Sean R.
Yelp
Living Social deal brought me here with an out of state family member. I wanted to make their last weekend spectacular.
I'm always leery of these L.S. deals because of fine print "gotchas", or the feeling the hotel might be on it's death bed trying to drum up business. I spent several hours digging around on the internet to find out if this hotel was worth the offer. In fine print, it said if you couldn't find a stay, they would happily refund, so that assured me to go for it. Luckily, the weather also cooperated on the same weekend as the special, so I snatched one up.
The hotel is within short walk or driving distance from the Blackball Ferry terminal. After a few invasive questions from border agents, you can turn right out of the terminal and if i recall correctly, just follow the road till you reach the exterior brick hotel. I parked the car at guest parking out front, and the front staff couldn't have been more friendly and in good spirits welcoming me to their hotel. I probably could have went ahead and parked in the underground garage and walked up to the desk. I had so many questions to fire off and they didn't skip a beat! They gave me the inclusive $60 Blue Crab on-site restaurant voucher, and encouraged me to quickly go make a reservation with the host. Good thing, because the earliest seating was 830pm.
I googled this restaurant up and down and apparently Blue Crab is a true gem stuck inside a modest hotel. Our room with 2 double beds was clean and orderly as expected when you first reach your room. Had the typical Samsung PPV TV setup, dresser, ice bucket, refrig, and best of all a balcony overlooking the harbor. Great view that day! What was especially nice, is the sliding glass door allows access to the tiny balcony for fresh air and views. Most U.S. hotels clamp down windows and doors to 2" I guess for insurance reasons. The beds weren't anything spectacular such as akin to a Westin style plush bed, but they were comfortable.
The room had bulk size shampoo and soap bottles, lots of plush towels. It just had this nice feeling of not trying to cut costs but nice enough of what you would expect to find at home.
The hotel had quick shuttle service to downtown area. Grabbed an afternoon bite at Tapa Bar. http://tapabar.ca/ Our shuttle guy was nice and chatty, gave good advice on the way to and from the hotel. Be nice to these "free" shuttle guys and be sure to tip them. The hotel also offered free parking with in/out privileges! That's unheard of at most hotels.
Later that night, dinner at Blue Crab was nice but extremely noisy for fine dining! I did feel slightly under dressed in jeans and t-shirt (forgive me). Even had the typical girls taking annoying flash photography for food and duckface Facebook moments. That place could use some acoustics or set the mood to tone down the loudness. Restaurant offers large floor to ceiling windows of the same harbor boats. Had a nice 3 course dinner. Crab cakes, salmon, and a fantastic chocolate souffle dessert. If you don't stay here, at least have dinner at this location. I know, I know....who eats **in** at a hotel?
To recap, but your charges may vary:
Free parking
Modest rooms
Free downtown shuttle
Great front staff service and sightseeing tips
Onsite 4 star restaurant Blue Crab
Great harbor side views with accessible balcony
STRONG Wi-Fi signal avg 1.5mpbs for VoIP calls (some hotels fall short in this area)