Some hotels have a pool. Some have a fitness centre. Brookstreet has a championship level golf course, a 9-hole secondary layout, a mini putt course with a waterfall, and a restaurant where you can wind down after a round with great food and drinks.

If you've been hunting for golf in Ottawa, you've probably already done the drill. Drive 45 minutes in one direction, pay for green fees, spend your whole round wishing you were somewhere you could also get a good meal and a hotel room without the commute home. Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata solves that problem. It's Ottawa's only genuine golf resort, with everything on one property, and we mean everything.

The Marshes: Ottawa's Most Celebrated Course

The Marshes Golf Club was expertly designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son Robert Trent Jones Jr, two of the greatest minds in golf architecture anywhere in the world. This course is the final one they completed together before the passing of Jones Sr. That alone gives the course a sense of character and significance you don't always find.

The Marshes is an 18-hole championship golf course that runs along wetlands and beautiful Ottawa Valley terrain. This kind of landscape makes every hole feel unique and challenging while remaining scenic at the same time. The course plays from multiple tee boxes which means it doesn't matter if you're new to the game or you think you should've gone pro, everyone will be able to comfortably find their footing and have a fun time.

The wetland holes are some of the most talked about by golfers after the round. The back nine runs alongside an actual marsh and not just a decorative pond, that means real wetland with the kind of peace and quiet that exists near standing water. The numerous elevation changes throughout the course can cometimes catch first time players off guard as well. When people come in with assumptions about Ottawa Valley's flat terrain they are often suprised that many tee boxes sit well above the fairway below. This extra height can do interesting things to your distance calculations if you're not careful adding an extra layer to the course.

Lastly the practice facilities at the Marshes are key to avoid showing up cold for your round. They offer a full driving range with a putting green on site giving you the chance to get dialed in rather than having your first swing of the day on hole one. As many golfers know this small warm up before the round can make all the difference between a great performance or a dud.

Marchwood: Nine Holes, Zero Pretension

Marchwood may be only 9 holes but it is by no means a consolation course. The layout is sharp, fast, and enjoyable in a way that a full 18-hole round sometimes isn't. It's the ideal move for a late-afternoon round or even for guests newer to the game. Nine holes, walk off, and grab a drink in a fraction of the time a full round would take. 

It also works well for mixed-ability groups. Nine holes doesn't punish a struggling round the way a full 18 does . There's no worry about grinding through a bad day when the finish line is that close. Less pressure, faster pace, nobody feels like a burden regardless of skill level. Corporate outings and similar events work well here for exactly that reason. 

Blackbird Falls Mini Putt: Everyone Gets to Play

Designed with entertainment in mind, the finest mini putt in Ottawa is right here at Blackbird Falls. This is Brookstreet's on-property mini putt, and it's not the faded-windmill-astroturf situation you're probably picturing. Eighteen beautiful resort-quality holes welcomes literally everyone for a great game of mini putt.

This is fun for the whole family even the ones who "don't really golf." Bring the client who agreed to come along on the golf trip out of politeness and fully expected to be bored. Everyone plays, everyone has a great time, no handicap conversation required.

It's also helpful the evening before a proper round on the Marshes. Walk it, loosen up, figure out which person in your group needs to focus on their short game. The setting is nice enough that it doesn't feel like you're killing time and it actually looks like a real course rather than a roadside novelty, which matters more than it sounds.

Stay & Play: Golf Packages at Brookstreet

Brookstreet's golf packages bundle hotel accommodations with tee times on the Marshes into one clean booking. No logistics puzzle, no separate reservations, just everything you need for a great day of golf setup for you.

The B on the Greens package covers your stay and your green fees, backed by what you'd expect from Ottawa's leading luxury hotel. The Brookstreet features 276 elegantly appointed guest rooms, the award-winning Au Natural Spa, and Perspectives Restaurant, which is exactly where you want to land after a round. A great meal and a cold drink after 18 holes is always a fantastic play.

Au Natural Spa does a therapeutic massage, which pairs with two rounds in two days in a way no other spot in Ottawa can match on-site. Lower back, right shoulder, whatever is holding your game back, there's a treatment for it. The fact that you walk directly from the massage to your hotel room and don't think about driving anywhere is one of those small details that turns a nice trip into one people talk about. Instead of an afternoon why not make a full Ottawa golf trip out of it. A proper golf weekend in Ottawa doesn't end at the 18th green and with the Brookstreet right next to the course it won't have to.

A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Book

The Marshes season typically runs May through October, weather cooperating. The course sits right on the Brookstreet property on Legget Drive in Kanata, roughly 30 minutes from downtown via the Queensway.

Tee times on weekends in July and August go fast. If you've got specific dates, booking through the golf and hotel package route locks in both your room and your round in one shot rather than chasing each separately.

The fall shoulder season at the Marshes is underrated. September and early October, the foliage starts changing along the wetland edges and traffic on the course is lighter than the peak of summer. If August felt like everyone had the same idea on the same weekend it's because they did. 

That's four ways to play, one place to stay, and a 19th hole that can actually cook. The only real decision left is whether you're bringing friends or just your own best company and a healthy tolerance for the front nine.

Book it. Golf is waiting.