Had the loveliest weekend at this resort. It was just the right balance of rustic and modern comfort. We were given a map of the site upon check-in and it was very helpful in helping us navigate the property and nearby hikes. We stayed at one of their cottages (well-maintained linked up motel rooms) with the lagoon view. It was worth the extra bucks having our own bathroom and kitchen. We had the best sleep ever listening to the singing frogs while being hugged by cozy comforters and resting our heads on fluffy but firm pillows. We did hear the roosters but the cottages weren't near enough the coop for it to bother us. We made a reservation at the restaurant on our final evening and it was the perfect way to cap off our trip. The portions were great and the food was delicious. Brought me right back to my trip to Italy! Staff was very friendly and non-pretentious. Shout out to Sasha who maintained great communication with us in preparation for our stay. read more

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Food review has some stergeon with peso pasta The food was amazing 5\5 Everything was perfectly cooked to perfection read more

Ruby Lake Resort - Pesto and stergeon - Resorts Near Me - Madeira Park, British Columbia

Beautiful and relaxing getaway with a lot of outdoor activities around. But their prices for rentals (boats, kayaks, canoes) for their guests are quite high. So think about bringing your own boat. read more

Ruby Lake Resort offers the lakeside cabin experience without the enormous expense of purchasing a lakeside cottage. For most people visiting this site, this is a pretty sweet deal. I rented a lagoon side cabin with my sweetie for a week-end. The price was very affordable and the cabin offered decent furnishing, small fridge for your booze/steaks/etc, and a large, comfy bed. The barbeque outside the cabin provide for cooking, or you can rent rooms with kitchenettes if you wish. We didn't worry because went for breakky at Copper Sky in Madeira Park (great breakfast and coffee!) and dinner at the Ruby Lake restaurant (more later). Whether you bike there (you're very fit) or drive, the resort is a hub for different outdoor activities: canoeing/rowing/swimming on Ruby Lake; family swim at Katherine Lake or Dan Bosch; hiking to see the Skookumchuck narrows; hiking to Mt Daniel (where Sechelt native women were initiated into womenhood) or kayak out of Garden Bay; seeing some of the local art galleries and so on. There's no shortage of activities, which the Ruby Lake staff can help you with. The restaurant has been here for years and has earned a reputation for excellent Italian food. The menu provides variety and, though a bit pricey, every meal I've had over the years (Seafood platter, Penne Arrabbiatta, Gorgonzola and con Funghi, veal cutlet and a salmon dish) have been good. Mind you, I agree with other reviewers that fresh bread and good olive oil would greet you better than the current offering. The Cogrossi are bird lovers and have hosted an annual wood duck festival. You can catch them feeding the eagles in the afternoon, and otherwise observe abundant bird life around the lagoon and lake. For Vancouverites, Ruby Lake offers an enjoyable and affordable long week-end getaway, without the Vancouver Island crowds and ferry line-ups. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. read more

I came across this resort while researching where to stay on the Sunshine Coast. I wanted to surprise my husband with a weekend getaway for his birthday. I was intrigued by Ruby Lake Resort because they offered Safari Tents which I thought would be a fun alternative to camping or staying at a B&B. They offered a romantic getaway for $99 which included a full day canoe rental (valued at $60). PROS: -The resort is rustic and beautiful with tents and motel rooms situated alongside a lagoon on a 99 acre ecological reserve. A nature lover's paradise. Even though it was high season and the resort was full we saw very few people outside of the restaurant area! -I was pleasantly surprised that even though we were surround by forest and a lagoon I did NOT get eaten alive by mosquitoes! -I really liked that a full day canoe rental ($60 value) was included with our safari tent rental ($99). Knowing that I wanted to rent a canoe anyway this provided great value for me. -We really enjoyed our evening in the safari tent. I was happy to have chosen this unique style of accommodation. There were no bugs and the fireplace which we kept on through the night kept us warm. It's a unique experience to be sitting by a fire in your tent... even though it's electric :) -Shared bathroom and shower facilities were close to the tent area with clean washrooms and showers. Initially I thought there would be a problem with only 1 shower in service but I was the only one there in the morning. -We had a delicious meal at the Italian Restaurant. They have classic and unique offerings - we tried wild boar for the first time and it was delicious! CONS: -The resort grounds are very hard to navigate with lots of unmarked trails through the forest. Even after asking an employee how to get to the restaurant from our tent we ended up wandering around in the woods for an hour, unable to find our way and having to backtrack to our car only to end up driving down the road to the restaurant. There doesn't appear to be a CLEAR path from the accommodation/tent area to the restaurant/reception area unless you want to walk on the side of the highway (not advisable.) This problem could easily be solved with a take-away map given to you when you check-in and a clear marked path from the tents to the restaurant. -We felt that our safari tent was overpriced. While all the tents are the same price some had more privacy with their decks overlooking the lagoon with beautiful wood chairs and others were campsite style with decks facing the driving/walking path. Our tent was the least desirable, being closest to the highway, facing the pathway and with plastic chairs on the deck instead of the carved wood chairs all the other tents had. If we were to stay there again I would definitely request a tent facing the lagoon. -Even though it was high season and the resort was at capacity there was a feeling of it being deserted and under construction. They have a beautiful Amphitheater that isn't being used (even though their pamphlet states that they have nightly shows) which was a little bit misleading but luckily I didn't book here expecting to see a show. The pro to this con is that it was very quite, both during the day and night! Surrounding Area: -Ruby Lake is directly across the street with easy access to swimming and canoe rentals (included in our package). Ruby Lake is gorgeous. It truly lived up to it's claim of being one of the warmest lakes in B.C. and being rated as one of the clearest and cleanest on the coast. The clear waters and warm temperature were a huge selling point for me. We took the canoe out for the afternoon and stopped on one of the islands to sun bathe on the rocks. I would definitely return to Ruby Lake, although next time (since we already experienced the safari tent) I'd look into renting a cottage right on the lake. -Dan Bosch Regional Park is about a ten minute walk from the resort which has a sandy spot to swim and picnic. It would be a great area for kids. All in all we had a good experience. The resort lost 2 stars because it was incredibly frustrating to go on an unexpected 1 hour detour when trying to find the restaurant (with guidance from staff) when we were already starving and the fact that our tent location and amenities weren't as desirable as all the others, even though we were paying the same price. read more

Ruby Lake Resort - A peek inside our Safari Tent - Resorts Near Me - Madeira Park, British Columbia

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Food is terrible and expensive for what they execute. Great view and friendly staff; however the food is expensive for what you get. It was a very disappointing spaghetti bolognese. Not a dish I would expect to pay $19 for, let alone serve to a dog. We will not be coming back. read more

I'd been to Ruby Lake multiple times previously and really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food at the restaurant, despite it being pretty clearly overpriced. I thought Ruby Lake would be an ideal place to go for a night with my partner to catch a meteor shower. 240 is a bit steep for a room, but I figured it would be worth it to have a bit of luxury in a quiet, dark, beautiful setting. When we arrived, the staff checked us in and I noticed right away that Anya, the person checking us in didn't seem very friendly and clearly just wanted to check us in a quickly as she could and get us out of there. I was surprised to find, five minutes after I checked in, that there was no electricity or running water in our room, and even more surprised five minutes after that to find that the staff were aware of this because the power had been out for an hour, long before we arrived to check in. When I returned with my partner to calmly but directly inquire as to why I was checked into a room with no water or electricity without being told when the staff knew there was a power outage, Anya got very defensive, claimed she didn't know the power was out (the first of several lies we were told by staff that day) and acted affronted that she was being held accountable for her actions. It was ridiculous and totally clear that she was lying through her teeth given that timeline and the fact that the staff person who told me about the outage had been standing next to her at the time we checked in and the power had been out for an hour. Pretty clear that Ruby Lake is all about the money though, and that became only more evident as time wore on. We waited about an hour and a half or so before we called BC Hydro and found out that the power wasn't estimated to be on until 11:00 P.M. By this time is was about 5 in the evening and we weren't too keen on not having water or electricity for another six hours. Just to note, the staff never enquired as to if we had a need for water or any medical situation that would require electricity or water. They never so much as offered us a glass of water, though they kept running their restaurant somehow and seemed to have water for the people that were willing to spend more money there. We returned and let Anya know that the power wasn't slated to be on until 11 p.m. Her response was that "Actually, the power is supposed to be on in a couple of hours." Anya seems to have an interesting relationship with the truth. I let her know that in fact I'd called BC Hydro myself and was being told another six hours. My partner asserted that this wasn't going to work for us, that we weren't able to access the amenities we'd paid through the teeth for, we needed to be able to have electricity and running water to, say, for example, wash our hands or use the toilet, and we were going to have to go somewhere else and needed our money back. The levels of greed and terrible customer service that ensued were shameful. Anya tried to protest, I cut her off and asked her to get the manager (she'd lied earlier and told me she was the manager) which she did. Upon returning, she let us know that the manager was "busy with other guests and can't just drop everything to come and talk to you" which was needlessly rude. Once the manager did come, she was shamey, judgemental, guilt-tripping and rude. She accused us of harassing her staff. I always think it's interesting when people confuse being held accountable with harassment. If requesting information about a bad situation, seeing through people's lies and refusing to be treated like my purpose there was to generate profit for the resort is harassment, then I'm guilty as charged. The manager suggested that most people who come there come for nature, not power and water. The audacity to tell my partner and myself how we should spend our time there is stunning. Never was there an apology, never was there an offer of water knowing we couldn't access any but they could in the restaurant. Instead there were guilt trips about the fact that someone was hurt due to the accident that caused the accident, guilt trips about them not being able to resell the room (despite our not using the beds or making a mess), and even an ask that we "human to human" leave 40 dollars to make up for the cost of recleaning our unused room. I found the concept of "human to human" interesting given that we'd been lied to, judged, guilt-tripped, and allowed to check into a room with no power or water, never offered water or asked if we needed anything and generally treated poorly and as though we were a bother, even at check-in. Ruby Lake, the cost of doing business is absorbed by the business when things like this happen. *You are not owed or guaranteed a profit.* Getting a refund shouldn't be that hard. Lying to and treating your guests the way were treated is indefensible. Clearly there is a culture of rudeness at this "resort." Wake up. read more

Less than impressed. We stayed in a safari tent and the neighbours partied so loud that we didnt get much sleep. The restaurant had a nice feel to it but the seafood special was clearly older items that were on the verge. The girl managing at the time was completely clueless. She was hardly ever available and we found her partying with guests. Let me see...... What else? We rented a canoe and it had a leak in it so we cut that activity short. We also paid for two 60 min massages when I only booked the 30min. The two ladies separated me and my partner then told us the other had decided on a 60min instead. Not cool ladies. The safari tent had a pretty nice view from the porch and was clean enough....considering its a tent, but I definitely won't return. read more

It's a shame that I can't rate this place higher. It has sooo much potential! First, the name is a bit deceiving. I suppose they call themselves a 'resort' because they have a 'spa' onsite. But don't be mislead. It's really just upscale camping and motel. That being said, it's perfect for people who may not have their own camping gear but want to get away to wilderness. I understand that this is the high season, hence the $100/nt price for a safari tent. However, if I were to checkin to a hotel, some rooms will cost more depending on their view, amenities, etc. So I was not impressed that we were put in a tent nearest the highway, and did not have the same beautiful wooden furniture the other tents had. And we paid the same rate that all the tents paid. Crystal mentioned navigation. Yes it was pretty unclear. The worse part was that the staff members who I asked for help didn't seem to have a clue. I asked how long it would take to walk around the lagoon path, and the staff said he had no idea. I would think that any place with this much property would give every guest a map of the grounds upon checking in. Nope. We were simply shown a piss-poor hand drawing (not to scale) of the area. Basically, we had to drive back down the highway a couple hundred yards to a different entrances to get to our tent. This was not a big deal, but to expect guests to then walk back along the highway to get to the restaurant and lobby is insane. The restaurant was good, though. Very nice authentic italian dishes. Some were quite unique. I have a penne with wild boar. It was fantastic! There was only a couple low points to the dinner. First, earlier in the day the 'manager' was trying to convince us to come for dinner at 5pm because the reservations at 7pm were 'starting to fill up'. I'm sorry, but I'm not 75 years old. I don't want to eat at 5pm in an empty restaurant. An so what if the restaurant is 'starting to fill up'? Does that mean it's full? Nope! This manager was really a thorn in my side since our arrival. As I mentioned, dinner was great, with the exception of the dinner bread. As great as this Italian restaurant was, they should have fresh Italian bread served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Instead we were given a small loaf of some cheap dry bread with a couple packets of butter. But this was not enough to ruin my meal. Ruby Lake is gorgeous. All in all, I had a fantastic trip. And as I stated at the beginning, it's a shame I couldn't rate this place higher. If they would just make a couple small changes to make things easier for their guests, I could easily give them 5 stars. But as it sits, they need to improve a couple areas, and the manager needs to smarten up. read more

We had dinner at the Ruby Lake restaurant last Sunday evening. Despite being half full, we waited half an hour for our salads and then another hour for entrees. When the entrees finally arrived they were both small and underwhelming in quality. For example, the pastas had hardly any sauce - it appears there is a cost cutting program under way this year. read more

Isolated area, which can be nice but quite a drive to get food. The restaurant is expensive and the portions are small. The owner has a cool farm with birds. Wild chickens and turkeys and other cool birds. Rooms are cozy. Prices are average for the area. Try renting a canoe, it was the highlight of our trip. read more

I keep coming back to this little hidden gem in the forest ....never get over the views from the cabins and the lake ...just magical.....i am glad the Cogrossi family has taken over the management of the cabins once again ....rooms were spotless and inviting the new renovations and bedding were classy and tastefully done ...I did not want to get out of bed except for the rooster kept telling it was time for some fun ......Easter weekend was beautiful up there the food was soooo good ...we visited with another couple, its very romantic and lots of hiking-and walking to do ....if you want to explore we fell absolutely in love with Francis point about an hour hike and smugglers cove ....perfect day ...ending with a glass of wine in their restaurant patio and a perfect meal .....i will be returning this summer ....i feel completely relaxed after my trip read more

Fun and affordable. Restaurant is casual and very nice. Relaxed and low key. Less than 30 mins back to busier areas if you want that during the day. Shop on the way since there is little to choose from up this end of the road. Including coffee or ice. read more