Niagara Falls Getaway Hotel and Attractions Review

Want to Win a Niagara Falls Getaway accommodation and entertainment package? Scroll to the bottom!

Niagara falls is one of the most breath taking places on earth I’ve been. The falls and their insanely powerful nature really make you stop and think about things. Niagara falls has the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet. Wedged between Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Buffalo, New York, USA… If you’ve never been to see Niagara Falls before you really need to make the trip, and perhaps I can help. Check out my review of my stay in there area and enter to win a Niagara Falls Getaway..

Howard Johnson By The Falls Hotel

The Howard Johnson By the Falls is located at 5905 Victoria Ave, right in the heart of tourist area Niagara Falls. It is roughly a 4 minute walk to the main “Clifton Hills” Tourist strip. There are tons of tourist attractions located all around the hotel and along the very pleasant walk. More shopping, restaurants and attractions than you could ever find the time for. A 24 hour Dennys shares the same parking lot as the hotel and offers a great selection of food morning or night for you to enjoy. The front desk was very helpful and check in was quick and painless.The hotel offers lots of different package options that give you a room, dinning and attractions at a package price. There are romance, casino, family packages. You name it!

We had a romance package option which includes:

• Deluxe Hotel Accommodations including Suites with king-sized bed and Heart Shaped Whirlpool
• $25 Denny’s Meal Vouchers for both your 1st and/or 2nd night stay.
• One Meal Voucher for use at The Keg Steakhouse & Bar
• A beautifully arranged Gift Basket containing one 750ml bottle of chilled VQA Niagara wine, two keepsake wine glasses with souvenir corkscrew and ice bucket, coffee candies, chocolate wafer rolls, mints and hikers mix
• Two adult admission passes to Niagara’s Skywheel located next to the hotel.
• Two Adult passes for two day transportation aboard the brand new WEGO Visitor Transportation
• A 2 pm late check-out time

As we had this “Romance Niagara Galls Getaway Package” for our stay, the front desk woman also explained how the transit worked as well as supplied the various tickets for attractions. After filling out a short form for parking, We had our keys and were on the way to our room in less than 5 minutes. There are several elevators in the hotel and depending on where your room is you have flexibility to not be waiting for long. Some elevators seemed to be used more for the hotel staff than others, but staff was always friendly and let any guest go first, often saying they would “take the next one” if you happen to see staff.

The room itself was very large and spacious with a comfy king size bed. Ours included a whirlpool tub, not heart shaped but this double tub actually looked like it would be more comfortable than the heart shaped one. Also was a fireplace along the wall, a microwave, fridge, a shoe buffer(of all things) and even a mirror above the bed. 🙂 The hotel staff had gone above and beyond expectations by leaving some romantic towel swans and heart shaped rose petals on the bed. There were also birthday balloons located around the room. The hotel staff even  went so far as to put My boyfriends birthday on their LED sign out front. It was really awesome surprise for my boyfriend who wasn’t expecting anything. Amazing customer service.

As part of the romance package, a wine gift basket was also waiting for us. Chilled wine, two glasses and even a cork screw help to make the room that much more awesome. There were some tasty chocolate and popcorn made in the area included. A nice little touch to make your stay more comfortable and romantic. The Room included free WiFi and there were several hot spots, meaning you could choose another one if the first wasn’t giving you a good enough signal. I so wish hotels got this and its great to see the Howard Johnson including this fast free WiFi that was fast and stayed connected. Very important for someone techy like me. The hotel is a bit older, but the rooms had modern TVs and everything was clean and fresh.  After being out and exploring the many sites of Niagara Falls it was nice to come back to the room and enjoy the comfortable homey feel of it.

There was a KFC, Pizza Hut and and Baskin Robins attached right to the hotel open till 2 am. This was great for getting a late night snack. There are some vending machines on the main floor, but for the $2 price tag head on over to the KFC area and get a $2 bottle instead of the $2 can.  There is also a fitness room and BOTH an indoor and outdoor pool. Perfect for sunning outside or splashing inside depending on the weather. There is an indoor waterslide and the whole set up is great for kids and families. Not too often you see both and indoor and outdoor pool. The location of this hotel really can’t be beat for staying at the falls. You are off the main “super touristy” strip that is also full of tons of noise, but to get into that action is just a short 5 minute walk away. Perfect!

Denny’s is available right next door which is where we went for breakfast both mornings. I saw many reviews complaining about the “high prices” but as a Canadian I didn’t think they were strange. Perhaps American’s are use to cheaper food under the Denny’s name. The first food I had was peanut butter and chocolate pancakes! No seriously. They were one of the most amazing things I’ve ever eaten. Service was amazing and fast and allowed us to get on with our day.

Hotel: [usr 5 size=20]

Nightmares Fear Factory

The first attraction we went to was Nightmares Fear Factory at 5631 Victoria Avenue. These guys rock social media! They have been very responsive on Google plus and Twitter. They are worth a follow because they share absolutely hilarious photos taken of people totally horrified in the maze.  You walk into nightmares and once your ticket is scanned you proceed to wait in a short line with other haunted house goers. In the background you can hear people screaming, noises, and bangs. The rules flash on the wall for you to read. I have to admit while waiting in line I got quite nervous! The people screaming randomly in the background really gets you on edge as you have no idea what to expect! Eventually the green stop light will tell  you to go, and you walk up a creepy set of stairs and open a door. Once the door is open, everything goes dark… and you only have a small red dot to follow for the next 15-20 minute walk or so. I don’t want to ruin the experience for you, but it is safe to say that most peoples common fears will be experienced when you are inside. I screamed many times. My 6’2 boyfriend screamed many times. We both loved it. If you can only do “one thing” in your Niagara Falls Getaway, I would recommend this.

Nightmares: [usr 5 size=20]

Weinkeller Restaurant

Attached to the other half of Nightmares(5633 Victoria Avenue) is a relatively new restaurant called Weinkeller. The building itself has a rather old history in the Niagara area with wood carvings through out. There is a back area that is perfect for hosting a meeting or having a larger event. But oh, the food. This Prix fixe menu offers you 3 or 5 courses. Go for the 5 courses. Amazing. This food made me feel like I was on the food network. Each bite of the food and the sauces caused taste explosions in your mouth. All of the food was local farm to table fresh, meaning they try to get as many ingredients as possible locally. You can really taste the difference. The service was amazing. The staff really enjoy their jobs and make you immediately feel welcomed. They are helpful with the menu and offer many suggestions that you should probably listen to.

Salmon bisque was to die for!

Amazing Coffee...

Weinkeller: [usr 5 size=20]

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum

Ripley’s Believe It or Not: [usr 4 size=20]

Niagara Sky Wheel

Niagara Sky Wheel:[usr 3 size=20]

Louis Tussauds Wax Museum

This was a different experience. The wax museum is a self guided tour that is basically famous people made out of wax. You can get right up and take photos with these people, so its could make for lots of great photo moments. Unfortunately, many of the wax people look absolutely nothing like who they are supposed to look like. Many required looking at the name tags to try and figure out who the person was supposed to be. Once we got passed the idea that many won’t look like who they are supposed to, we started taking funny photos with them. I’ve attached a few here. This made the walk through much more enjoyable and fun. I find it strange that the one job the wax museum has, make the wax people look like the real people, wasn’t really well done. Many of the wax people looked like very real people, just not the real people they were supposed to look like. Most of the “older” wax celebrities were REALLY well done. It’s almost like they got a new wax guy in and he just wasn’t up to famous people likeness creation levels. Still worth while to go if you want a silly afternoon.

Louis Tussauds Wax Museum:[usr 4 size=20]

A Niagara Falls Getaway is a really romantic tourist destination. It has been the honeymoon capital of the world since the early 1900’s. There is lots of fun touristy things to do, places to eat and attractions to have fun at. I fully recommend checking out the places that I’ve mentioned here if you happen to visit the area.

Want to enjoy the same experience I did? Enter Below to win a Niagara Falls Getaway… YOU will have to provide your own transportation there but we got the most of the rest.

Enter to win A Niagara Falls Getaway from Howard Johnson Hotel by the Falls, Weinkeller and Nightmares Fear Factory –

Romance  Package:  Howard  Johnson  Hotel  by  the  Falls – http://www.hojobythefalls.com/
• Two-­‐Nights  Deluxe  Hotel  Accommodations.  (n/a  July  &  August  Weekends & Major Holidays) – King-­‐sized  bed  and  Heart  Shaped  Whirlpool.  ($569.90  value)
• $25  Denny’s  Meal  Vouchers  for  both  your  1st  and/or  2nd  night  stay.  Enjoy  fresh cooked-­‐to-­‐order  breakfasts,  lunches  or  dinners  at  Denny’s  Restaurant  located directly  on-­‐site  and  open  24  hours.  ($50  value)
• One  Meal  Voucher  for  use  at  one  of  the  following  restaurants  located  directly on-­‐site  or  across  the  street  from  the  hotel. – The Keg, TGI Fridays or Dennys
• A  beautifully  arranged  Gift  Basket  containing  one  750ml  bottle  of  chilled  VQA Niagara  wine,  two  keepsake  wine  glasses  with  souvenir  corkscrew  and  ice bucket,  coffee  candies,  chocolate  wafer  rolls,  mints  and  hikers  mix.Some  items  may  be  substituted  due  to  availability
• Two  tickets  to  Niagara’s  Skywheel  located  next  to  the  hotel.  ($22  value)
• Two  Adult  passes  for  two-­‐day  transportation  aboard  the  brand new  WEGO  Visitor  Transportation  System  linking  the  entire  tourism  industry.($20  value)
• Enjoy  a  2  pm  late  check-­‐out  time  ($40  value).  Parking  is  also  included.  ($9  value)

A 5 Course Dinner at Weinkeller http://www.weinkeller.ca/

• Located  a  very  short  and  nice  walk,  along  Victoria  Av,  from  the  Howard  Johnson Hotel  by  the  Falls,  Weinkeller  is  the  perfect  date  night  dining  experience  in Niagara  Falls.
• Be  sure  to  try  their  selection  of  reds  and  whites,  made  in  house,  and  served  at the  perfect  temperature  from  taps!
• You  and  your  guest  will  be  treated  to  their  5-­‐course  a-­‐la-­‐carte  option. You’ll  be  able  to  choose  5  courses  from  the  entire  menu.  Good  news is  you  can  also  substitute  a  course  for  another  glass  of  wine! – Your  server  will  explain  it  all  to  you!

Niagara Falls Attractions From Nightmares Fear Factory – http://www.nightmaresfearfactory.com/
2-­‐tickets  to  each  of  these  FOUR  thrilling  Niagara  Falls  Attractions:
• Nightmares  Fear  Factory
• Ripley’s  Believe  It  or  Not!
• Ripley’s  4D  Moving  Theatre
• Louis  Tussaud’s  WaxWorks

TOTAL  PACKAGE  VALUE:  $1000.00

WOW!! Thanks to our amazing sponsors if you are able to get to Niagara Falls Ontario, Enter now to win this amazing romantic weekend away for 2!

Please read full contest details in terms and conditions. You must follow blackout dates as well as provide your own transportation to Niagara Falls.

Disclosure: The companies mentioned provided me with accommodations and food. I was not compensated for my time. My opinions posted here, as always, are my own.