We've just returned from four nights on Vancouver Island. I love water views. My desire was to find 2 properties for 2 nights each, on the water, with great views from our room. I wasn't particularly cost constrained so was willing to pay for the best views at the properties we chose. We found we could fly to Victoria on Alaska, so flew SAN-SEA-Victoria. We have been to Victoria a couple times. We've had tea at the Empress and gone to Butchart Gardens. Thus, I had no interest in entering the town itself. We rented a car from the airport for our trip.

Where we stayed
Black Rock Oceanfront Resort, Ucluelet
This property was roughly a 5 hour drive from the airport. The town has a resort feel with places to surf and to go out in boats. There are a handful of casual restaurants but eat at the hotel for better food. The hotel required a 3 night minimum stay in early September. I called and asked if we could stay for 2 nights and was kindly given permission.

We booked a Pacific Spirit Suite in order to get the best water view. It was a lengthy walk from check in - down a long hall to the elevator, up two floors, and then back that long corridor to the ocean front. The view was stunning - black rocks, beach, and waves. We ate one meal at the hotel. It was good but construction was to be done outside and supplies had been placed so we had no view. We would have been better off to go to the more casual dining room and sat outside where the views would have been superb.

Sooke Harbour House, Sooke Harbour - roughly an hour from the airport, on a quiet harbor. We had heavy haze the full day we were there and could barely see any water. When we could see water, it wasn't a particularly interesting view. There was no texture along the shoreline and the boats were a short way down the waterfront, not visible from the hotel.

I booked penthouse suite 303, Thunderbird. I called the hotel to discuss their three suites. The other two had the beds on upper levels. I prefer to be on a single level which Thunderbird offered. I did not find the furniture comfortable nor did it take advantage of 2/3 of the water facing wall that had full length windows. Rather, the furniture faced the 1/3 of the wall that had windows from mid level up. I never understand why many high end properties ignore comfortable furniture. The sofa had a thin cushion. After our first day, we realized there were comfortable chairs in the hall on the floor where our room was. We got permission to bring in a chair and set it up by a full length window. There was a fireplace in the living area with a coffee station behind it. The bathtub was in the bedroom area. The shower, toilet room, and sink were in a separate area.

Housekeeping was indifferent. We were told there was a shortage of staff.

The property was closed for some years and reopened in December 2024. It's basically a restaurant with some rooms, 28 in total. I felt that considerable effort was made on the restaurant; less so on the hotel. The restaurant area is expansive, with a bar lounge, and both indoor and outdoor seating. We had one meal of well prepared food. Breakfast was not included. Breakfast was not served til 9am but there was an open window to the outside from the kitchen where pastries and breads were offered. This opened at 8am. It had great charm. We saw folks from outside the property stopping by to pick up treats to take with them.

There is an Indian restaurant, India Delight Bistro and Bar, about 10 minutes from the hotel with superb food. It doesn't look like much but has an expansive delicious menu. If it were close to my home I'd be there weekly.


Where we considered

I spent alot of time on this forum and elsewhere trying to figure out where to stay.

Nami Project - very close to Black Rocks Oceanfront Resort - https://www.namiproject.ca/ I think I had spotted it on an IG post. I studied their website at some length and hoped for either the Hijiki or Nori suite. Nothing was available in September, other than 2 random nights not while we were local nor adjacent to each other.

Wickinnish Inn, Tofino - www.wickinn.com - this is an hour north of Black Rocks. It is a Relais & Chateaux property, and perhaps is the most luxurious on the island. It required a 4 night minimum stay at the time we were on the island so we could not consider it. And while I wasn't particularly cost constrained, it appeared to be 2x the cost of where we stayed for a good water view. We settled for a morning meal. They have one menu for breakfast/lunch. This would get very boring on their 4 night minimum stay. The best part of making the drive was the stunning view over the beach and water. It was truly beautiful. We asked to see a room but all were occupied.

Point no Point Resort was suggested to me by @finkface. I was really intrigued due to her enthusiasm about the view from some of their cottages. Unfortunately, I was planning too close to our trip. You cannot book online but must call. They had one cabin available but not the ones with the great views, cabins 7 and 8. You must bring in all your own food supplies including tea, coffee, milk, sweeteners. They have a restaurant that is open 5 nights a week. I'm intrigued by it and might want to return to Vancouver Island to stay.

Port Renfrew - friends stayed here in August to celebrate joint 50th birthdays. Their view from the cabin they booked was stunning. The town appears to be predominantly cabins that are individually booked, like AirBNB.


This was my first time to fly from Victoria. I'm accustomed to the Canadian airports where we go thru US immigration. That wasn't the case in Victoria. We had to go thru immigration in Seattle, then go thru security again. There was no TSA precheck or CLEAR.

Oh, and an aside - I really liked the cheese biscuits at Tim Horton.