as well, but the swimming pool is actually quite shallow and with no deep end so the deepest is only a bit over a meter. I believe they use a mix of chlorine and salt water in the pool. The pool is also usually warm and not cold. A nice bonus of 2 separate jacuzzis as well. Although the rooms and washrooms are nice, the dining room can really use some better interior design because although the chairs and tables are very nice and sturdy, the colouring and design look kind of cheap and used. The lighting in the dining area could use a change as well. A very short walk to the Fallsview Casino. The link below provides some of the best deals you can get without signing up for their newsletter (which has even better deals sometimes).
http://www.embassysuitesniagara.com/hoteldeals.html
The pictures below were taken from the window of the hotel room :) [Super-large version photos can be found in my album].
Activities:
Bird Kingdom $$ [
S]
5651 River Road, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada L2E 7M7
Really a fun place very close to Casino Niagara, especially for people that like birds. It has a really big area at the top of the building where they have free-flying exotic birds. There's also a parakeet feeding area, but we didn't try it out since my boyfriend already has a birdie at home XD If you plan to go, look around for discounts and usually the online price is cheaper if you can't find a better deal. Price: $10-20 depending on the discount.
Below is a photo I took in one of the last big rooms at Bird Kingdom. Totally one of the best photos I ever took. The bird was soooo close!!!
Casino Niagara & Fallsview Casino [
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Surprisingly they use the same PAC (Player's Card), then again, they are both owned by the government. If you go to either of these casinos, get the PAC, it's free and gives you free parking along with points depending on how much you bet/exchange money for chips in the casino. The points are quite useful because you can redeem them for anything from food to actual hotel rooms in the Fallsview Casino hotel. And just by having the card you get free parking and sometimes get discounts and free plays. Actual casino space-wise, Fallsview has a larger slot machine area than the table area, but the table area of Fallsview and Niagara are about the same. Although I have to mention, Casino Niagara has this cool digital black-jack with a full-screen digital dealer which was pretty cool. As for shopping areas and interiors outside the gambling area, Fallsview has Niagara beat because it is connected on the inside to the mini mall and it has quite a few cute novelties like this chocolate place and the pepper palace which sells all kinds of hot sauce.
Skylon Tower Arcade [
S]
5200 Robinson St, Niagara Falls, Ontario , Canada L2G 2A3
In the basement of Skylon Tower. If you get tired of gambling and want to play some arcade games, this is the place :) To get here from Fallsview Casino, just go across the outdoor bridge located on the north side of the casino (also can be reached by turning left from coming out of the food court).
Activity Packages: Unless if you want to go to all or at least most of the attractions, it ain't worth it
Parking:
Indoor:
Casino Niagara & Fallsview Casino
I suggest getting a casino card and park in either of the casinos for free by getting a free PAC (Player's Card) from the casino.
Outdoor:
IMAX Theatre
Parking around the area is usually similar but notable cheaper places would be the IMAX theatre, you can tell it by its pyramid shape and bright lights. It is very close to Fallsview casino also has an outdoor bridge to the casino.
Beside Skylon Tower
Not at the tower, but beside it. It has a very cute small trail that goes down to the falls through the trees and a small garden. The parking was once very cheap, but because of it's location to the mini-trail the price became average and fluctuates with surrounding rates.
Road Side Parking:
Near the Falls
If you want to find parking near the falls, there is road-side parking at the police station but I also suggest looking to the small parking lot BESIDE the skylon tower. Any parking lots near the falls that are right beside the road tend to be very expensive.
