Quality Inn Waddling Dog — Hotel in Central Saanich

Our family of four stayed here for a quick overnight in mid-June as part of a road trip. After a below average experience at a different Quality Inn just two days earlier, our expectations were not high. However, the Waddling Dog location was a pleasant surprise, significantly better than the previous property and a welcome change.||||Location and Parking||The property is located just off Highway 17, making it easy to access and convenient for travelers. While it is not directly adjacent to major attractions, it serves well as a comfortable and well-situated stopover, and it is close enough with short drives to all major places on the island.||||Parking in front of the building appears limited and fills up by evening. It is unclear whether guests are allowed or advised to use the lot of the connecting Waddling Dog Pub, so that might be worth checking with the front desk.||||Facility and Room||It’s hard to determine the exact age of the property, as that information isn’t readily available from public sources. A sign in the lobby mentioned that the same family has owned it since the early 1990s. The place is known for its charming Tudor-style architecture, which my kids really enjoyed. The property is kind small, three floors with about 12 rooms on the second and third floor and even less on the first floor, so about 30 rooms in total.||||The room felt a little bit more spacious than a standard hotel room and appeared to have been renovated in recent years. The décor had a modern feel, and the beds were comfortable. One unique feature (maybe from decades ago?) was the timed exhaust fan in the bathroom, something we had not seen before. ||||Free Breakfast||This hot breakfast was a clear improvement over the previous Quality Inn we stayed at two days earlier. It included protein options like sausage and scrambled eggs, along with bread, yogurt, juice, and a few other standard items. The coffee wasn't particularly good, but it was okay. One pleasant surprise was the use of porcelain plates and stainless-steel silverware, which added a touch of elegance and suggested the property's effort to elevate the experience.||||Breakfast was served in the hotel's "library," a charming but small space that resulted in limited seating. We had to wait for a spot to open up. The breakfast staff, a young lady, was doing a great job keeping items stocked and letting guests know when fresh items would be brought out. Kudos to her for the attentive service and please keep up the good work!||||Staff||Overall, the staff we encountered were polite, though the level of warmth varied. The man at the front desk during check-in gave us a somewhat puzzled look, as if questioning our presence, an odd first impression. In contrast, the older lady at check-out was courteous, especially after I shared how much better this property was compared to the previous Quality Inn we stayed at. The breakfast lady was the most pleasant of all, friendly, attentive, and clearly committed to creating a positive experience.||||Overall||This stay was a great improvement over our previous Quality Inn experience. The room was spacious, the breakfast far more satisfying, and the facility well maintained throughout. We hope this reflects the standard we can expect from the Quality Inn brand going forward. We will stay here again if we return to the area. Keep up...

Well in advance, we booked a group of 43 people into the Quality Inn Waddling Dog, a hotel that shouldn't be in the group booking business. They were totally unprepared for group reservations, resulting in a check-in that lasted over an hour, ruining our group's evening plans. They also did not have the correct number of rooms, nor the correct combination of single kings and double queens as reflected in a contract that I had signed with them weeks earlier.

We were touring with a youth group, which meant we had to have a rooming list for chaperones. Every hotel we've ever stayed at (and we've stayed at many dozens over the years) has required us to submit a rooming list in advance, and upon check-in, they provide the tour director or leader with a rooming list that has already assigned room numbers to that list. With this industry-standard system, check-in of 43 people can take five minutes.

At the Quality Inn Waddling Dog, we were handed 14 (not the 15 we contracted for) room keycards, and a stack of individual room contracts (rather than a master contracts), each requiring three initials and a signature. It was a "do-it-yourself" check-in with the added twist of not having the necessary rooms available. Inexcusable.

Additionally, we contracted for two single kings and 13 double queens, but we given 4 single kings and 1- double queens. They didn't even get the room types correct.

The morning front desk manager, whom I asked to see the general manager, was crabby and indifferent to our complaints. Not very professional.

As a result of our complaints, the hotel did refund us for one of our 14 rooms, and I will say that the front desk manager (a recent hire) who had to deal with us was calm, professional, and exhibited poise in the face of my frustration. We felt that a one-room discount on our group rate was literally the very, very least they could do, given that they blew our planned evening's activities for the youth group.

The single ice machine on the second floor is the loudest I've ever heard, and members of our party on that floor said they heard it as if it was right in their rooms. Don't get a room near the ice machine!

When choosing a hotel that is a part of the Quality Inn franchise and Choice Hotels network, one can have a reasonable expectation that certain industry-standard procedures are in place, such as an organized group check-in, the correct number of rooms, and the correct room types. This was not our experience at this hotel. I would avoid this hotel for...

I have stayed at the Waddling Dog for years. It has been my favorite place since 2015 after moving to Pender Island and any time I've needed to stay in Saanichton overnight whether for medical reasons, art workshops, or just for a shop. I appreciated the updates and commented on it. I also commented on the degradation of the provided breakfast the past couple of years. But as of now, I've had it! You are way overpriced for what you provide! I booked a specific room several days ago, one that I have stayed in before because of the convenience to the back door for my dog, and was told when I asked for it that it was available and reserved for me. When I arrived on the 16th, I was told I had to take a different room because my room had been given to someone else that booked for a week, after I had booked it for a night. The room I was given was acceptable, but giving away the room I booked, was not. I was charged $253.12 for the room including taxes. I asked why in heaven's name is was so high? The desk clerk said it was the time of year and day of the week. It's April, not July! I had already booked three nights at another hotel in Victoria for next week. It is for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. April 23-25th. Same month, same days of the week. Do you know what I was charged? 40$ more per night including taxes. Do you know what I get for that extra $40 per night? A suite with two bedrooms with Queen beds, two bathrooms, a kitchen and living room. Comparing the downtown Victoria hotel to the Waddling Dog is like comparing the Empress Hotel in Victoria to a Motel Six! I would much prefer paying $40 more per night with secure parking in a gorgeous hotel than pay an astronomical figure for what is virtually an out of date dump with painted stucco walls that has some very grubby people passing through from the gas station, next to a noisy highway and part of a grubby bar. There is nowhere that the Waddling Dog is worth $253 per night in the high season and certainly not in April! You've lost my nine years of loyalty. I'm going to be finding another motel. Most of the time I just need a place with a bed that will allow my dog and that I'm not getting gouged for. So no, I will no longer be recommending the Waddling Dog to anyone as I have many times...