Best Western Plus Kelowna Hotel & Suites — Hotel in Kelowna

This is a good and bad scenario. I am going to tell you the good first, then the not so good.

The Good:

The hotel was in an absolutely amazing spot in the city. Very close to Superstore, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Costco and for sure a Dollarama. It was easy to get in and out of the lobby, the parking lots, the area.

The beds were clean and comfortable, and the room was clean.

The pool area looks nice, sadly, no waterslide or anything. I found that kind of a disappointment, but that was just me.

Overall, the experience was OK. I've had better from different locations.

The Not So Good:

This was my first time at this location, and the interactions I had at check in were not the best. The accessible stall by the door for check in had a car that had no disabled placard was parked in the stall I needed. I had to park across the parking lot and go across the parking lot, twice (once to check in, once to get to my car to park it near my room).

The staff at the front desk was using a computer that was on the far side of the counter from where I was. There is usually a lowered section for guests in wheelchairs, but the staff insisted she could only use the one at the farthest end from it where the counter is about 5 feet high, over my head completely. This meant in order to communicate we had to raise our voices to be hear (by everyone) and I felt very self conscience about it because people had to look to see if there was a problem. The staff told me the reason they couldn't help me where I could see was because she had the far computer turned on, and didn't want to turn on the closer one to the counter I needed to be at.

When I got to my room, there was a chair in a position that blocked me from getting to the sleeping area and I had to have my son move it so I could even get in to the room. The mini fridge in this room appeared to have a place in the cupboard around the 3 foot high area, but it was on top of the shelf at a height of about 5 feet, so I couldn't reach it. I had to have my son move it.

The accessible shower bench was slightly at a down angle and when wet and soapy, almost caused me to fall on the floor, which would have hurt and been very difficult to get up from (for me).

The phone in the room wasn't working, so I could not use it to call my kids room at the other end of the hall, I couldn't call the front desk about the kids running up and down the hall where my room was, they were laughing and being really loud. While I do love the sound of laughter and I don't mind kids having fun, there is a time and place, and the hallways of a hotel at 8:30 pm are not that.

The breakfast served the following morning was ok, but I have had better. What I haven't ever had to do was stop eating the food because I found some very hard crunchy pellets of something in my eggs. One of my kids (2 with me, both are16) only had yogurt because he felt it was hard to mess it up. He informed me it was mostly water. It appeared as if it hadn't been or wasn't being cooled when stored.

After we left, one of my kids told me that he saw a bunch of ants in his room.

I didn't say anything about it to the staff after the check in experience, I just wanted to leave.

Having...

Spent $1000 for three nights stay. Upon arrival room was dirty. White stains on both chairs. Black, soiled stains on comforter/duvet. Stains on carpet. Carpet not vacuumed. Curtain detached from the rail. Complained to front desk (Ginnett was pleasant and did her best). “Upgraded”to new room. Much cleaner…than the original room. Still unidentifiable “debris” on the wall (looked like boogers). Coffee cups and cigarette wrappers on Patio (non-smoking room). TV remote missing. Room looked like it was empty for a while as quite dusty on a lot (but not all) surfaces. The stay included breakfast (as did our stay at BW+ Revelstoke and Holiday Inn Express Kamloops). The food quality at the two previous hotels was good for a buffet style (fresh eggs, fresh made waffles or pancakes-automates pancake maker, fresh fruit, fresh pastry goods). The food served at this hotel was overly processed, waffles/French toast premade and served in foil bags, eggs, meat and hashbrowns loaded with salt, pastry goods pre-packaged Sara-Lee/hostess type, NO fresh fruit of any kind, which was extra suprising as we were staying in the Okanagan which is famous for its abundance of fruit choices. In the To top all this off, we signed up for their current rewards promo. Free $20 gift card for each nights stay (we spent 5 nights total here and at BW+ Revelstoke). Three weeks later I find out I am not getting the gift cards or points because I didn’t book through the hotel. After spending close to $1000 to stay at this hotel which was no better than a discount hotel/motel, I find out I am not getting credit for my points or the bonus $20 per night gift cards I was initially offered. To think I could have saved $200-300 by staying at the Ramada across the way. Or I could have saved even more at Sandman or Super 8, discount hotels which would have been a step up from this “Plus” property. The staff at this hotel seemed pleasant enough, but definitely over extended. On the Saturday morning I did get a comment from one of the staff members saying they were fully booked but short staffed. Another thing That puzzled/annoyed me. This property common guest area serviced a swimming pool, a breakfast cafe, a day spa and a registration/concierge desk. Potentially hundreds of possible guests using their services at any given time. Yet they only have one washroom stall in the (already amazingly small)pool change room. Is that even legal? It certainly doesn’t seem healthy or accommodating (speaking of which, it isn’t wheelchair accessible)I understand Covid 19 has made things difficult for the hotel industry, but don’t make a promise you are not willing to back up. If other hotels are able to do it (Best Western Plus Revelstoke and Holiday Inn Express Kamloops, which we also stayed at during our vacation we’re all able to cope), why not this property. Kelowna is a beautiful city with lots to do and lots to offer. Don’t let your visit be ruined by staying at Best Western Plus Kelowna. I did lodge a complain internally and Best Western has taken steps to resolve my stay. I only hope that they do take necessary corrective action to bring this property up to the expectations of a best...

I had the privilege of taking my school group to this hotel for 3 nights and we had an amazing time!

First Impression: I booked a total of 10 rooms between the students, chaperones and bus driver. We had one student who needed a wheelchair accessible room and so the hotel moved our whole group to accommodate this student; giving us all a complimentary upgrade so that we could be together! When I arrived with our group, they were able to provide an early check-in and they had all the key-cards ready. The front desk was happy to inform our group on all the amenities, including pool/fitness and breakfast times and wifi passwords. Great first impression.

The Rooms: Large, clean and well equipped is how I would describe the rooms. When you enter, there is a big open area where you can hang your jacket, iron a suit and set up all your hygienic on the sink counter. Then there is a separate room leading to the toilet and shower/tub. The bed room had two queen beds, a night table, a small circular table with two chairs, a desk, a dresser and a TV unit, which even had a fridge in it.

The room was equipped with all the necessities, such as: soaps, conditioners, shampoo, shoe shine, mending kit, face wipes, Keurig Coffee Machine with pods/sugar/sweetener/whitener, pen, notepad, bath robes, slippers, iron, kettle, loads of towels, face cloths and more.

Service: I visit 3 different hotels each year with my school groups and the Best Western Plus Kelowna had not only the most friendly staff but also the best hotel breakfast I've had. Everything was strategically spaced out so that large groups could come through and serve quickly. In one area there were 2 large conveyor toasters for their English muffins, 3 types of break and 2 types of bagels. There were scrambled eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, hash-browns, pastries and fruit. In another area were the drink and waffle stations with milk, juice, and 3 waffle makers. Strawberries, syrup, chocolate chips, coconut and sprinkles could be added to your waffles. There were two other small stations that housed yogurt, hard boiled eggs and coffee.

Amenities: I didn't personally use the amenities much on this trip by my students all did. They enjoyed the indoor pool, two outdoor hot tubs and the fitness centre each day we were there. The students wanted to spend all their free time at the hotel, rather than going out and shopping. The hotel was well equipped with ice machines and vending machines.

Overview: The Best Western Plus Kelowna is a top notch Hotel with fine staff who care about their customers. If you want a comfortable room, a fantastic sleep and a delicious breakfast, this is the place to stay. I will definitely be using this hotel...