Dalvay By the Sea — Hotel in Dalvay

Hubby & I splurged on "King Room with a View" Saturday for our 16th Anniversary. Checked in 4pm. Front desk girl had assumed we visited before, when we had not. She was kind enough to give directions to room. Told our room was 315. Went to Room 315 - door opened, but other people's belongings in room. Looking at key, had "24" on it, so tried Room 324. Key worked for this room also. Settled in. Visited girl at the Front Desk to confirm room number. Confirmed Room 324, but not sure why we were originally told Room 315 & why room key worked on Room 315? When posing both inquiries to her - she was unable to answer either. Ambiance was exactly as expected. Major concern as to how the hotel caters to elderly/disabled/wheelchair individuals, as there was no elevator - just stairs, for all 3 levels. No Bell hop to assist with belongings. Ramp outside connects to patio, but not large enough to allow for wheelchair. Washroom doorways not wide enough for wheelchair access. Supper reservations for 7pm. Waited 15mins to be seated. Were warned upon being seated, Kitchen behind on orders, so would take a bit to receive meal after ordering. Our waitress, "Rebecca", was absolutely lovely & highly professional. Unfortunately, Rebecca & her colleague were the only 2 waitresses working that evening & restaurant was full. Took 30 mins to place order & addtl 30 mins to receive drinks. We placed entire order ASAP in the hopes to speed things up. Took 2.5hrs to have appetizers & Main - no dessert. Luckily we were not in a rush, but if we had to be somewhere, 2.5hrs is a tad long for Supper service. Table behind us complained of 20 min wait for drinks & Manager gave them a free bottle of wine and cut their bill in half. Indicated they were celebrating their 11th Anniversary. But here we were, being patient, celebrating our 16th Anniversary & got absolutely nothing in return. Cobwebs hanging from the fire alarm to the light above table. Inch of dust on hook above table Our table had no salt or pepper on the table. Our table candle was not lit for us. Husband's seafood chowder delivered without soup spoon. Told to wait for Dessert menu to order specialty coffee. Once Menu received, no specialty coffees listed at all. Had to order my own. When coffee arrived, overflowed from too much whipped cream - all over myself, the floor & table. Had to use bread saucer to put under it. Ordered coffee w shot of Bailey's - as no specialty coffees exist on the menu. Tasted no Bailey's at all & both my husband & I disliked the coffee quality & taste. Appeared to be cheap drip-coffee. Dining at high-end restaurant, at least expected better quality coffee. Ordered Summer Salad, Mussels & Seafood Chowder as apps. Were both disassatisfied with the taste of the mussels. Almost as if they were steamed & then the au jus was added afterwards. Bread w mussels was burnt. Happy with our Mains - Salmon & Sirloin. For those non-seafood eaters, this is not the restaurant for you, unless you wish to dish out $42 for the steak meal. Most of Menu is seafood related. Rebecca thanked us for being patient & was a star w how she dealt w the complaining table behind us. Informed Kitchen was behind due to Private Function earlier, but not an excuse for other customers to suffer - especially when spending over $200 for 2 ppl. No lighting outside in evening to walk grounds. No outdoor games or activities for kids. No boardgames or arts for kids. 3 Kayaks & few bikes for rent. No supervision on water. Goose droppings all over grounds. Gardens full of weeds. Lighting on Water would be nice. AC unit took up window, so no view. Small room. One bath towel for 2 of us. No extra pillows. No extra outlets for devices etc. Lots of unused places in hotel; should reasses for activity use. No parkin; had to park in lot across street, despite hotel guest. Breakfast service MUCH better then Supper. Ordered omlette & oatmeal. Coffee tasted better, but still expect better quality. 45mins to checkout. Invoice had ink all over. Murphy Monopoly. $650 for...

Well the visit wasn't planned but I've got nothing but good things to say about this place.

You see I was out visiting an old friend up Tignish way, Cecil Arsenault, or Squirrel as he was known during our high school days on account of him always misplacing things in the most peculiar of places. Imagine a fellow you spends and hour looking for his glasses only to find them on top of his head. Multiply that level of absentmindedness 100 fold and you'll find yourself in Squirrel's orbit. In any case, and to my surprise, he had got himself a boat (which he named Martha after his late mother) and, through some backdoor dealings - and uncharacteristic organizational zeal - had managed to obtain a commercial fishing license from Mike Arsenault's boy, Jesse.

Well we had set out from Tignish Harbour with enough food and wine for a week at sea. It's here where you may ask yourself, what business I had getting into a boat with someone as disorganized as Squirrel, and dear reader, this would be a reasonable question. Truth is, I was in debt to Squirrel and he called in a favour so I conceded. But, not with much fuss mind you as the whole business had the fine makings of an adventure.

As we left the harbour, the radio was squawking of tales of huge hauls of cod just off North Rustico. Believing this a sign of good fortune, we set off in that direction. With the wind at our backs, we arrived in short order, and with little diddling about, we got the nets out and started pulling in a handsome quantity of cod.

There was a squall moving in from the north, and it was promising high winds and rain that would most certainly bring about rough seas. Many of the more experience fisherman, having perhaps caught the scent of a coming gale like some meteorological hound, had long packed up and headed for home. But ol' Squirrel was like a man possessed. He had a fire in his eyes and insisted on another load of cod before pulling anchor. And boy did we haul tons.

When we finally started for Tignish, ol' Martha was riding low and listing to port. When the winds picked up, we decided to make for Stanhope to wait out the storm, but as we limped towards shore Martha took on water as the waves came calling from the north east. Things got bad fast and with Martha swamped and the radio conveniently shorted out, we donned some life jackets and jumped ship. It was a long swim ashore, and we when we arrived we were properly soaked and famished. Happily, we noted the warm lights of Dalvay by the Sea, and waddled over.

Salvation! Once inside, the staff unburdened us of our wet clothing and set us by the fire with a hot beverage and a warm meal. If you read this whole yarn, congratulations. Squirrel and I both passed a restful night in a beautiful room and enjoyed a delicious breakfast the next morning. We even had time for a game of croquet on the grounds before my father came to pick us up and take us...

Three families stayed at Dalvay by the Sea. We booked 3. 3 bedroom cottages for our four night stay. Location- right in the middle of pei national park. Across from the beach. Miles of beautiful ocean less than 400 m away from try property. Few minute drive to Brackley beach and the famous Richard's restaurant. Historic building with lots of pictures and archived information on the building. Lots of character. Fire places on the main floor. Comfortable seating in front of the fires. You can order cocktails and drinks to the seating area. Views of small lake on the property was nice. Tennis court. Playground for kids on the property. You can pay $75 for laundry service. Accommodations- large, clean and spacious cottages just steps away from the main building and restaurant. Two bedrooms on the main floor and one loft bedroom. New couches in all three cottages. Small bar fridge, coffee maker and microwave in the cottage. Ac unit worked well. Fans in the loft blew the warm air down to the main floor. Restaurant- AMAZING!! Every meal was delicious. We wanted to meet the chefs to say thank you for two breakfasts, lunch and two dinners. The cocktails were fantastic. Our favourites- everything on the breakfast menu. Chowder. We had two amazing appetizer specials one was on a board with their very own smoked salmon, pickled shrimp, oysters, pickled herring and the most delicious variety of in house baked breads. The mussels were out of this world. I actually drank the broth after all Of the mussels were eaten. There were kids options available too.

Honestly, the food was outstanding. We bumped into the owner after breakfast on our last day. He told us that they have new chefs and they are a husband wife duo. It is evident The meals they prepare are done with love and passion for cooking. The presentation was beautiful and the plates were all very unique. All of the members in our group loved the food and will remember it for a long time.

The servers- Emma, Rebecca and eildiah (spelling ?)were outstanding. We had the privilege of being served by Emma twice. She was amazing. She gave us tips on where to go and was so kind and gracious. Lots of beautiful smiles and was very accommodating. The servers did an outstanding job of making sure our table was happy even when it got really busy and food was being prepared. The hostess would step in to fill in our water and top up coffee as well. All of the staff looked happy to working and genuinely wanted to be there and serve their guests with a smile and a warm welcome. We love Emma and Rebecca!! All the best in your studies.

Emily at the front desk would join us for a chat after dinner and share island stories. She was also very happy to be working at the hotel.

Thank you Dalvay by the Sea for a...