Beach Gardens Resort & Marina — Hotel in Powell River

My rating is more like 2.5 than 3. View of ocean was great (but know that my 3rd floor pet room balcony also had a view of the parking lot of the liquor store and the store staff that would smoke right under and chat loudly instead of just moving a bit along the building away from the person who was sitting on the balcony (it was quiet, and they could see me easily. I did wind up politely asking them to move a bit because of the smoke the second day but no apology or anything). Room is dated and less attractive in person than in the photos (even though this was the newer building of the resort) and showing wear with chips all along the edges of all the furniture but this was a pet-friendly room so maybe it's from dogs. They have you sign a form about never leaving your pet unattended in the room but that policy wasn't in anything I read ahead of time nor did they inform me of that policy beforehand (they knew I had a cat). I did like that they had pet rooms though (each night was $20 extra, total rate before tax $150). The rate felt high for what you were getting overall (cheaper motel type room and service) but it was defintely an oceanfront (marina) view, I guess. There was one surly front desk person and one nice one during my stay. To be honest, I almost cancelled my booking when I received the first email reply to my online booking because of the rude tone (but improved with subsequent emails) and in person wasn't really friendly either. This service improvement alone would bring things to another level for the resort. But other staff seemed nice including housekeeping and someone who brought me a lightbulb. I liked that continental breakfast (including boiled eggs) was provided and that there was a nice window of time that it was available (7:30 - 11:00 I think). Not fancy of course. I could bring stuff back to my room and eat on my own balcony (a lot of disposables to be safer because of Covid). Online photos of the pretty patio are from the restaurant and not where the continental breakfast is served. Restaurant is closed both Sun and Mon which is too bad because a lot of restaurants in town were also closed on Sunday and even closed before 9 pm on Sat night but this may be because of Covid and it being past the peak tourist season. TV is a bit small (not all channels fill the screen) and maybe a bit better selection of channels could be provided. Desk is nice and big. Balcony furniture is not nice, but I could bring a chair and table out temporarily. Balcony was dingy but room was clean. Heater/air conditioning unit is super loud and annoying. But they had regular heating in the bathroom. Wish that was in the main room. Coffee machine (Keurig) was good and I liked that the counter is separated from the bathroom counter. Towels were nice and thick (but smelled heavily of chlorine). Nice that they have a private beach area. Very pretty view and quiet. Other guests were pretty quiet, but if they had been loud, seems like the sound would go right through the walls. Sharing all this so that other people can manage expectations. I was expecting a lot of things to be a bit nicer, so was a bit disappointed but it wasn't a bad stay and I think that the price could go down or some...

This review is not of the hotel itself, as we didn't get a chance to stay there. It looked good enough for our purposes so we booked 2 rooms for 2 nights. The grounds looked pretty and when I spoke to reception on the phone, the girl was very nice and helpful.

We made and cancelled our reservation on Feb 27th (due to work schedule changes). When I called to cancel I was told that my reservation was not in their system. I said it was all for the best as I was calling to cancel anyways. On Mar 1st I recieved a call from another employee asking me if we were still coming that day. I explained to him that I had already cancelled. He told me he didn't see any notes regarding that on the room. The next morning I saw a room charge for $180 on my credit card! I called and explained to the room manager that we had spoken to 2 other people and we had already cancelled. She told me that she had tried to charge the card with $885 but that it was declined. What??!?! I told her they had obviously made a mistake somewhere in their system, but also, why would you try to charge me $885?!!. She said she remembered talking to me about my reservation on the phone on Feb 27th. She said she had made a mistake and was refunding our money.

But she didn't. Instead she emailed me after we got off the phone, and told me as per their their policy I had to cancel 2 days prior. I emailed and called back, but none of the staff including herself would let me speak to anyone but her. I explained that Feb 27th IS in fact two days prior notice and she needed to refund my money. What a Hassle!

She rudely told me that I wouldn't let her speak and kept yelling at me "Listen! Listen!" (as she kept cutting me off in the middle of my sentences) Customer service with her is lacking to say the least. The room manager needs to take a class or two in hospitality and tourisim. How do you admit to making a mistake, tell someone you will refund their money, and then take their money and tell them to be quiet when they are upset?? Brutal. I told her "I think at this point I am being scammed". We told her we would just call and cancel the charge on the Credit card. She yelled "go ahead and go to the bank!", and then hang up on us. What in the world?? Crazy behavior. If this person is the manager of this "resort" I don't want to know what the...

I stayed here on a birthday roadtrip along the Sunshine Coast Highway with my girlfriend and 21 month daughter. We got the adjoining room "suite" which was nice to be able to put our daughter down and still have space to do our own thing for the rest of the evening.

The good: the staff was really nice and friendly. Theres a nice restaurant, laundromat for hotel guests (open all night) and liquor store on the main floor. The rooms were nice and clean and were very kid friendly. There was a pool that you could book an hour time slot for private swimming (because of covid). Also, the ocean views and balcony in every room were wonderful. The view was very beautiful.

The bad: the heated pool was still pretty cold and our daughter screamed and shivered and so didnt last long during our swim time. The men's change room had several big spiders with huge webs and looked like it hadnt been cleaned in a while, but the women's change room was much nicer and cleaner... typical 🙄. There were also a lot of spiders and webs just outside the door of our room and with no screens on the windows and patio door it made it impossible to have either open to enjoy the fresh ocean air. Also, and worst of all, the bed was WAY too soft! I've had a few back and neck issues myself but hadnt had much pain in a long time but waking up in that bed after just one night was AWFUL! I could barely move my neck and my head was pounding. I just went to the chiropractor before the trip and had to make an emergency appointment with him again right after (3 days later). My girlfriend also complained about her back after sleeping in the bed. It felt like the mattress was so worn down that our bodies were lower than our feet.

If it wasnt for the terrible bed this really would have been...