Very nice hotel for overnight stays. Clean, up to date rooms with nice comfortable beds!
My hotel of choice when overnighting in Ottawa (close to airport and other amenities).
Friendly, helpful staff (front desk, cleaning, maintenance etc), and always have a smile for you.

We stayed at the Southway recently, on the "Stay and Park" package - which doesn't show up when you try to reserve rooms on-line. But it's there - if you stay one night at this particular rate, you get free parking for a week. A good deal compared to airport parking.

As always at the Southway, the hotel and room were clean, comfortable and attractive. The car parking was a little odd: when we checked in, we told them we'd be parking our car there for the week, but we weren't asked for our keys or any details about the car. The next morning, when we checked out on our way to the airport, there were different staff at the front desk - so we asked again if they needed any info about the car, and only at that point did they ask for the key & licence plate #, which we put in an envelope to be kept at the front desk.

When we came to pick up the car a week later, the desk clerk was looking for our name in the car register - it wasn't there. Nobody had filled it in when we dropped the car off a week earlier. So, we filled in the register only upon departure. It seems the "Stay and Park" procedures aren't known to all desk staff yet; I'm just glad they weren't looking for our car in the register in the meantime.

What really inspired me to write this review, though, is our experience with making a 2nd booking on short notice. On checking out of the first stay, we asked if there was any room a week later, in case our flight was late into Ottawa and we needed a room for the night. The desk clerk said "sure, there are lots of rooms for next Saturday". When we did get back on the next Saturday, the hotel was full, and we had to wait a couple of hours for a cancellation. All of which is fine - but when we expressed surprise that the hotel filled up so unexpectedly, the desk clerk - the same one who'd said there was lots of room - told us there were a couple of conferences in town, and then proceeded to lecture us about how the Southway is "the #1 hotel on Trip Advisor in Ottawa" and "very much in demand". Really-!

I'd say that it's never appropriate to lecture to prospective guests, when they're faced with no availability, about how popular the hotel is and how highly rated it is, on Trip Advisor or anywhere else. If the hotel is bad, it harms credibility. If the hotel is good, it just seems like bragging - and doesn't help the prospective guests in any way.

Notwithstanding the front desk anomalies, our stay at the Southway was otherwise comfortable, convenient and a good value. Recommended.

Was in Ottawa for work and was put up at the Southway. Decent rooms, although they seemed a little dated (think pastel pink bathroom tiles) in the area I was in, clean surroundings and friendly staff. The continental breakfast was ok, but I usually stopped for something a little more hearty later in the morning. The hotel is close to the airport and has a free shuttle. If you're looking to go into Downtown Ottawa its about a $30 cab fare. The onsite restaurant is hit or miss, some mornings we were waited on and served in 20mins, other mornings took nearly an hour, that being said the one morning I had room service it showed up on time and hot. There was a swimming pool and hot tub and decent laundry facility. This hotel serves its purpose and I would consider staying here again.

Great job - Totally unexpected!
On a recent business trip (FYI - I am in Ottawa weekly for work and consider the Southway my home away from home) I checked into my room, a pleasant and quick process as usual ... that ended with an amazing surprise. I swiped my card and opened to door to one of the most welcoming tower suites the hotel has to offer! It was an amazing surprise to me - and an even greater surprise to my fiance who decided to accompany me on the trip and arrived at the hotel later that afternoon. The shock on her face when she entered the suite was unforgettable!
All the rooms are inviting, well equiped and very very clean. This suite was beautiful, spacious, modern and spotless.
Thank you Southway for providing us with a little mid week mini vacation!
Key points that made me choose Southway for my weekly trips -
-amazing value and no surprises
-free parking in a well lit lot
-close to my workplace and a selection of chain and independent restaurants
-I was refered to the Southway by friends who have stayed there for weeks at a time while in Ottawa and loved it

Geoff and Cassie