NWWanderer

I just got back from a trip to Tofino and Vancouver and thought I'd post a short report. I live in Seattle and have been to both places numerous times, just for context.

In Tofino, we rented a 3 BR house on S. Chesterman Beach through Tofino Vacation Rentals. That really worked out nicely as there were 3 of us traveling and we each wanted our own room (and all the cabins at Middle Beach, which is where I usually stay, were booked for the week between Christmas and NY by the time we made our plans). The house was well-equipped and comfortable, with a nice view of the ocean and Frank Island.

We cooked in 3 out of 5 nights. The restaurants we went to were Rain Coast Cafe, which was quite good (I'd been there before and wanted to see if it was still good), and the Pointe at the Wick for a fantastic Christmas Eve feast. We all had the prix fixe menu and it was really wonderful. At times in the past I've felt the Pointe was a bit formal for Tofino but they really did a nice job and the service was great. Since we weren't staying at the Wick and we had a 5:30 reservation, I was a little worried we'd be rushed through our meal to accommodate later diners but that didn't happen at all.

I wasn't able to get into the spa at the Wick since they (understandably) give priority to guests, but I had a nice massage at the Sacred Stone in town.

After 5 days of relaxing, reading and walking on the beach, we headed over to Vancouver for 2 nights. We stayed at my favorite hotel in Vancouver, the Sutton Place. I know there have been some not so great reports about that hotel recently, and it had been a year since I'd been there last so I was curious to see how it would be. While I still think it's a wonderful hotel, it does seem that some things have definitely slipped. There were no robes in my room, for instance...of course they brought them right away when I called, but that's the type of thing that I don't think would have happened before. The room itself was fine (no wear and tear on carpets etc that other people have commented on), but I found the mattress to be very hard this time (I don't remember that being an issue before) and the heating system to be very loud (that I do remember as an issue previously). And the bathroom definitely showed some wear and tear (my shower drain didn't work properly, even the day after I mentioned it to housekeeping). The front desk, bellman, valet and concierge staff were all great, as usual.

We had a wonderful meal at an old favorite, Le Crocodile (after being stuck in traffic for 90 minutes from Horseshoe Bay to downtown we didn't want to venture far from the hotel)...that place still does a great job and the service is fantastic. The next night, we tried Feenie's--I love Lumiere so I wanted to give Rob Feenie's casual place a try. While the food was very good, the ambience and service were a bit lacking, we thought. It's very loud (and it didn't help that we were seated in the bar rather than the dining room, which on a Friday night was quite the scene--if I give it another try, I'll know to ask for the dining room next time), and our server just disappeared from our section for long stretches at a time. We had to keep asking for basic things like having our water glasses refilled.

I had a nice casual soup and salad lunch at Earl's at the corner of Hornby and Smithe while taking a break from shopping.

I like to walk around the seawall whenever I'm in Vancouver but this time it was closed past Third Beach (where the Sequoia Grill is) due to damage to the wall from the big windstorm a couple weeks ago. Apparently a whole bunch of trees came down--I didn't see the part of the park that was hardest hit (Prospect Point) although I did see a number of downed trees on the walk on the seawall from English Bay to Third Beach. Apparently the seawall was shattered in numerous places so they aren't sure how long it will take to repair.

Anyway, overall, it was a wonderful trip to two of my favorite places.

Judy_in_Calgary

Thank you for your informative trip report, NWWanderer.

Glad to hear you had a good time.

Orcas

Good trip report! We haven't been to Tofino, though I have read wonderful things about it. How long did it take you to get there? Did you take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria? Is it generally overcast in Tofino, like Seattle? (I think Victoria is sunnier and Vancouver is about the same as Seattle. Is this your impression?)


We're finding winter break a wonderful time to visit Canada.

NWWanderer

It usually takes about 8 hours to get to Tofino from Seattle but this time it took 10 hours because we knew the BC ferries would be busy on the 23rd and the portion of the ferry that they take reservations for was sold out by the time we planned our trip, so we got there almost 2 hours before the 10:15 ferry just in case because we didn't want to have to drive the mountain road to Tofino in the dark (the next ferry wasn't until 12:45 PM). We took the Tsawwassen/Nanaimo ferry--that's the most direct route. 2.5 hours from Seattle to Tsawwassen, 2 hours on the ferry, then a little under 3 hours from Nanaimo to Tofino. If you take the PA ferry, there would be an additional 2 hours of driving from Victoria to Nanaimo.

Yes, the weather in Tofino is pretty similar to Seattle, but even stormier because there's nothing between it and the Pacific (at least we have the Olympics to absorb some of the rain). We had a couple stormy days which was fine with us--storm-watching is a major winter activity there--and a couple of sunny but cold and windy days.

TahitiTams

Great trip report NWWanderer!
I loved Sutton Place but the rooms were so worn and tired and the beds were hard as rocks..the staff is outstanding..
The GM did the honorable thing since I had photos of my room and he was disgusted by what he saw and compensated my cost 100% of the room which was first class!

NWWanderer

Hi TahitiTams, yes, I remember your trip report and was surprised to read your impression of the rooms based on my prior visits to the hotel. I wouldn't put the room I stayed in or that my friend was in in the "worn and tired" category, however--my overall impression of the room was favorable. It sounds like you got one that was in dire need of refurbishment and that the GM recognized that and refunded your money which was obviously the right thing to do.