Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa - Adults-Only (16+) — Hotel in Central Saanich

We stayed here last weekend my husband booked a surprise get away for my birthday. We checked in early Saturday around 1pm which was great after enjoying some great food and atmosphere for lunch at the pub. We checked in and I was very happy and excited to know I was booked for a facial which was lovely. Very relaxing. But the look on my husband face showed just pure disappointment. I asked him what was going on and he explained that the room looks nothing like the photos and it was absolutely not what he was expecting especially for the price he paid. Online rooms look very updated and glammed up. After my spa treatment I returned to my room and my husband asked me if I got my complimentary champagne and he was disappointed to find out I didn’t when they said it Would be provided. I then took a shower and proceeded to get ready for our dinner plans. I let the water run for 10 minutes noticing that the water was just warm and wasn’t getting hot. Once I was in the shower I noticed black Mold all around the soap dish in the corner as well as around the soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers. I asked my husband if I was being dramatic because I do love a good hot shower and he confirmed that no water is just warm. He then told me our AC wasn’t working and that our room was getting hotter and hotter. We went down to the front desk and let them know about the issues we were having. The front desk staff seemed very agitated but did say maintenance will look into it. We left for a 30 minute walk to get back to our room which was now at 77 degrees. We returned to the front desk where we got told that no our ac works, there is no Mold and that there is not issues. I was not impressed with her customer services and essentially being called a liar. We asked for someone to please fix the heating issue as we will not be able to sleep in a room so hot. They say they were fully booked and can’t change us rooms but someone will come have a second look. When she came to our room 15 minutes later with a new thermostat she placed it on the wall and it shows heat. My husband commented on let her know it was not on cooling or auto and it needs to be to cool down. She shouted at my husband to not touch it maintenance said not too. My husband explained that he is an electrician and he know how to set thermostat up and set it up properly and it did start blowing cold air. We got received a “ ohh sorry” in a rude tone of voice. While she was in the room I showed her the Mold in the shower and how I could remove it with a qtip. She said she would take a photo and send it to maintenance. ( house cleaning should be aware) we did not receive an apology for her dismissing us and telling us nothing was wrong. When we checked out in the morning we asked to talk to a manager who agreed her notes were on the defensive side and she would be talked too. I explained that I’m aware that stuff happens the heating was out of their control but the cleanliness is unexpected. Mold takes a long time to build up. He told me that they remove them as few time a a year and give them a good scrub down… sorry but these should be washed and cleaned every time someone checks out. I also explained that when I had a bath in the evening the water was much better and asked if maybe the issue was too many people showing or using water at the same time prior to my shower? He said it’s a possibility it’s been an issue in the past when bike crews come in and all shower at the same time. I also explained that as much as we are understanding people and don’t normally complain we did not appreciate the customer services and for a 5 star resort and the amount of money we paid to stay there the customer service and rooms should be much better and we expected much better.

The manager did take $100 off our room which was nice but we were expecting a bit more considering the price of the rooms and poor service and cleanliness.

The rooms should be as advertised and less editing done to give you a better idea of what you’re getting...

We booked a Deluxe Ocean Suite for our last 3 nights on Vancouver Island before heading home. We noted it was a 5-star hotel with all the amenities, and expected to luxuriate with room service and no pressure, and have a perfect end to our holiday.

This did not happen.

First, let me say that the scenery was lovely, the bed was comfortable, and the staff we encountered were lovely and very helpful. They were quick to address any issue we brought up.

But that’s the thing: there were issues to be brought up. Numerous issues. Many were niggling annoyances but nothing huge. Only they kept happening.

A torn leather seat on one of our armchairs. An unreliable plug on the jetted tub. No teaspoons to make coffee or tea. No tissues. A barely functioning fridge, in which there were creamers that had all gone off. A ceiling light operated by a touch panel that would randomly turn itself on for no reason, including once in the middle of the night.

(One “quirk”, a design flaw of the building, is that, in a temperate rainforest of all places, most balconies are not fully covered. Only less than half of the balcony has an overhang, so narrow that if you drag a patio chair into the far corner against the wall and don’t move, you might not get wet. There should at least be an awning or umbrella so that guests can actually enjoy the outdoor space regardless of the weather.)

But the Brentwood’s biggest failing was their food. We stayed with the Brentwood Pub menu, ordering room service because there is little in the way of other food delivery there. (If there had been, believe me, we would have used it.) First, though: the Brentwood Chowder is delicious. It arrived piping hot and beautifully seasoned with loads of seafood. I would recommend that dish to anyone. It’s the only thing I’d recommend. My first and biggest suggestion to the resort: when your “hallway” to suites is outdoors and your restaurant is some distance away, you would be very wise to invest in heated carts. Hell, even the insulated bags that food delivery services have. Other than the chowder, the hot food never was. Many things were overcooked or overfried. We had fish and chips where the fish was so deeply overfried it was dry as dust. A flatbread pizza so dried out from overcooking - or what seemed to be a reheat of a precooked flatbread - that it was inedible. A spinach and cheese dip with 4 whole cloves of virtually raw garlic. It was as if someone thought you could put raw garlic into the dip and cook it, and that would roast the garlic. Lastly, and worst of all, a raw burger. The edges seemed a bit medium rare, but ok - and then I bit into the centre. Raw. Actually raw. The staff were quick to respond and we were refunded the full meal and given and additional credit, which I appreciated. But it was every meal. There was always something either overcooked, undercooked, underseasoned, or otherwise less than tasty about each meal. The breakfasts were OK. But nothing other than the chowder was anything more than middle of the road, at best. What’s more, when we checked out, and these problems were raised, we were assured the food and beverage manager would be contacted and they would get back to us within the week. There was no contact.

We are aware of pandemic challenges, and appreciate the additional issue of understaffing . We expected longer waits, a reduction in some amenities, and adjustments to services to ensure a reduction in potential COVID-19 transmission. Completely understandable. But this was two- or three-star service at five-star prices. If we had booked a middle-of-the-road three-star hotel, we would have been mostly satisfied with what we were offered. (The burger would have still been unforgivable.) But we spent a lot of our money for those three nights at what was advertised to us as a five-star hotel, and it definitely wasn’t. We ended our vacation feeling let down instead of relaxed. We had such hopes for the place. They never...

My wife and I recently stayed at this resort, and boy did we wish we hadn't.

First, when arrived, there was no one at the desk to greet us. It wasn't 5 mins, not 10, but 17 mins of standing and wondering. There was a member of kitchen staff that walked behind the desk and looked at us and kept walking to the back office where 2 office staff sat, in view, with no acknowledgement. At this point there were my wife and I and 2 other couples behind us. Eventually, a lady came running up behind us and was apologetic.

We checked in and went to our room. First impression, the "partial ocean view" was barely even that. To see the ocean, we had to walk out onto our patio and into the gardens to "see" the ocean. Room was clean, but just by looking at the king bed, knew that our sleep was going to be terrible, and it was just that. There were 4 different sized pillows of various types. One of the worst sleeps at a resort ever, and I've been all over North America.

We looked over the large, very appealing menu to decide what we wanted for dinner as we had a reservation at 630pm at the restaurant in the resort. We arrived at the resturant, which we had made a reservation to weeks before, and were told that the only spot was on the sofa next to the live music. We didn't want to sit on the sofa, away from the ocean view, right next to speakers. The greeter said he had a cancelation and we could sit in the main dining area, great! We were seated and given a menu..... a small, menu. There were 3 courses, and options for each course. First course had 3 options, all meat. Well, that's not what my wife expected or wanted. So, as we went to browse the menu that was not the one in our room, the band started playing. Well, damn. I couldn't actually hear myself talk to my wife. It was like having headphones on with loud music, trying to talk. It was rwdiculous. All we wanted was a romantic time away from our children. So, we couldn't even talk about the menu that was optionless and extremely pricey, ($60 per person). We got up and left, after only being seated minutes avoiding a sofa next to speakers we never wanted to be near in the first place.

We went back to our room and ordered off the menu in the room. Food came, wings were good, (not hard to screw up), salmon burger was very fishy, dry and cold. My wife's fish tacos only came as 2, most places serve 3, they were tiny, bland and cold. That was $70 wasted, I mean we could have gone to the grocery store up the street....

There was an option for room service for breakfast. We selected what we wanted, and looked forward to breakfast in our room. After sleeping on a bed that was comparable to putting a planet down on carpet and hoping to sleep at all, our breakfast arrived. My wife and I both had avocado toast, and I had ordered a half portion of salmon Benny's. My Benny's came as a full order, (not what I ordered and we even took a picture of our order sheet), and were on biscuits that were soo dry they crumbled. The salmon itself was smokey and decent, but the hollandaise sauce was actually hard, I was able to poke it and it didn't move. So, the taste of the salmon was ruined by sauce that was like plaster and biscuits that crumbled easier than Trumps presidency. The avocado toast my wife and I ordered was cold and extremely hard and old tasting. The avocado I ended up putting on my salad that came with the toast. My wife and I both tossed out the "toast". So, that's another $70 wasted on what we pictured as a great breakfast. When we checked out, we had to pay for breakfast, but I was charged for a full portion of my Benny's. When we questioned the clerk, she said its what we ordered. I said no, showed her the picture of the order, and she asked if I ate it. I said yes. Then went on and continued to charge me for it. So, instead of arguing any further, and after the terrible experience, we paid and left.

Never again will we stay here or recommend it. Social...