The Westin Ottawa

The Westin Ottawa is in a great location — right in the center of the city and close to many restaurants, shops, and attractions. Our King room faced Parliament Hill, which made for an interesting and historic view, especially as descendants of enslaved people visiting such a symbolic oppressive space. That said, the “upgrade” we received wasn’t much of one. The room was clean-ish — not terrible, but not impressive either. Unfortunately, I’ve come to notice a pattern across many Marriott properties: dirty walls and floors, random stains, showers with mildew, and low-quality bedding (think 200-thread-count sheets). The Westin Ottawa wasn’t an exception to that trend. The hotel room was aged and dated, and would benefit from a good clean. On the bright side, I used Marriott points for this stay, so my $100 cash spend felt well worth it. If you plan to stay here, I’d recommend doing the same — it makes the experience much easier to justify. A few practical notes: Valet parking is prohibited for ball teams, which seemed unnecessary and inconvenient. Parking costs $30 per day with no in-and-out privileges, which adds up quickly. The front entrance is always crowded, so patience is a must. The hotel connects directly to the Rideau Centre mall, which is convenient if you plan to shop, but not particularly useful otherwise. The breakfast buffet was tasty and well-prepared, though pricey at around $40 per person. Finally, a heads-up for families: while there are plenty of restaurants nearby, we were surprised to discover that most (about 90%) don’t serve children — something worth knowing before planning meals out. Overall, a decent stay for the location, but far from luxurious. I’d recommend it if you’re using points or looking for convenience — not if you’re expecting a premium Westin experience.

When checking in at 3 pm they found us a room available which was great! The elevators and card access can at first be tricky to use but we did appreciate the security. Room was large with a great view of the Fairmont and Parliament Buildings. We were there for one night en route to Quebec. The room had older furnishings but the beds were nice and ac worked well! We had the buffet included in our room rate. The buffet was lovely with a great selection! Hotel and wait staff were very helpful and based on location and overall amenities we would definitely visit again!

Good: room was clean, location was very convenient Not so good: room dated, was on parliament side and would hear road noise all night even with earplugs, drapes gap in the middle so light comes in, when I checked in at night the front desk was empty. After standing there a couple of minutes I asked the woman at the concierge desk if anyone was working the front desk. She came over asked for ID and credit card and handed me one key. No "welcome to the Westin" no, "thank you for being a titanium member" no asking if I wanted points or breakfast, no directions to the elevator, no information about where the restaurant is or hours. I was shocked and said to her "wow, usually hotels say welcome, thank you for being a titanium. Would you like points or a welcome gift". She just stared at me. Got to my room, no welcome note. Usually there's a little note and token gift. The next day I go to breakfast and they hand me a bill because "I chose 1000 points" nope actually told the front desk woman I wanted the breakfast. Seriously least hospitable Marriott I've ever visited.

When we first entered our room there was a very strong mildew smell. So bad, I knew there was no way I could sleep easily with the odor. They moved us to a room on the 23rd floor and this room also smelled of mildew, but not as bad. We stuck it out for three nights with no ill effects. Everything elso was fine, including location and services, but the mildew smell will stop me from staying here again.

This was out second stay at Westin Ottawa, our first being in 2022. During our first stay we realized that we loved the location and the feel of the hotel. We did have an issue on that stay but, it was settled by customer service after we returned home. This time, we stayed for 4 nights (last time was 3 stars), and returned home a few days ago. Here are my thoughts: Pros: Location!!! As others have mentioned, this hotel is prime location (and affordable. We were roughly $350ish per night-we saved up for this and planned for it). By staying at this hotel, you are walking distance to Parliament Hill, various restaurants, and Byward Market. You are also attached to Rideau Centre which is one of my favorite parts. We enjoyed the food court for dinner a few times (better than average in our opinion) and liked the various shops (although they are on the expensive side). We noted last stay that this hotel was so well located (for the price) and that we wanted to come back. We also got 2 bottles of water per day in our room which was wonderful! Service at this hotel is great. Very friendly. Hotel was very clean and quiet. We were right across from the ice area, which made us nervous at checkin, but we never heard anything in our room. No noises next door. No people getting ice. Maybe no one but us was using the ice but, either way, it worked for us. Outside you can easily get a taxi. They have a button to push for Blueline (not our favorite, unfortunately as we were ripped off one trip) and a taxi appears within a minute or two. Briefly explored the gift shop. Standard gift shop apparel. We found better deals in Rideau Centre and Byward Market for our souvenirs and snacks. Daly's Express was good for coffee and we got a pastry one day. Very nice experience, and very convenient. Cons: Our room was not the cleanest on checkin. I did take pictures but, for some reason, they won't upload here. Our ice bucket was dirty (black stuff on the top-did not get a picture), I washed it before using it in the sink. We had a chair in our room and it was very stained. We chose not to enjoy it as a result. Bathroom was fine although, I do have a towels complaint. We had two adults in our room. We got one (1) bath sheet (larger towel). We have 4 bath towels (smaller), and about 10 hand towels. One larger towel that fit around each of us. My mom used it our first two days, we asked for new towels, and I used it the second two days. Two adults in the room, one towel to fit us. Also, hard to get hot water in the shower and the toilet often needed several flushes to work. In our room itself, the dresser drawers were not great because they would open randomly, especially through the night. I don't know if they were broken. Also, the phone in our room did not work. We ordered room service one night and could not call to have the dishes taken. I tried to call the front desk on my cell but that also did not work. Finally, I walked to the front desk to ask for someone to come get them. Daly's Restaurant: I would say do not bother. They have a breakfast buffet, $40 per person. We did it last visit and it was SO GOOD! We were looking forward to going back, even at the higher price. We would not do it again. It was smaller than last time, and the food was cold. I found one hot item. The hostess was wonderful to us but our server was not great. I am willing to bet you could get a better breakfast (for cheaper) elsewhere in the area. or, we saw a lot of people ordering off the menu, which might have been a clue. Room Service: We used this one night. It was super easy to order, decent options, and it came fast. We ordered steak and fries, caesar salad, and gyoza to share. It was $145 with tip and fees. Okay, not problem, room service is expensive. The steak was great, gyoza were great, the caesar was the issue here. $20 for an overdressed (badly overdressed) salad with bottle dressing ands stale croutons. They sent rolls (hamburger buns) with our meal, they were hockey pucks. We both agreed we would not entertain room service on an future trips. View: Do not get me wrong, we had a good view. We chose the Byward Market view. At night, the lights were pretty. During the day, we had rooftops. I am not sure why this was labeled "Byward View" because you only saw the rooftop. We had more of a view of the top of Rideau Centre. I would not pay extra for this view. Early Checkin: Before arriving, I received an email from Concierge offering us early checkin, for a fee. We did consider it as our flight was due to arrive at noon and checkin was 4pm. I asked what the price was and was directed back to the website. Over $100 for the early checkin so, we decided against it. Now, our flight was an hour delay but, by the time I turned off airplane model, I had the notification that our room was ready. Hot tip, they will store your luggage at the hotel. I would not (my opinion) pay the early checkin in fee unless I was arriving super early (my last trip was to Hamilton and I arrived at 7:30am, I might have considered it that early-big maybe). Doors to Rideau Centre: You can go through the 3rd floor at this hotel to get to the Rideau Centre. Super convenient and we used this often. My one issue was the large brown doors going out. There was not handicap button for those. You had to push them (from what we could see) to get out. This was an issue because my mother is using a walker, so she could never go through them on her own, only with me for the assistance. I also helped other people in wheelchairs on their own with these doors. I was very surprised by this because people do need this service at times. Like I said, I looked all over and did not see any buttons to open those doors for people who needed the extra help. If I am wrong and missed it, I am sorry but I did make an effort to find this button purely so my mother had the assistance if I was not with her. Overall, I will say 4 stars because I think we would stay here again. Our overall room was clean, bed was fine, we liked the location of our room, and it was very large. No tripping on each other, which was appreciated. We had a reservation at the Shore Club for the last night but ended up cancelling it last minute (sorry!) because my mother was unwell.