Ottawa Public Health data reveals the Quality Inn has committed more than triple the number of healthy and safety violations than any other hotel in the city.

The Quality Inn, an establishment located in an Ottawa suburb, has been identified as the hotel in the capital that has failed the most Public Health inspections in the city from 2016 onward according to analysis published by the City of Ottawa.

The franchise location at 3363 St. Joseph Boulevard in Orleans offers a variety of amenities including a continental breakfast and access to a heated indoor pool and spa and of the many health code violations the hotel committed most pertained to food safety and the province wide regulations on public pools.

The data revealed that the hotel failed 52 inspections, ranging from issues with safe food temperatures to cleanliness of the pool deck, between the beginning of 2016 to the present day. During the inspections, Ottawa Public Health ranks the establishment a number between 0 and 99 if they are not in compliance and 99 or 100 if they are in compliance with the Health Protection and Promotion Act, a provincial law intended to deliver public health programs and services and prevent the spread of disease in Ontario.

Although the Ottawa Public Health food safety inspection says the hotel kitchen is approved for operation, it is noted that the establishment was not in compliance with all general food safety expectations outlined by the province. Critical violations include improper sanitation and many of the semi-critical violations involved “improper maintenance of mechanical equipment” and inadequate “use of thermometers to verify food preparation and storage temperatures”.  Enforcement action has been taken since.

It is noted that the hotel committed multiple violations since 2016 pertaining to kitchen operations, however, establishments like hotels which provide amenities like pool access are subject to Recreational Water Inspections by Ottawa Public Health as well. Once again, the Quality Inn was deemed in compliance, but not without a series of critical and non-critical water safety violations. The most concerning of the violations having to do with adequate chemical levels in both the pool and the spa.

Melissa Jackiewicz from Pembroke stayed at the Quality Inn last May during her son’s hockey tournament. She said the team chose the hotel because it was budget friendly and provided amenities like a pool to entertain the boys when they weren’t on the ice. Jackiewicz describes her experience at the hotel as “atrocious”, claiming that the “entire hotel is beyond filthy”, hotel staff and management “lacked customer service abilities”, the pool was “cloudy, over chlorinated with a deck covered in ants”. She also mentioned the hot tub blocked off with caution tape and continental breakfast contained “moldy muffins and curdled cream”. “I wouldn’t recommend staying here even if there weren’t other hotels!” Jackiewicz said.

Ottawa Public Health staff visit public pools on a routine and complaint related basis to make sure the pool is in compliance with the regulations and that any infractions are corrected in a timely manner, according to Michelle Goulet, a health inspector at OPH. “During an inspection we [health inspectors] also determine if the infraction is actually a health hazard, which means that it is considered an immediate threat to the public, for example a potential drowning or risk of exposure to water-borne illness” she said, “If we come to the conclusion that a health hazard exists we may decide to close the pool.”

Jackiewicz says that when she voiced her concerns to management of the Quality Inn via email, she received a “very general” and “impersonal” apology from the hotels general manager Farzana Reza, stating that if she decided to visit the hotel at a later date they would provide her with a “superior experience”. Reza gave no further comments.