Pros: Relaxing feel and beautiful setting. Pleasant and helpful hosts. Perfect for those like us, who are on a honeymoon and like beach walks near trees.
Cons: If they wanted to go in a luxury direction I could suggest changes, but for what it is -- a rustic and pleasant place, it is very good. (And of course if it was luxury style I'd expect to pay prices to match.)
Location: In the Sooke area, you will need a car to get anywhere. The Tugwell Meadery had tastings which were wonderful and MaiMai's and Wild Mountain restaurants were excellent and not too far away in Sooke.
The Ocean Wilderness Inn is located a short drive from Sooke, BC and is technically in Shirley. I chose it partly because of its secluded feel in the woods near a beach. It includes a hearty breakfast in the summertime -- cold cuts, cheese, pastries, fruit, granola, cereal, yogurt. For beverages there was: tea and coffee, with milk or cream and sugar or splenda available and orange juice. From the common breakfast room there is a beautiful view of the trees, ocean, flowers and hummingbird feeder (with hummingbirds sometimes visible). The staff were helpful in suggesting local attractions and restaurants and things to do and were very personable and kind. If you and other guests feel like it, you can converse with others in the common breakfast room, seating about 12 -16 (but when we stayed there was a maximum of about eight guests.)
Suitable for those who can climb stairs, there is a beautiful walkway to the beach. At low tide we walked several times for over an hour along the beach encountering a maximum of 6 people over the course of each walk. For those like us who enjoy our privacy and peace and quiet it was perfect. It was very peaceful and beautiful. We saw sea lions lounging on the rocks and some birds. There was free room wifi access which we used to assist us in finding restaurants and finding low tide times for park and beach visits. The room I chose had a skylight and a large bathtub, a shower, a king sized bed and a twin bed. The floors were charming and real wood and there was some decorative stained glass. The feel of the place is of an upscale rustic getaway. Consistently relaxing and pleasant. read more