Mission Hill Family Estate Winery — Attraction in West Kelowna

Having been a frequent visitor from Nova Scotia at least annually (my parents live in West Kelowna and I grew up in Trail), I have visited Mission Hill several times times, including wine tastings, three wine tours and have enjoyed a few meals, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed…. In the past. I am currently visiting West Kelowna for my dad’s 90th birthday. Today (August 3rd), I went to the winery to pick up wine for his birthday celebration with friends and family. Upon arrival, I was turned away at the entrance as I did not have reservations and I would have to pay an entrance fee just to purchase wine. I always purchase wine in person and bring home to Nova Scotia with me. In addition, I always purchase other items such as books, decor etc. On top of this, I always order 12 bottles to be shipped to Nova Scotia on every visit as Mission Hill wine is very difficult to find in Nova Scotia.

I am graduate of the post secondary Business Tourism diploma program in NSCC and through skills and experience, I am very knowledgeable about not only tourism, but also wine, most particularly NS Wine. I also do professional travel photography and write freelance reviews.

Up until this summer, I have always given Mission Hill top ratings with five stars. Your winery estate is stunning, with wine that is a must for any one who enjoys a fine wine. Your meals and meal preparation is, as always, stunning. Your hosts on the wine tours were always very knowledgeable and professional in nature.

However, with my experience today at your estate, if I could rate you with zero stars, I certainly would. I think it’s important for others to be aware that Mission Hill, with its new policy, will come to realize that many potential guests will soon see that Mission Hill now sees themselves as being exclusive and this will turn away many in the future. From my experience in the wine tourism industry in Nova Scotia and as a frequent visitor to Mission Hill, this new policy will reflect poorly on your business.

I would like to wish you the best in the future, but I do believe that your new policy will have a very negative impact.

Today, I was going to make a purchase of six bottles of wine for my dad’s 90th birthday celebration, in addition to ordering 12 bottles to be shipped back to Nova Scotia. However, due to your new policy, I took my business elsewhere.

Reading other reviews, you consistently ask those to share your experiences at your email address, when indeed they shared their experiences in their reviews. The response from you indicates a scripted response, which to a trained observer is very unprofessional.

If you’d like me to further explain my experience, I would like to talk to your onsite manager in person, not through an email which most likely will not be answered.

I sincerely wish that I had a much better experience at your winery estate today, but I must say that it was certainly a disappointment, in which I will be passing on to others elsewhere.

If your onsite hospitality manager (or equivalent) would like to contact me prior to me returning to Nova Scotia on the early morning of the 6th of August, please let me know how to contact them directly and not through an email account with...

The view was great and the wine was good too. But the service staff's attitude later on was very unsatisfactory. At first, when introducing the wine, the service was excellent. But after we bought the wine, her attitude changed. The wine we bought was out of stock in the store, but we had already paid. She asked if we could change to another one, which would cost an additional 30 dollars. We agreed. She then gave us a tablet to fill in our bank card information. We refused to provide our personal bank card details (as shown in the last picture). She said it was a must. We then asked if we could pay in cash. She said yes. We went to the car in the parking lot to get 30 dollars in cash and gave it to her. But she said it was 4 dollars short 😵‍??. We said you told us it was 30 dollars and we took 30 dollars. If you wanted 34 dollars, you should have told us to take 34 dollars. Why did you do this to us? She then said unhappily, "Then I'll pay the 4 dollars for you," and put the wine directly on the table and walked away ??. She didn't even open the box for us to check the wine (it was only after we paid the 34 dollars and asked her to do so that she opened it for us to check). This sudden departure left us stunned 🙀! We had to go back to the car in the parking lot to get the 4 dollars. I gave you 50 dollars as a tip. Do you think I'm going to be bothered by 4 dollars? Just because I didn't want to give you my bank information, you treated me like this? The wine was recommended by you. Why didn't you check if it was in stock at that time? We had already paid. It's not my fault that the wine was out of stock. You asked me to add 30 dollars to change to another wine and I agreed. You never told me it would be 34 dollars. You made us go to the parking lot twice to get cash. I didn't get angry, but you were unhappy 😠. If I had known you would act like this, I wouldn't have given you any tip at all 😤😤! We even became members of the winery, but we really don't want to go there again. Our good mood was completely...

If I could give 0 stars, I would. This place and its pretentious staff are absolutely horrible. We were in Kelowna to celebrate my mother’s milestone birthday, and since she had never been to Kelowna, I planned to take her to different wine tastings. Mission Hill was at the very top of our list, and I’m sad to report that it failed us miserably. As we entered the tasting room, contemplating which tastings to get, I started recording on my phone to send a quick video to my sister who couldn’t join us on this trip. Next thing I know, this guy is yelling and screaming at me to put my phone away, saying we weren’t allowed to take photos or videos in there. I was very shocked and baffled by his behavior and loud tone of voice. I looked everywhere to see if there were any signs warning against photos and videos, but there was not a single sign inside or outside the tasting room. I spoke to other staff members to try to find out who this person was, and I was told he is the self-proclaimed “designer” of their winery. There were so many different approaches he could have taken to warn us against taking photos, yet he chose to yell and scream at two grown women, humiliating us in the process. Needless to say, this was our first winery stop on my mom’s special day, and he managed to ruin our entire day. I would 100% not recommend this winery. There are far better wineries in Kelowna with lovely and kind staff who will go above and beyond to make you feel special if you tell them you’re celebrating a special occasion. And they have a better understanding of design. Last note to the so-called “designer”: if you’re reading this, putting on vintage Louis Vuitton and Gucci suitcases is not real a design. That macho behaviour could be the real reason you’re still living in a small town and not being able to make a name...