By- Taylor Lachance

Every important monument or landmark is unique and treasured in its own way. Our canal is the largest outdoor skating rink in the world and we can proudly say we started the Beavertail craze.

Ottawa hotels are also up there on the landmark list, especially the Lord Elgin. And what makes this hotel so exclusive? Its two vital trademark pieces: the busts.

The busts of Lord and Lady Elgin (Governor General of British North America from 1847 – 1854) were shipped to the hotel from Lord Elgin in Scotland in 1941 on a warship as a gift. McKenzie King wrote in his letter to Lord Elgin in April 1941:

“I need not tell you that personally I experienced a feeling of real delight when I received your letter. The more I have thought of its generous proposal, and the singular appropriateness of such a gift, the greater has been my feeling of pleasure.”

The Lord Elgin busts sat in this hotel, as intended, from the time of the hotel’s opening in July 1941, until they were lent to the NCC in 2003 and remain there to this day. They were borrowed by the NCC for an exhibit, with the promise of returning them to the hotel, but were never returned. Instead, the NCC had replicas made that now stand in our lobby.

Everyone, including Lord Elgin himself, feel the busts should be returned to the hotel – their intended home. NCC maintains that Rideau Hall is a safer and more secure location where they will be viewed by many. Realistically, the traffic through the hotel far exceeds that through Rideau Hall. Our guests have loved hearing this story through the years. It is part of our identity – our history.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Bring back the busts, or have them stay at Rideau Hall?

By – Taylor Lachance

The weekend is fast approaching, and you’ve got dinner plans with friends. They decide you’re picking the restaurant, but it has to be somewhere new. You think, where could I take them where they would ooooh and ahhh all night? Somewhere that would wow them.

Make your way into downtown Ottawa, and pop in to the newly renovated Grill 41, located in the Lord Elgin Hotel. Giving off a warm, elegant vibe, and featuring a wide variety of menu options, Grill 41 is a hit.

Grill 41 also features a private dining room, ideal for small group gatherings, meetings and banquets.

But it’s not just the atmosphere and menu choices that make Grill 41 Ottawa’s new it place to be, it’s the friendly staff, beautifully presented plates, and exquisite food. The staff is polite, efficient and make you feel very welcome. The food prepared by new chef Brian Vallipuram, looks almost too divine to eat when placed in front of you.

Take a peek for yourself though with these pictures of the restaurant and menu items. Picture yourself, with a loved one or friend on Friday after work, glass of wine in hand, relaxing after a long day’s work. With each plate served, your taste buds will be teased and a week of stress will slip away. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

By- Taylor Lachance

Rainy days, stuck inside playing board games with friends. Purchasing a new pair of rubber boots and matching rain coat. Sun shining, birds chirping and flowers blooming. These basic elements are what spring time is made of.

With warmer days lying ahead, it’s safe to say our blustery Canadian winter is waving goodbye for another year. Today, March 21, marks the first day of spring. Time to put away your winter gear, and check out what Ottawa has in store this spring season.

The Home and Garden show makes its way to the capital this week, from Thursday to Sunday. Bring a friend or family member down to Lansdowne and marvel at the model homes, hot tubs and gardens galore. Get decorative ideas to renovate or landscape your own pad. At twelve dollars a ticket, you can’t go wrong.
For all you social media addicts out there, Twestival Ottawa is right up your alley. This Twitter Festival has gone local this year, and the chosen charity is the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health. Hosted by the Westin Hotel, one ticket gets you admission into the festival, snacks, a chance to chat with Twitter friends, and helping out a great cause. Tickets start at thirty dollars, but are selling fast!

The Algonquin College public relations program is hosting its annual fundraiser. This year, they paired with the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health, and have a number of events in store. Tomorrow night, they are hosting an alumni meet and greet at the Aulde Dubliner, followed by a silent auction and battle of the DJs at Pier 21 on Wednesday. A video game night and stand up comedy at Absolute are also happening this month. Check out www.squashthestigma.com for further details.

The nation’s capital has a serious case of spring fever- are you ready to join?

They come here from all over the world to showcase their talents, their unbelievable works of art and display the magic they create from just a single block of ice.
To me, it seems like an impossible task…for them, it seems almost effortless. Not only do they create a masterpiece work of art, but while doing so they are challenged by ever-changing Ottawa weather. No matter what kind of weather comes their way though, these people play the lead role in turning Confederation Park into the Roger Crystal Gardens every year. Amazing!

So being positioned where we are, we get front row seats to watch the ice-carvers every year create mythical creatures, abstract art, and famous buildings from around the world. What really goes into the creation of these masterpieces though? I�m sure it must be a lot of thought, time and planning. Having the ability to create something that stands out from the rest and in a time frame of only 3 days is always so impressive!

To think that these simple blocks of ice come alive during Winterlude, especially at night when they are illuminated with different colored lights, then when Winterlude is over�they�re gone. We, along with our guests, are lucky to be able to just stroll across the street and take a look, but I would suggest to everyone to get out to see them this year because they are some of the best I have seen in the past few years!

Also, thanks again, to our wonderful Ice Sculptor�s who gave us a carving of our own right outside our restaurant, Grill 41 as well as our beautiful bunnies in front of the hotel. We love being in the center of it all!

Thursday, February 3rd marked the kick off for the campaign for Heart and Stroke Foundation. The Lord Elgin was approached and gladly agreed to illuminate the hotel in red for the month of February in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. At 5pm yesterday, we turned on the �red� and will leave them on for the rest of the month in support of this much needed cause. The Residence Inn by Marriott has joined us in this campaign and will also be lit in red during the month of February. We are both owned by the same company and share in many of our initiatives.
While I was at a conference today in a session on Social Media, the speaker made a very important point that made me think about our hotel. She (Tara Hunt) spoke of �generosity� and how important it is in gaining a following on Social Media. It was akin to the philosophy of �paying it forward� . It struck a chord with me, as it something our hotel has stood for through the years and is one of the main reasons I have chosen to work at the Lord Elgin.
We have been part of this community for 70 years now and have some very deep ties. Much of our success is due to the partnerships we have and mutual support we get from the festivals and organizations that we support and the arts community that we sponsor. I recall 30 years ago, when I was a reservation agent here for my summer job, Sister Gertrude Wadsworth walking into Don Blakslee�s office (the General Manager who was here for over 50 years) to arrange for donation of beds and bedding for her summer camps. She was by often for support. Don had created that reputation in the community. The Boys and Girls Club were always dropping by as well as other clubs and charities. We have given away rooms for Remembrance Day for the families coming to Ottawa to mark that special day, we started the Chef�s Charity Caf� , as well as sponsored choral groups, artists, festivals, galleries, NCC, NAC media and more. We gave away over 300 roomnights last year in donations to charities, both in Ottawa and outside our city. We recognize that the more we support our community, the stronger we are together and I mean that sincerely. It is the festivals, the gallieries and museums, the arts community and the beauty of this city that make us a vibrant place to live and visit. It all comes back around!
The family that owns our hotel is more generous than we all know. Pat Gillin, who passed away over a year ago, was a quiet giver � to his community, his school – University of New Brunswick, his church and to many causes that were close to his heart. That tradition continues today.
So with the red lights on tonight, the tradition continues� and I am proud to be part of it all.

Back in October of last year I got a call from the General Hospital in Ottawa. At the age of 56, my father had been brought in after suffering from a heart attack and was going to be staying a few days for observation. It was scary to think something like this could take such a close family member, and mentor of mine�.and so unexpectedly!

This is one reason why I am very proud to say that this year the hotel is going to be lighting up red for the month of February in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and all the fantastic volunteers and donors they have. Where would we be without all of these people?

It is such a small part we are playing in directing people�s attention to Heart Month. The real heroes are the one�s who have given their time, money and devotion to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We are happy to be kicking-off Heart Month in Ottawa and taking the first step forward for another year of life-saving research.

We feel so lucky to be one of the two landmark locations in the city to be a part of Heart Month this year (the other is Residence Inn by Marriott) and want to invite everyone out to celebrate all the great volunteers and donors who have helped out the Heart and Stroke Foundation. February 3rd at 5pm we are lighting up the hotel red�come show your support for healthy hearts!

We pride ourselves on the elegant nature of the hotel, but for one day we are going to throw elegance out the window and have some sexy, flirty fun! Valentines Day offers the perfect opportunity to do this…and still get away with it.

We know that things can get a little….uh, boring after a while (luckily for us women, Valentine�s Day doesn�t fall on Football Sunday this year). We�ve tried the traditional way of doing things and found them to be quit successful but by making it a bit more exciting we hope to really amp up the romance for some lucky couples.

I speak from experience when I say, even though you may be stuck in town for V-Day, it�s still great to get away for the night, and enjoy having your every need catered to. Our �Be My Valentine� package is an added bonus! Who can say no to chocolate covered strawberries, exotic bath and message oils, and breakfast in bed? I know I can�t.

(Baby-sitter not included)

Ottawa has become a real �foodie� city�with fantastic chef�s and cuisine that rivals many major cities of North America. Ottawa�s Celebrity Chef Event at the NAC is proof that we have some of the best chef�s in our town and we are loving it!

The Lord Elgin is so excited to announce the arrival of our new chef, Brian Vallipuram on January 24th. Brian is coming to us all the way from Panorama BC where he has been Executive Chef at Panorama Resort for two years. Prior to that, he has worked at the Ritz Carleton in Jamaica as well as Axcess & 1055 Restaurant and Catering. Most notably, Brian spent over 10 years as Executive Chef at the highly reputed restaurant, North 44 in Toronto, where he lead a large team that serviced both the restaurant, but also the catering business and played a vital role in the opening event of the Air Canada Centre for the Premier and 1000 of his guests.

Brian�s resume contains a very extensive list of certificates and awards he has received over his career, among them, the Canadian Red Seal Certificate. He has travelled extensively throughout Europe and Asia adding that global influence to his culinary talents.

We are honoured to have him with us and hope you can come by to sample his creations in the coming months.

Cranky kids, traffic, delayed flights, security lines and LONG hours are all things many people experience while travelling. While these things are all unavoidable and absolutely no fun, nothing is worse than finally getting to your hotel room, excited for a good night�s sleep and getting into a bed that you cannot get comfortable in. You toss and turn and wake up cranky.

We recognize how important a good sleep is, in fact, it is the most important factor guests say in their determination of hotel choice. For this reason, we have just purchased brand new fabulous beds for each and every room in the hotel. We sampled over 10 different beds before selecting what we found to be the very best in comfort and quality � a Simmons� Beautyrest Signature II Plush. What I would do to take a nap on one right now….

With Winterlude fast approaching we will have a very busy hotel in February. To ensure everyone has the very best experience this year, we are bringing in over 500 new beds in time for the kick-off for Winterlude. Taking out and replacing over 500 beds, while at the same time organizing available rooms for a busy hotel during this process is not an easy task. Our housekeeper however is quite amazing and has it all under control.

So we hope you enjoy sleeping on a cloud, because with these new beds there is no such thing as waking up on the wrong side. ENJOY!

VIDEO-Lord Elgin Bed Jump

The true success of a hotel is largely attributed to it’s people, the staff that come in at 6:30 and work on their feet all day greeting guest after guest, smiling, asking how their stay was, or the day was, giving suggestions, showing they care and genuinely want them to enjoy their time with us. Some that start at 6:30 are still here at 11pm.
This is not an easy job and so when you have those gems, those people that just live to put a smile on someone’s face, they are golden!!! They are the ones that create a memoriable experience and make guests want to come back.
Our tourism office has a program to recognize these gems – called ‘Stars of the City’. Visitors and guests to our city nominate these individuals and companies that make our city ‘shine’ and they are awarded at a lovely gala evening in October put on by the students at Algonquin’s College Hospitality Program.

We are so very fortunate not only to have a slew of ‘stars’ but some Shining Stars – Tammy Ng who is nominated again this year among three nominees for the dozens of nominations she receives each year and Christopher Ward at our front desk, who has been nominated in the past and who genuinely loves to help people and they always mention him in their feedback to us. They inspire others and make us all so proud to work here. For this we are nominated as one of three for Star Property – an honour!
Working in this industry, while not easy, has a personal element that makes it so very special. I hope our kids recognize that service is so important – to go out of your way to make someone’s day. I would like to thank all of you who take the time to recognize our Stars!!