Best Western Hotels in Ottawa: A Traveller's Guide
Ottawa is Canada's capital, a bilingual city split by the Ottawa River from Gatineau, Quebec, and shaped by a mix of government buildings, museums, and a compact downtown core. Whether you're visiting for Parliament Hill, the national museums, or a business trip to the tech corridor in Kanata, where you stay changes how much time you spend commuting versus sightseeing. This guide walks through the city's layout, how to plan your visit, and how to book a Best Western hotel directly for the most current rate.
About Ottawa
Ottawa sits at the meeting point of the Ottawa, Rideau, and Gatineau rivers, with Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal forming the visual core of downtown. The Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, becomes the world's largest skating rink in winter and a walking and cycling corridor the rest of the year.
The city has distinct seasons that affect what there is to do: spring brings the Canadian Tulip Festival, summer is festival season with Canada Day events on Parliament Hill, autumn offers foliage along the canal and in Gatineau Park, and winter centres on skating and Winterlude. Each season draws a different crowd and changes hotel demand accordingly.
Beyond downtown, Ottawa has a suburban side that matters for business travellers: Kanata, west of the city, is home to a large technology and telecom corridor, while areas near the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) suit travellers prioritising easy departures over sightseeing.
Choosing where to stay
Downtown, around Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal, puts you within walking distance of the main government buildings, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Byward Market area, Ottawa's historic market district with restaurants, bars, and shops. This is the most convenient base for a first visit focused on sightseeing.
Centretown, just south of the downtown core, is quieter and more residential, with easy access to the canal pathway and a short walk or transit ride into the main attractions. It can be a good middle ground if you want some distance from the busiest tourist areas.
Kanata, in the city's west end, is oriented toward business travel, with office parks and tech company campuses rather than tourist sights. It makes sense if your trip is work-related, but expect to need a car or rideshare to reach downtown attractions.
Areas near the airport suit travellers with early flights or short layovers who don't need proximity to the museums or Parliament Hill. Since our Ottawa listings can change, always check bestwestern.online directly for current properties and their exact locations before booking.
Planning your stay
Two to three nights is enough to cover Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, the Canadian Museum of History across the river in Gatineau, and a walk through the Byward Market. Add extra nights if you want to include Gatineau Park or a deeper look at the Canadian War Museum and other national institutions.
Ottawa's public transit system, OC Transpo, includes bus routes and a light rail line (the O-Train) connecting downtown to other parts of the city; it's a practical way to get around without a car, especially if your hotel is near a station.
From the airport, taxis and rideshares are the most straightforward way into the city centre; check with your hotel or the airport's own information desk for current public transit connections, since routes and schedules can change.
Winter visits mean packing for genuinely cold temperatures and checking whether canal skating is open, as conditions depend on the season. Summer visits coincide with the highest hotel demand around Canada Day in early July, so book that period well ahead.
How to book the best rate
Booking directly through bestwestern.online means no third-party markup and no account required, so the rate you see is tied directly to the hotel rather than a travel agency fee layered on top.
Rates for any given Best Western property fluctuate with demand, so the figure that matters is the live rate shown on the site at the time you book, not a number you might see quoted elsewhere. Check current rates directly for your specific dates.
Flexibility on dates can make a real difference in Ottawa, since government sessions, festivals, and conference seasons all push demand up independently of the usual summer tourist peak.
If you're choosing between a downtown location and one further out, factor in the cost and time of getting into the centre, not just the room rate, since a cheaper outlying stay can be offset by taxi or transit costs.