EXPLORING KELOWNA'S MOTELS & RESORTS

From Timeshares to Motels and everything in between, over my years of travel to Kelowna I have stayed in pretty much all the major accommodation types the city has to offer plus with family.

Kelowna was originally a summer town and if you plan on staying downtown at something that is not an Air Bnb then you will find that most of the offerings are motel's from the 1960's that have been updated (or at least repainted). The reason for so many motels is because the city always had a transient population and when cars started to become more affordable so Motor Lodges (aka Motels) started popping up to help with these travellers. I have stayed in pretty much all of them (except the backpacker one) and they are exactly what you can expect from any motel, a comfortable place that is clean enough to rest your head and no enclosed hallways so your door opens onto the parking lot. If you are going to spend more of your day outside then it is everything you need. I prefer the ones that are walking distance to the beach but even if you book the Ramada across from the Boston Pizza, it is still a relatively close walk it will just be a really hot walk in the summer.

Right downtown is the Delta Grand Resort. When I was growing up if we did not stay with my grandparents then we stayed at their Timeshare in this resort. I was amazed with the pool as it was an indoor pool but you could swim under so little plastic flaps and then you are outside. My grandmother would head to the casino and we'd be left with an older cousin to keep swimming. It is because of these family memories that if I can stay at this resort, I will. this hotel also has a "grieving" rate as well. I've booked a friend into this hotel one year when he went up for a funeral and when it was time to go up to help my grandmother move into a home they not only gave us the funeral rate, they also upgraded us from a Standard room to one of the 2-bedroom Timeshare suites.

Air Bnb's are starting to gain popularity and there are a lot of options located within stumbling distance to Shoreline brewing but as downtown Kelowna continues growing then expect more condo options right downtown, walking distance to the beach. When I was up in Kelowna last summer there was talks that the city had green lighted a massive condo building to be built in a parking lot + part of the lake front park by the Visitor center. It is already had enough to find parking downtown, I cannot image what it will be like if this building goes up!