Madrona Beach Resort — Hotel in Parksville

This was our first time here. Stayed here for 3 nights at the end of December for a mini break. Picked a ground level studio on the ridge 29A because it had a fireplace. Drove to Mt Washington for the 2nd day which took around an hour from Parksville (gotta have snow tires and carry chains). The views from the windows are beautiful. I got a shot of the gorgeous pink sunrise one morning. Queen bed was v comfortable but had to wear earplugs because of the refrigerator noise. The pull-out bed sucked big time, like really bad, v uncomfortable even for a kid. Upholstered chair and sofa need a clean. Kitchen was great. Made full use of it: full size stove and oven, full size fridge and freezer, dishwasher, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, kitchenware... very homey. Big TV with plenty of channels, DVD player. You can borrow dvds from the office as well as games, books... Big closet - great for snow boots and coats. Only 1 dresser though. I guess we were v lucky because we had no noisy neighbors above or next to us. Beautifully peaceful. We loved having the fireplace and felt v cozy and warm. At night you can see the lights across the water and the lighthouse. We didn't make it down to the beach but went to Rathtrevor beach down the road. You can see the mountains in the distance. Bathroom has shower, no tub, and a built-in hairdryer. Honestly we felt v happy with our little place and although it is not super fancy it had everything we wanted and needed (apart from the sub par sofa mattress). Most of all it was affordable for those of us not made of money. V pleasant staff. Recommend it to those who want a view and don't need a bunch of frills - buy your own coffee lol. Would have been a 5 star if not for...

We booked one of the studio units on the ridge. There are also beachfront units at the bottom of the property. We were told there was a five minute walk to the beach on a path. In fact, it is a very steep wooden structure with non-skid paper and rumble strips. No way we and our beach wagon could make it up and down it. We were told we could drive down the driveway to the beachfront unit parking lots and unload our stuff and then park by our unit on the ridge. The driveway was very steep as well, and we would have been hard-pressed to pull our wagon back up. Or to walk up and down should we need to use the bathroom. So we had to access the beach during our stay via the nearby Provincial Park.|| The property is very nice, the studio was well-appointed and clean, and the staff were very helpful and courteous. Lots of safeguards in place, including the unit not being rented the night before your stay. The view from the patio and grassy area out front was fantastic and I took lots of pictures. One odd thing - big warning in the unit about the use of cannabis not being allowed as this is a 'family friendly' resort. Tobacco smoking is allowed in designated smoking areas but use of cannabis would result in a $400 fine. Cannabis is legal in Canada, as legal as alcohol, and many people use it for medicinal purposes. We found empty wineglasses outside and guests were drinking wine at outdoor tables. Apparently that is family friendly. Didn't really make sense and doubt the fine...

Absolutely loved it. Gorgeous view. Large, spacious room. Full bathroom in upper suites. Shower only in lower units. Queen (I think, may have been king) sized bed with hide-a-bed couch. Both a bit hard for my preference but not so hard that I couldn't sleep. Free Shaw basic television plus DVD player. Five minute drive to local video store which had a Wednesday promotion where you rent two (may have been one) new releases & you get the third free (hope they keep this deal because we plan to go back). All you need to open an account is a credit card. Bill was amazingly low. Was the least expensive resort [my bf & I went to each (except one as it had no vacancy) resort on Resort Drive for a quote). Only thing that I would reccommend for people who have difficulty with stairs is calling ahead to see if a lower room is available as there is no elevator. All the emenities are a quick five minute drive. Went to Butterfly World, North Island Wildlife Reserve Association & Little Quallicum Falls. Reviews of each under...