Beautiful location, stayed in the hotel part as they also have bungalows to rent. Furnishings in…read morehallways need replacing. Room has great view of marina however no air conditioning can get warm at night. Found hotel restaurant nice but there is better food and options on island. Prices are reasonable, limited selection. Biggest surprise is that the pools and hot tub have lots of kids so can be loud at times. Would be nice to have adult only times or separate pool area

The Poets Cove Resort on Pender Island is about a 25-minute drive from the Otter Bay ferry…read moreterminal. The road is twisty at times. Some sharp turns. Not for fast driving. The Poets Cove Resort is nice, serene, and sedate. Except for the Saturday night we were there when a wedding party was there. There were continually loud voices and loud music coming from the ground floor of the main building until just before midnight. We couldn't get any sleep until the wedding event was over!!! The event started at 3:15 p.m. and lasted until 11:45 p.m. at night. If want to fully enjoy the resort, probably best NOT to stay there while a big wedding event is on! We could hear all evening the loud voices and loud music from our room in the main building while the event was going on down below. The next morning was also stressful for us as the resort charges $180 an hour for any late checkout after 11 a.m. Consequently, guests were all checking out at 11 a.m. to avoid the $180 charge per hour! As for checking in at the resort, the male front desk clerk couldn't find the reservation that was made for us. Turns out the hotel reservation was made under the first name, not the last name. Doubt we made that error. Our hotel room itself was nice; we liked the bed; we liked the towels. We phoned housekeeping twice in one day for supplies (coffee, toiletries) , but they did not arrive until the next morning. Resort too understaffed or too busy with the wedding party? We can't really recommend eating at the resort's 2 restaurants. Despite our server saying the food is "awesome," the food is only okay. The AURORA restaurant on site is only open for breakfast. The SYRENS restaurant located downstairs is open from 12 noon to 8:30 p.m. for lunch and dinner. We didn't try Aurora. There are only a few tables at the restaurant. Likely because it is not that popular. As for Syrens, we went only once and that was it for us. We tried the Saltspring Island mussels dish and the seafood chowder. The white broth in each did not have a ton of flavor. The people sitting behind us said the fish and chips are good. Instead of eating either at Aurora or Syrens, we would recommend staying at one of the cottages situated on the property as each cottage has a fully equipped kitchen and a barbecue. Bring and prepare one's own food. Particularly as there is a definite shortage of good food options on the island. The population on Pender Island is just under 3,000 people. We preferred driving to the Copper Otter Bar & Grill to eat. The Copper Otter is located at the small shopping center on Pender Island. The Copper Otter Bar & Grill, on the days we went, was really busy for lunch and for dinner. Seems to be the place to eat at on the island. Next door to the Copper Otter is The Vanilla Leaf Bakery Cafe which was busy for coffee and pastries. Lastly, there seemed to be a number of campers or trailers parked at the back of the Poets Cove property. Backside of the parking lot. Not sure why. Is that where the staff lives? Disconcerting to see such seemingly rundown campers/trailers on the property. Not a good look for an expensive "world-class" resort. With all that being said, we would give the resort a 3.6 out of 5 rating.

* Smile inducing *…read more Ok, I don't know how the accommodations are. Ok, I don't know how easy it ease to deal with the owners when booking. But this log cabin induced smiles every time I saw their sign. Talk about honest marketing! Photo: http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/s6-zDkp9l6Lgt6W8-zmQYg?select=p4vHgMSvZuamm8VIF8ojJw

From the owner: We built this home for ourselves in in 1996 and lived in it until 2009. We built a 2nd home on our…read moreacreage and moved into it in 2009. l like the Little Log Cabin more than the new home. Everyone that has come to stay, has fallen in love with this rustic little gem.

Back for a few nights during March break mid week and again booked one of the cottages. Everything…read morewas perfect for our stay...including the weather. It was a very peaceful relaxing stay. We planned our menu and brought food taking full advantage of the kitchen and bbq. There were so many positives on this trip and we loved waking up to the view of the bay each morning. It was a very positive experience and happy to recommend Mayne Island Resort.

We came here for a romantic getaway to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had booked a pet…read morefriendly cottage and when we checked in we had our dog with us. When we got to our cottage there was a "no pets" sign on the door. We called to clarify and was told that we now had a situation. The compromise was that we were told to put our dog in a kennel when we were in the cottage. Major disappointment. This place is a timeshare and we found many of the owners are nosey--people looked in our cottage as they walked by. It was uncomfortable. We couldn't get hot water from the shower. The handheld sprayer in the tub was broken. Someone came to look at it and told us it was a European fixture and then we realized it was installed upside down. It was over $400/night and there was the expectation that we strip the beds and take our garbage home. Definitely not the luxury experience we were hoping for.

I still can't believe I was able to book this place mid-season and with only days to spare. I mean,…read moreit's a freaking log house, on a lake and in the woods - out just doesn't get any better than that. One thing motorcycle enthusiasts should be aware of is that, starting at the resort entrance, there is no pavement. So bring a kickstand insert, or be prepared to crush a coke can to keep the peg from sinking into the dirt.

Very pleased overall with these log cabins on Saltspring Island. They've got a couple of lovely…read moresmall docks with Adirondack chairs at the end, so you can sit back and relax. The water is so still at times, it's just like a mirror! Inside the cabins, everything was clean, and while not what I would call luxurious, it was comfortable and well maintained. The WiFi worked very well, in fact, much better than any wilderness resort I've been in before. They've got an outdoor hot tub as well, but we didn't try it since it was February and the evening temp dipped down to about 1 C. However, we did go canoeing on the lake, and it was fantastic - the highlight of our stay on Saltspring. Off the main highway, you actually have to drive for several kms to get here. But it's still only about a 10 minute drive to Ganges. Just one small item to take note of: The floor felt quite cool, and it took the wall heaters quite a while to warm things up. So next time we will probably bring our own small portable heater.

Saturna Island, Canada's closest neighbor to the San Juan Islands, is a gem. Several important…read morewildlife viewing and critical habitat sites are located on the island as part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. The island is compact and friendly; it's customary for everyone to wave as cars pass on the narrow island roads. Saturna Lodge is especially nice. Innkeeper Laura Swan offers great advice for getting around the island and seeing the highlights, as well as practical advice like where to get coffee before you catch the ferry. Surprisingly, few of my Olympic Peninsula friends can even find the island on a map. Too bad for them-- it just means less competition for me for a room at the lodge next time I visit.

The millhouse restaurant is located in a nice older building that also operates as a lodge. I did…read morenot stay there, and only went for dinner once. The food was good, if a little pricy. However what made the night poor was the strange lady who owned the place, she kept walking past our table(on a very nice deck) to go and smoke just outside the entrance. The wind was blowing in our direction so the smell was very strong. I also got the impression that her staff did not enjoy her being there as they acted very tense and, well strange whenever she was around. We had a salad that was called a 'saturna' salad but tasted like a costco boxed salad, very bland with old lettuce. All in all I think the evening may have been more pleasant had they invested in higher quality foods and had the strange lady not been around. The Cafè on saturna was much better in terms of both cost, food, and atmosphere. I was there early in the year and maybe the quality improved but I won't be going back.

Best of the best. My night flight got canceled and so I ended up getting a 6AM flight the next…read moremorning and did not arrive at the hotel till 8AM, they held my reservation overnight and still let me check in and then granted me a late checkout at 1PM so at least I could get a few hours of sleep, which made the rest of my day possible.

This is a lovely hotel in a perfect location. Right by the water. Beautiful bright flowers decorate…read morethe area. The desk staff was welcoming and helpful. The rooms were clean, comfortable and quiet. We reserved two rooms, and both were great. My only suggestion is a more comfortable chair. I would have given this hotel a 5 star rating except is was a little expensive.

I absolutely love how each restaurant we have visited while in Galiano Island has a twist between…read moreold and new flavours in the menu. Woodstone Manor was another highlight dining experience in our visit. There were several photos online of the Seafood Chowder and I knew had to try! There was a heaping amount of plump fresh seafood and the potatoes were seasoned so well in the chowder it's magical! I normally don't finish my potatoes at all in chowder but this one I made sure I finished every last bite and wanted more! The Goat Cheese Fritter was a very creative dish made of quinoa and goat cheese with a fried pakora batter and turmeric aioli - love the merge of different ingredients. And for the sweet finish we ended with the Cotton Cheesecake where the cake was a light Japanese cheese cake accompanied with fruit custard, sage ice cream, crushed hazelnut and edible flowers. And the best part was the restaurant patio seating overlooks a beautiful golden ranch with a few horses roaming about. These kind of dining experience is for sure something we can't get in the bustling city!