Kelowna, BC
 

We are interested in going to Kelowna and surrounding area to go to some of the wineries and maybe have 1 round of golf. Any suggestions on accomodations, wineries, etc. Let me know your suggestions, please.

Looking for nice accomodations-doesn't have to be 4-5 star, but give us elbow room, and that feeling of, "yes, we are in vacation mode."

Its an OK town...just okay due to some appallingly greedy town planning that has it's major thoroughfare lined with EVERY fast-food outlet and big-box store known to humankind. The real attractions are the wonderful setting and surrounding small towns like Summerland and Penticton.

ON the plus side that fast-food alley also includes every motel chain. We stayed in March in a Holiday Inn Express at a very good rate and near to the aiport and highway (we were on our way further north).

But, when I tried to make reservations for business purposes for August, I got the shock of my life-twice the daily rate and no booking shorter than a week!

We did a search around and came up with some other place (not very interesting and no bargain either).

I sincerely hope you are thinking of post-high season!

There are lots of nice accommodations in Kelowna. LJ is describing the area that is the highway running through the city basicaly. The nicer areas accommodations are not on the highway. Its true that a lot of the resorts require a week's booking but there are many that do not. When are you planning to visit? Here is the website for a very nice resort that isn't as pricey as some of the others but will certainly give you the "vacation mode" feel you want. It is located just south of Kelowna (15 mins) in Westbank. The location is good because you can see many more wineries and from there. http://www.covelakeside.com/ It has excellent reviews on tripadvisor as well.

Again - it depends on when you are planning on visiting and for how long. Just post again if you want more detailed info on the area and wineries, golf courses etc.

Thank you for the info--no being on the major highway isn't my idea of a nice scenic location. We thought we would leave on Sunday, coming back on Wednesday (7th-10th of June). We thought we would be ahead of the rush.

More info, please and thank you.
Jean

Jean - It sounds like you will be driving so where are you coming from? If you are coming from Washington you will cross the border at Osoyoos. I am wondering if you really want to go to Kelowna. The best area for visiting wineries is between Osoyoos and Oliver. Oliver is the "wine capital of Canada" There are some resorts in Osoyoos that are not out of sight pricewise http://www.walnutbeachosoyoos.com/

There are several excellent golf courses in the area - my husband belongs to Fairview Mountain and it really is a spectacular course for views of the vineyards and orchards. http://www.fairviewmountain.com/ Basically if you are coming for wineries this really is the area. Again let me know and I can give you more info. The drive between Penticton and Kelowna is a little challenging right now because there are road closures throughout the day so if you are coming up 97 you could avoid that by staying in the Osoyoos/Oliver area.

Burrowing Owl winery has an excellent restaurant http://www.bovwine.ca/ with gorgeous views as well.

Jean: I think you would do well to follow traveller69's local advice...the Okanogan has some wonderful areas, but Kelowna is probably the least charming with the added irritation of summer construction. We have family in the Valley and love just about all of it except that particular stretch of Kelowna highway!

Thanks a lot, I'll take a look at your suggestions! Always appreciate input.
Jean :-)

Well, we left last Sunday the 7th and came back the evening of the 10th. We made it to Pentictin the first night. Wow are the Visitor Centers nice in Canada with extremely helpful and knowledgable people!

We stayed at the Ramada the first night and had a great room in the tower section. Very nice room, but the bed was much harder than we prefer.

We visited at least 18 wineries in all--and did have lunch at Sumac Ridge--which is the spot where the road construction gets backed up. However, we were given a schedule of the road closures by the visitors which made it quite easy to work with. Spent the night at a lovely B&B in the west bank of Kelowna. The drive was beautiful--and most of the wineries had great views! Even checked out the cheese place out beyond Cedar Creek Winery (Carmelis?) and had a sandwich there. The goats are funny! Took us all day to make it back to Pentictin where we got an opportunity to ask for suggestions for another B&B which was great. Liked it immensely--great view--wonderful people--in fact enjoyed them so much we've invited them to our home in Chelan, WAshington.
Great trip--very relaxing and great fun.

Oh, and yes, Ladies, found a great gift shop in Pentictin--called Terwilligers--right next to Theo's Greek Restaurant on Main Street. It's fabulous!

Thanks for the tips!
Jean