Sidney Waterfront Inn & Suites
Last winter, we took a weekend trip to Sidney, BC in Canada and stayed at the Sidney Waterfront Inn & Suites. We thought it would be fun to take Lily on a ferry from Washington to Canada because 1. she had never been to Canada before and 2. she's a huge fan of traveling by ferry! I just love that we're raising an island kid and "riding the ferry" is part of her regular vocabulary and something she finds pretty normal now.We took the Black Ball ferry from Port Angeles (which is only 1.5 hrs from us!) to Victoria. Once we arrived in Victoria, it was a 30-minute drive up to Sidney.
The staff at Sidney Waterfront Inn & Suites were super welcoming and we were totally in awe of our room. We had the most amazing view of the water! It was spacious and even had a fireplace which we used a ton, especially when we'd return from a chilly walk outside.
Breakfast was included in our stay and is located in the main building where the reception desk is. The rooms are located in the building next door which shares office space with a few other businesses. We visited around Christmas time, so Lily absolutely loved the big Christmas tree they had decorated in the main hallway.
An awesome bonus about this hotel: free EV charging! We always look for EV charging when we book a hotel, so it was a nice perk to have this included in our stay.
We stayed in room 207, the Mandarte Island Room. At first glance, I said, "Aww, they put us in this room because it has my name in it!" Lol, kinda. I looked up Mandarte Island because I wasn't familiar with it.
Here's a blurb I found online: "Mandarte Island, more a huge rock in the middle of Haro strait, is an island east of Sidney Island B.C. and supports the largest sea bird colony in the surrounding area. The island is a First Nation reserve and approximately 8000 sea birds nest on this island. Along with glaucous-winged gulls, pelagic and double-crested are breeding here. The island is about 700m long and 100m wide, overgrown with grass, native and himalayan blackberries, snowberry, rose plants and elderberry. The shrub can reach up to 2-3m height and narrow trails lead to most places. Only four little cabins and one outhouse are available for the researchers during the fieldseason. During spring time, beautiful camas lilies are blooming on the whole Island, as well as one single! chocolate lily. The whole island is inhabited and visited by a variety of birds, such as pigeon guillemots, red-winged blackbirds, harlequin ducks, fox sparrows, hummingbirds, and of course song sparrows. During the season, a lot of different bird species will fly by or stay for shorter time, for example bald eagles, owls, peregrine falcons, savannah sparrows, caspian terns and a lot more. Of course, you can also frequently observe marine mammals. In the early season, steller's and california sea lions will swim by the island, harbour seals and north american river otters are in the intertidal zones, and humpback whales, minke whales and killer whales will be around. This amazing diversity of wildlife makes this island to one of the most beautiful places to live and do field work."
Pretty cool! If you know me, you know I love birds... So, this was fitting. And how cute that there's even a single chocolate lily on that little island. :)
The hotel is situated in a walkable part of Sidney with lots to do and see nearby. During our stay, we went to the BC Aviation Museum (future post coming about that visit!), and the Victoria Butterfly Gardens (future post coming about this place, too!). We also walked down to Starbucks (obviously) where Lily tried hot cocoa for the first time (and immediately spit it out all over her white shirt), and we popped into most of the cute shops around the hotel, too.
One of Lily's favorite things to do is throw rocks in the water and yell, "Big splash!" so we did plenty of that over the weekend, haha. She was in heaven.
The Mandarte Island Room is the one on the right, above the "Westcoast Italian" awning in that photo.
Here's a better view of it from further away. Watching the sunset both nights from the waterfront, and from our special Mandarte Island Room was incredible.
We were sad to leave this cute little town and our cozy hotel room! It was such a nice getaway in another country that didn't feel too far from home.
The ride back to Washington was cold and dark, but I still got out on the deck and snapped a few photos. Thanks for the memories, Sidney, and as always, thanks for reading! xo
We were graciously hosted by Sidney Waterfront Inn & Suites during our stay in Sidney. As always, all opinions are my own.
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