Qualicum Beach Inn — Hotel in Qualicum Beach

Excellent choice for travelling with a pet in the area ($20 pet fee). Our pet-friendly room was attractive, updated, and even had a nice little patio space. Toiletries, slippers/robe, and pool/hot tub were great, as was the coffee maker and mini-fridge set-up. Location is great - right across from the ocean (with the road and parking lot in between). Front desk staff are very helpful (one even tracked me down and called my room when someone noticed my interior car light on in the parking lot). I was so impressed with another staff member that I found walking in the hall who was incredibly helpful when we first checked out the room (went a step above and beyond by bringing me cream from the restaurant as well as the usual powdered creamer when I didn't spot the creamer for the coffee in the room). He also insisted on holding open our door for us as we were bringing our stuff in. Restaurant food was very tasty and with very large portions, good coffee, and the restaurant decor was great. I should have noted his name, but the server for dinner was great, really on top of things, and was so genuinely friendly and gave great recommendations for sights to see. This person might be a great mentor or trainer for our morning server who was a little more inconsistent with her friendliness and helpfulness among the guests (for example, cut off a guest before they finished their sentence and seemed to be almost carrying some hidden resentment even though the guests started in a cheerful, friendly mood. She noticed the guest was in a hurry and suggested ordering only specific items on the menu suggesting the kitchen was slower with some items, but it was unnecessary to limit the choices and efforts to save time by getting the order in faster would have been more appreciated than getting them nervous about the kitchen being slow (and they weren't). Had to ask for water, but request wasn't acknowledged verbally. Was a bit awkward hovering at tip time, maybe using the bill holder booklets would help with that or leaving the table and coming back). This was a bit of a damper on what could have been two wonderful breakfasts.

There are a few other places that have a little room for improvement but I would still stay there again based on all the good things. Hallway noise was heard from room 101 which is next to a storage room experienced hallway door opening and moving/bumping furniture (?) noises around 11:15 pm on two nights (we were awake anyway, so didn't bother bringing attention to it at the time, but it was strange and could be a problem for other guests); party noise in banquet room next door was okay for us because it was during the day (but my pet was sensitive to this, so we noticed it quite a bit); more hooks or bars for towels in the bathroom; more light for the middle of the room; fabric alternatives in the future when it's time to replace leather/leatherette chair and headboards in the pet-friendly room (to reduce worry about possible pet damage - housekeeping staff was so helpful when I asked for an extra sheet to protect the chair); maybe a bar for balance when climbing in/out of the deep bathtub for showering; power outlet idea - maybe more small end tables next to outlets for charging devices, replace soap dish with coating flaking off. I noticed there was not a safe (but wasn't too worried in this area), microwave, or kettle, so those could add value, but there was a cool steamer for clothes in the big closet. Addressing these minor details will all help, and I only bother mentioning it because at this price point, expectations are high and smoothing these out for the future would all add even more value. I hope that the feedback is helpful and that it helps potential guests get a full picture. Overall...

We booked a 3 night stay in an ocean view king room almost 4 months in advance, using points. We wanted to be in close proximity to the lovely beach across the road, which is unfortunately (unbeknownst to us until we arrived) spoiled for the forseeable future due to construction /a massive drill operating all day. The bed was so broken down we could not even sit/lay in it to read or relax, what to speak of sleep on it. We are not picky and have travelled in developing countries, staying in rooms at the equivalent of $10/night and never encountered anything like this. We informed a staff member upon arrival the first evening and asked about moving to another room. He told us all the beds are the same and that no one ever complains about them, and showed us the room next to ours. The bed may have been somewhat better in that room however neither of us laid on it to check because the room had a strong mold smell which the staff member would not acknowledge. He was very impersonal and would not engage in any discussion which felt very awkward so we just returned to the original room. We ought to have pushed him more to see other rooms, as the night was miserable with us trying to sleep on the floor and with noise I'll explain later. We tried again the next day with a different staff person to switch rooms and were told the hotel was now fully booked. We spent two more miserable nights trying to sleep with one of us along the bottom edge of the bed and one along the top, but still being pulled into the giant sink hole which was 80% of the bed. The room was over $350 per night...I even asked if we could have cots to sleep on and they dismissed the request. We suspect that they gave us their worst room because we used points to pay. We'd have appreciated an offer to have a night reimbursed. They instead gaslit us, saying no one else has ever complained about it, and eventually offered us a free breakfast which was rather insulting and we declined. Other things we did not bother to complain about because the staff clearly did not care: our patio door - to a shared patio - did not lock properly. There was a very loud mechanical sound seemingly coming from the roof directly above us which was very disturbing throughout the nights. Also fortunately we did not need the fridge as it was a piece of junk and extremely loud as well, necessitating us unplugging it. For the supposed "ocean view", we were mainly looking at the drill and a Shell station. We did enjoy the very nice sauna, hot tub and pool which did a little to offset the back pain from the lack of a decent place to sleep. We would obviously not recommend this hotel to anyone due it being grossly overpriced, and due to the lack of care we...

Honestly, I have never even considered giving a negative review. I am heartbroken to do this as I love the establishment and have sent and advised that many people stay here in the past. I was married in Fanny Bay on September 12th, 2016 at my fathers home and had planned to stay at the QBI for our wedding night. We were super excited because we just love it there and couldn't wait to celebrate in the area. We had arranged for a shuttle to manage all of our guests and to then take my husband and I to the QBI for our stay. Unfortunately, as transportation arrangements tend to happen, there was a hiccup in the timing and unforseen delays and we were unable to make it to the hotel before the sun came up by the time all of our guests were brought to their accommodations. My husband and I decided that we would call and let them know and then go to the hotel first thing in the morning and deal with the booking and collect the gifts that our family had left in the room. When we got there in the morning we were bumped from person to person and finally got to speak with someone regarding our room who was super helpful and told us to come back to speak with someone who could help a little bit later. We did just this and were told we had to pay our bill in full - which I totally respect and understand, and that they would bring down the items from the room. When they did so, there was the gifts from my parents, some chocolates and a bottle of prosecco; a gift from the hotel. As we were collecting everything to leave, we were very rudely told that we cannot take the bottle of prosecco. Now. I paid $400 for a room and when it comes down to it, we still got married! I don't care about the prosecco itself, that's no problem at all, but the principal here is that your staff chose to judge us (we could see you talking about us in a not so graceful fashion) and decide to revoke a gift worth peanuts in the scheme of things. I left crying and truth be told, I have thought about this awful moment many times over the past year and as we come up on our 1 year anniversary, I am still so disheartened that you had every opportunity to make our wedding morning a great experience despite the bill, and your staff chose otherwise. My mom held our rehearsal dinner here on September 11, 2015 and everything went fairly smoothly with food delivery and service considering the large group. We all had a great time which really just adds to how hurt we were that we were treated so poorly. I travel to the island a lot and have a lot of clients and friends who do so as well and truthfully I no longer recommend the QBI for the negative customer service we have...