So I always wanted to go visit Cape Breton Island. My wife thought the drive is too long but this Christmas she gave the green light. I researched for a while on where to stay. In the middle of the winter time most hotels and motels are closed on the island so I had to look on Air B&B. Sidanna Retreat caught my eye. They had a ton of amenities and the interior of the houses were just awesome. The owners really do have an eye for interior decoration. I contacted the owner and asked her some questions and she was really nice and answered all of my questions. A month later I booked the "Mystical Chalet". Its an awesome A-frame on the top northern edge of the island. It has a hot tub, pool, and a sauna. So everything seems good right? Responsive owner. Great location. So why the one star? The pool was broken. And she let us know 1 1/2 hours prior to check in that is was broken. The pipes froze so the pool was out for the count. I mean it happens right. Things break. Plumbing fails. She said she would take care of us. So while my girls were really disappointed we made the most of it. Now the main reason I picked the mystical chalet was the pool. And because of the hot tub, the sauna, and the pool, the chalet commands one of the highest prices on Air B&B for the area. But mainly its the pool because its pretty much the only Air B&B with one. So at the end of the stay she sends me a message that she refunded me 11% of the stay because of the pool being down and it was "purely as a gesture of goodwill" and she was not obligated to do so. What?? Thats some arrogant BS. The amenity that allows them to charge through the roof is not working and they dont think that they needed to give me a refund? They said giving a refund is beyond what their policy requires. I want people to look this up on chat gpt, Google, reddit. When a major amenity goes down the standard is 30-50%. Especially if the pool is a major draw. And when a major amenity like this goes down they also need to give the option for me to cancel the reservation. How would you feel if you are going on vacation in the middle of nowhere and the main featured amenity goes down! I wouldn't have booked this A-frame if it wasn't for the pool. Thats a fact. The owners insisted that the pool closure was outside of their control and the 11% was more than enough and again that they didnt need to even give that much. She said that the pool while is a nice amenity its not the only reason people book the chalet. So I guess shes a mind reader now. Just epically arrogant. So after a little bit of research I went directly through Air B and B and was refunded 30%. The hosts broke a major hosting standard by telling a guest(me) no refunds for a closed amenity. I mean it can be total false advertisement right? I hope they learn from this encounter and do not try and limit the rights that the guests have in situations like a closed amenity. Their mindset was purely that they didnt do anything wrong in the closing of the pool. That it wasnt a maintenance issue and just because of extreme circumstances they had to close it. And because they didnt do anything wrong they dont have to refund their guests anything... its just obvious they only really care about the bottom line and themselves. I guess she totally forgot that they can charge through the roof for having a pool on their property? And she forgot that she totally made us disappointed to start our 5 day vacation? I guess she doesn't think people book a place solely for the pool? I could tell that the host was trying to gauge me. I got a sense that she was trying to get a read on me before giving the refund. FYI I'm not a complainer. And I keep a pretty cool demeanor. So she could have totally got the sense that she can just give the minimum and get away with it. I dont bitch and complain but im no walk in the park. I fight for whats right. Priyanka. Read this. Let it soak in. And learn from this. Dont take advantage of your guests. Give a refund when its due. Its the best way and sometimes the easiest way to alleviate headaches. And please dont make up stories and lie on responses. You didn't offer the place next door. I asked about it first. I didnt take it because it was already booked the 1st two nights. You also offered 11%. Not 15% as a refund. And communication was never difficult. Dont make up stuff just because you are sore about a review. Your true character shows in your responses. read more

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I just returned from a Sidanna Retreat location ,totally enthralled by the service and location, highly recommend! Beautiful location, amazing amenities and spectacular oceanfront homes . read more

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From the moment I arrived at Sidanna Retreat, I knew I was in for something truly extraordinary. Nestled along Nova Scotia's pristine shoreline--a hidden gem on the South Shore--the retreat feels like your own private sanctuary surrounded by nature's grandeur. read more

We rented 2 cottages from Sidanna Retreat in the Port Mouton area of Nova Scotia. 2 couples, one local couple and one from Toronto. The biggest gripe we have is the no refund after 48 hour policy. You have to pay full price when booking. The 2nd couple were unable to come from Toronto due to the recent Air Canada strike. Totally beyond their control. Each cottage was almost $500 per night and we booked a 2 night stay, totally almost $2,000. My husband and I went anyway (since we had already paid) and found the cottage we stayed in was very small and it was the larger of the two cottages. I should note we are seniors, both in our 70's. The bed was incredibly uncomfortable, was very low to the floor therefore difficult to get in & out of with a thin foam mattress. There was an added difficulty to get in & out of the bed due to a ladder that was permanently fixed at the end of the bed (for access to a very tiny loft above). There was barely enough room to maneuver around the ladder to exit the bed. To improve: Buy a proper mattress. Mounting the ladder on a rod to slide across the end of the bed would help a little getting in and out of the bed. The deck, overlooking the ocean is fabulous, but there is no shade except for a very small umbrella that has to be moved around in order to maintain a shady spot. A pergola used to be attached to the deck but it is no longer there. Both cottages would benefit from a shade canopy. My husband and I are frequent travelers and for almost $500 per night we expected more. read more

Do yourself a favour and book elsewhere. I stayed at their cozy cottage Summerville location and it was absolutely disappointing. At $400+ per night and promises of luxury, this property with its ripped insect infested hot tub cover falls short of the photos. The house smelled awful and the musty smell stuck to everything I brought with me. Several of the windows had no screens and with no air conditioning and mosquitos, it was hard to get adequate air flow in the house. As the property is Oceanside, the lack of a ventilation system or fans, made everything, including my bed damp. We found several pots and pans dirty from previous use and in general, aside from looking nice, the property is not maintained well and is in need of repairs. Good from far, far from good. Aside from not being very clean in general, there were rodent droppings all over the basement along with an open container of cream rat poison. This is where I was told I had use of a washer and dryer, it was offered as part of the private house rental. Staff were in and out of said basement through a very loud garage door (despite my paying for the entire "private" property) several times both days we were there servicing other rentals on the property. Needless to say privacy was non existent. Basically, what I was told I was getting in the details of the property listing, is not what was received. I was refunded $249 of an $850 2 day stay after escalating through the platform I rented through. I did reach out to Sidanna and was ignored for a month after the owner assured me she would investigate and get back to me when my concerns and photos of my issues were first forwarded. I spoke directly to the owner on the phone and via email and was then ghosted. I was forced to go through insurance on my credit card to get my money back in full. There is a disturbing trend regarding this business and all negative feedback, do some digging, complaints don't get addressed, customers are gas lit by the owners and feedback is challenged and removed. At the end of the day this property is an old damp musty dump, putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change that it's still a pig. What you see is NOT what you get, these folks are professional stagers and use paid influencers, proceed with extreme caution. read more

The address on the page is incorrect. Maybe head office, but the lodging is actually in Summerville, close to Liverpool. I struggled with the decision to post this, but concluded that I think my (and the other guests') thoughts are worth conveying so that the property owners have the option and opportunity to change the things that made our special weekend a complete disappointment. We are all close to 70 years old and in our own homes, one in Lunenburg and the other on the Northumberland Strait. We are fortunate in that they are lovely homes, and the views are spectacular. So, as beautiful as the Summerville view is, it was not the primary draw. We met, as we do every year, to celebrate shared birthdays in what we hoped would be luxurious surroundings. The rate, which came to roughly $400 a night (mid-winter, no access to outdoor amenities) would imply that the property was something special. By that I mean; good quality appliances, dishes, towels, knives, a place to sit and dine...all the things that one would expect at the rate charged. Quality toilet paper; a refrigerator that has shelves on the door; hooks on which to hang damp towels; blinds on all the windows; careful repairs; good knives (unchipped); knobs on the cabinets. Repairs were done haphazardly e.g. the split in the closet door seemed to be repaired with bathroom caulking, and not even sanded down to at least appear flush to the rest of the (very cheap) door. One of the blinds was held up with a plastic tie instead of the appropriate hardware. The cheap screens were taped to secured against drafts and/or summer insects and was peeling away from the frame.The toilet paper dispensers (which dispensed perhaps the flimsiest toilet tissue a available for purchase) are shabby and cheap, falling off the walls which displayed unpainted poly filler. Rusty corrosion spotted them. Very disappointing was the fact that we had to squeeze side-by-side at the raised kitchen counter in order to dine and that our view was not the ocean, but the kitchen with our used cookware and a window that featured roadside power. The online photographs seemed meant to disguise the property, not to show its true condition. Somethings cannot be communicated in pictures.The smell of smoke from the basement, for example, can't be photographed. We were offered a different property but were surprised and disappointed that the "offer"of the other property was withdrawn almost immediately. Burnt-out lightbulbs were not replaced. Cooking in the kitchen with no lights except for the very dim basket hanging lamps with what were substandard cooking tools was beyond frustrating, and, in fact, dangerous. To be told repeatedly to continue to seek out yet another switch verged on insulting. The refrigerator was very small with no shelves on the door. There was not sufficient room to store ingredients for five meals. The large bathroom was in fact a shared utility with access from each bedrooms. The doors were opaque glass. There was no sense of privacy when using this facility. The second bathroom was barely a powder room, again with the toilet roll in the process of detaching from the wall. One of our party has a significant spinal injury which makes walking difficult. One would have expected that the caretaker would have been there in the morning to clear the steps of slushy snow. In one of the less than flattering online reviews, the hosts responded by suggesting that had the guests only communicated the problems, they would have been able to rectify them. We did communicate several times only to receive, as I say, total push back.. We returned half the cost to the other couple because of sheer embarrassment that the unfortunate decision was made to rent this lodging. $400 a night? Mid-winter, with the outdoor facilities inaccessible (barbecue and hot tub) therefore unusable? Expectations are raised when taking this into consideration. What one does not expect is: a money-grab; complete and utter disregard to our concerns; cheap renovation; uncomfortable living and dining arrangements; substandard equipment. Shameful. Absolutely shameful. read more

Wow! This owner is beyond ridiculous. We contacted them on more than one occasion, as contrasted with their response, and they attended to none of our concerns. There was noeffort to remedy the insufficiencies of the place. Are they thinking of another of their properties? The place was so short of a $400 a night accommodation. Wow! Such nerve. A word to the wise... don't stay with this proprietor!!! Dr D E Rheaume read more

This retreat is outstanding. We had a great visit to Nova Scotia and stay in peaceful ocean front cabine and comfy seaside cabana . It was a one of a kind experience. Both vacation homes have oceanfront views with private hot tubs and sauna . It was truly a unique experience. read more