Christmas Party Venues in Ottawa: Which Rooms Come Decorated
The Short Answer
Short answer: Christmas party venues in Ottawa come in three kinds: rooms that arrive dressed for the season, halls that ask you to bring the decor, and restaurant rooms and rental spaces whose pages say nothing about decor at all. Of seven venues read on September 26, 2026, one says every room has a Christmas tree up (ONŌ at the Château Cartier in Gatineau), one says outside decorators are welcome (the Saint Elias Centre by Mooney’s Bay), and five publish no decor rule.
Size decides the rest. For a team under about 30, a restaurant’s private room usually suits: Brookstreet’s Private Dining Room takes 14 and the board room at KS on the Keys 20 to 24. Past that, you are choosing between a hall with a stage and a hotel with rooms upstairs.
Unless the room arrives dressed, the decor is a separate booking from the venue. What we build for an office Christmas party in any of these rooms, and how the load-in works, is on our service page.
Written by Heba Alfarra, Owner & Lead Designer at Sparkle Events · Last updated
Seven Venues
Seven Ottawa Christmas party venues, from their own pages
Each row is what the venue publishes itself, read on September 26, 2026. Two hotels, a hall, three restaurants and a rental room, from Kanata and Stittsville in the west to Gatineau across the river.
| Venue | Where | Rooms and guests | Decor, as the venue puts it | Parking and getting home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONŌ at the Château Cartier Hôtel & Resort | 1176 Chemin d’Aylmer, Gatineau | About 12,000 sq ft of event space, in rooms sized from small groups to large company parties | “Each room is adorned with a twinkling Christmas tree and decorations” | Complimentary parking, and blocks of hotel rooms on request |
| Saint Elias Centre | 750 Ridgewood Ave, across from Mooney’s Bay | An 11,500 sq ft hall with a full-size theatre stage and a lobby | Your own decorations can be added, outside decor vendors are welcome, and the centre offers festive linens to match | Free parking on site |
| KS on the Keys | 1029 Daze St | A private event room (the page says up to 100 in one place and 110 in another), a private board room for 20 to 24, and semi-private areas for 20 to 90, including a second floor space for up to 60 | No decor rule published | Not stated on the page |
| Brookstreet Hotel | 525 Legget Drive, Kanata | The Private Dining Room in Perspectives for up to 14; the 18th floor Connections Lounge, 1,300 sq ft with sofas and a dining table for ten; boardrooms and meeting rooms | The holiday parties page lists rooms and a menu, and no decor | A hotel; the Connections Lounge has a King guestroom attached |
| Lago | 1001 Queen Elizabeth Driveway, by Dows Lake | “Flexible event spaces” for a plated dinner or a standing reception with action stations; no capacity published | No decor rule; the page offers “the flexibility to create your own vision” | A covered garage at 880 Carling Ave, entered from Carling or Prince of Wales |
| ALE | 54 Springbrook Drive, Stittsville | Rooms with “adaptable layouts” for a festive lunch, an after-work gathering or a dinner; no capacity published | No decor rule published | “Ample parking space”, per the page |
| Fieldhouse Event Space | 303 Richmond Rd | One bright, modern room rented by the hour or the day, space only or fully supported; no capacity published | Nothing published; the page says the room “can be customized to suit your vision” | Not stated on the page |
Three Kinds of Room
What each kind of venue leaves you to bring
The room that arrives dressed for December
ONŌ, at the Château Cartier Hôtel & Resort on Chemin d’Aylmer in Gatineau, is the only venue here that promises seasonal decor. Its Christmas party page says each room “is adorned with a twinkling Christmas tree and decorations carefully selected to create the perfect ambiance”.
That changes what is worth paying for. The tree and the garland are covered. A dressed room rarely has the spots people use most: somewhere to take the group photo, a front for the speeches, and a welcome at the door with the company’s name on it. Put the decor budget into those.
Ask for one thing before you plan any of it: a photograph of your room as it will be dressed that week. “Decorations carefully selected” tells you a tree is coming, not its colour. If your party is black and gold and the room is red and green, you want to know in October.
The hall that asks you to bring the decor
The Saint Elias Centre at 750 Ridgewood Ave, across from Mooney’s Bay, puts it plainly. Its Christmas party post says “your own dazzling party decorations can be added if desired”, and the FAQ on its special events page says clients are welcome to work with external vendors for decorations, music and entertainment. The hall is 11,500 square feet with a full-size theatre stage.
A hall that size is where decor does the most work, because an empty hall at night looks like an empty hall. The stage is already built, so speeches and awards have a front, and a backdrop behind the lectern turns it into the spot everyone photographs. After that, the entrance and the tables.
The same post offers “festive linens to match your decor”, so the tablecloth colour is part of the hall’s service. Settle the linens first and design the centrepieces to them, rather than bringing a second set of table colour to fight the first. The centre also lets you use its caterers or bring your own, which our guide to banquet halls in Ottawa compares across nine halls.
The restaurant room, and the room that is a blank page
KS on the Keys, Lago, ALE and Brookstreet’s dining rooms publish menus and room sizes and say nothing about decorations. In a restaurant the tables are yours for the night and the walls are the restaurant’s, so plan decor that sits on the table: centrepieces, place cards, a sign at the door. It goes in within minutes and nobody has to ask about a wall.
Fieldhouse Event Space at 303 Richmond Rd sits at the other end. It is a single bright room, rented by the hour or the day, “from simple space-only rentals to fully supported events”. A room like that brings nothing to the season, which also means nothing is in your way. Ask what furniture comes with it, since the page does not list any, and plan the whole room: tables, a photo spot, lighting for after dark.
Private or Shared
A private room or a semi-private one
KS on the Keys separates the two on its event spaces page. Its private event room and its board room are closed rooms. Its semi-private areas take 20 to 90, and the largest of them is a second floor space for up to 60, reached by elevator and overlooking the restaurant below.
For a work party the difference is the speeches. In a semi-private area, a toast with a microphone and a queue for the photo wall both happen in front of diners who are not with you. If the night has awards or a thank-you from the CEO, book the closed room. If it is dinner and conversation, the semi-private floor is fine, and the decor stays on the tables and off the walls the restaurant shares.
Other Ways to Do It
Restaurants, a lunch, or an activity
Christmas party restaurants in Ottawa
For a team of about 30 or fewer, a restaurant’s private room is often the whole answer. Brookstreet’s Private Dining Room in Perspectives takes up to 14. KS on the Keys can rent its rooms by the hour or with food from its own kitchen. Lago offers a plated meal or a standing reception with action stations and passed appetizers. For two more restaurant rooms in Little Italy and on Preston Street, with their capacities, see our office Christmas party ideas.
A lunch instead of an evening
ALE in Stittsville lists a festive lunch among its holiday party formats, beside an after-work gathering and a dinner, and its page says it is open seven days a week for private events. A lunch suits a team with people who cannot stay out in the evening, and it moves the party out of the four nights every other company wants.
An activity venue
Yelp’s Ottawa search for Christmas parties mixes pubs and an arts centre with an axe-throwing hall and a virtual reality venue. At a venue like that the activity is the evening, and decor has one job left: a sign with the company’s name and one place for the group photo afterwards.
After the Party
How everyone gets home
Settle it when you choose the room. Two of these venues answer it with a bed. ONŌ offers blocks of rooms at the Château Cartier, and its page puts it this way: “No need to worry about driving home after the party.” Brookstreet is a hotel, and its 18th floor Connections Lounge comes with a King guestroom attached.
For everyone else it is parking and rides. The Saint Elias Centre’s FAQ answers yes to free parking for guests. ONŌ’s parking is complimentary. Lago’s guests park in a covered garage at 880 Carling Ave, entered from Carling or Prince of Wales. ALE promises ample parking. KS on the Keys and Fieldhouse do not say, so ask.
In Ontario, a licensed restaurant or hotel serves under its own liquor licence. A rental room without one is different: serving alcohol at a private event there is done under a special occasion permit from the AGCO, which describes a private event as one with invited guests only. ONŌ is in Gatineau, so the Ontario permit does not apply there; ask the venue how it serves.
Before You Book
Eight questions to ask a venue, from the decorator’s side
None of the seven pages answers all of these. They are the questions that decide what can be built in the room, so they are worth asking before the deposit rather than after.
1. What is already in the room in December?
A tree, garland on the windows, the hall’s own linens. Ask for a photograph of your room as it will look that week, so you pay for what is missing and nothing twice.
2. When can a decorator get in, and is that time part of our booking?
The answer sets the size of the build. An afternoon allows an entrance and a stage. Half an hour before the doors open allows the tables and a sign.
3. What can go on the walls, and can anything hang from the ceiling?
If the answer is no to both, the room still works, because our backdrops stand on their own frames. It decides which pieces go where.
4. Where are the power outlets?
Anything lit needs one within reach. Health Canada’s holiday safety advice says never to run cords across doorways or under carpets, so the outlets decide where the lit pieces stand.
5. Are candles, confetti or glitter allowed?
Either rule changes the table design, so ask before the centrepieces are chosen.
6. Who takes the decor down, and by when?
In December a room can have another party the next day. Agree the time everything has to be out, and who carries it.
7. Is the room fully private?
A semi-private area shares the restaurant’s floor. Speeches and a photo wall happen in front of other diners.
8. Is the room licensed to serve alcohol?
In Ontario, serving alcohol at a private event in a room without a liquor licence is done under an AGCO special occasion permit. A licensed restaurant or hotel serves under its own licence.
The outlet advice is from Health Canada’s holiday decoration safety page. For the dates themselves, and why the four good December nights go first, see when to book an office Christmas party.
Once You Have the Room
What a decorator does in any of these rooms
The venue decides what the room already has. We fill in the rest, and it is usually the same four places: the entrance guests walk through, the photo wall, the stage or the spot where somebody gives a speech, and the tables. We build inside whatever access window the venue gives, and come back the same night to take it all out.
What that looks like for a company party, from the entrance to the teardown, is on our office Christmas party planners page. Send us the venue and the room, and we will tell you what it is missing.
Questions
Christmas party venues in Ottawa, answered
What are good Christmas party venues in Ottawa?
It depends on the size of the team and how much of the night should be done for you. For a big company party, a hall with a stage, such as the Saint Elias Centre by Mooney’s Bay, or a hotel with rooms upstairs. For a team of 14 to about 30, a restaurant’s private room, such as Brookstreet’s Private Dining Room or the board room at KS on the Keys. For a room that is already dressed for December, ONŌ at the Château Cartier in Gatineau says every room has a tree up.
Which Ottawa venues come decorated for Christmas?
Of the seven venues compared here, only ONŌ at the Château Cartier says so on its Christmas party page: each room has a Christmas tree and decorations. A tree in the lobby is not a tree in your room, so ask what will be in the room you are booking, and ask for a photograph.
Can we bring our own decorations to a Christmas party venue?
Usually, within rules. The Saint Elias Centre says your own decorations can be added and outside decor vendors are welcome. Restaurants tend to allow table decor and little on the walls. Ask about candles, confetti, anything fixed to a wall, and the time you can get in to set up.
What should we ask a venue before booking a Christmas party?
Five things decide the decor: what is already in the room in December, when a decorator can get in, what can go on the walls and ceiling, where the power outlets are, and when everything has to be out. Then two that decide the night: whether the room is fully private, and whether it is licensed to serve alcohol.
Where can a small team have a Christmas party in Ottawa?
In a private dining room. Brookstreet’s Private Dining Room takes up to 14, and the board room at KS on the Keys takes 20 to 24. At that size the decor goes on the table: centrepieces, place cards and a sign at the door. ALE in Stittsville also lists a festive lunch among its holiday party formats, for a team that cannot do an evening.
How do people get home after an office Christmas party?
Settle it when you choose the venue. ONŌ offers blocks of rooms at the Château Cartier, and Brookstreet is a hotel. Where people drive, the venues here publish their parking: free at the Saint Elias Centre, complimentary at ONŌ, a covered garage for Lago at 880 Carling Ave, and ample parking at ALE.
Where This Came From
Every fact, from its own source
Each venue fact was read on September 26, 2026 on the venue’s own website. Venues change their rooms and their December offers, so confirm the current version before you book.
- ONŌ Experience: Corporate Christmas parties
- Saint Elias Centre: Have your corporate Christmas party at the St. Elias Centre
- Saint Elias Centre: Special events, including the FAQ
- KS on the Keys: Event spaces
- Brookstreet Hotel: Holiday parties
- Lago: Holiday parties
- ALE: Holiday parties
- Fieldhouse Event Space: Home page, event space
- Health Canada: Holiday decoration, apparel and gift safety
- AGCO: Special occasion permits
- Yelp: Christmas party search, Ottawa
Tell us the venue you are looking at
Sparkle Events works from a studio at 99 Ralph Erfle Wy in Nepean and installs across Ottawa, Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans, Gloucester and Gatineau. Send the venue, the date and the headcount, and we will tell you what the room needs for the night.
Sparkle Events was named a Winner of the 2026 Canadian Choice Award in the Event Planning Services category for Ottawa.