Travel Accommodation: Choosing a Hotel or Motel
The Okanagan & Shuswap area has over 130 different hotels for you to choose
from. There is plenty of selection no matter your preference in any community in
the region!
There are a number of considerations in selecting accommodations that can
make the difference between an enjoyable stay and a major headache, whether
your trip to Okanagan is for business or pleasure. You can select a hotel
based on its name, features,
price range, or its location.
By Name
Most of the major hotel chains have properties in the Okanagan marketplace.
If you are familiar with and happy with a chain, or just want its frequent flyer
miles, then you will like their hotel in Okanagan.
Some chains focus on business travellers, in the upper-middle
price range. In Okanagan you'll find: Coast Hotels, Delta, Ramada,
several other chains. Some chains target families and budget
conscious business travellers. These chains are: Best Western, Comfort Inn,
Days Inn, Quality Inn, Sandman, and Travelodge.
The Okanagan region has many fine hotels and motels that do not belong to a chain.
In fact, the majority of hotels in the area are not members of a chain.
By Features
A traveller may need to rely on a specific feature in a hotel. It may be a hotel-wide capability like airport shuttle or business centre, it may be an in-room feature like Internet access or a whirlpool bath (and vary from room to room), it may relate to fitness to stay in shape on the road or to entertain the children, or you may require special suites. We have tried to catalogue them all in the FoundLocally database.
The range of features will vary from hotel to hotel, and sometimes from room to room. If there
is a feature that is critical to your stay (ie wheelchair access or coach
parking) request it in the Hotel Search screen, to display only to those establishments. Be sure to request this feature when making your room reservation.
Some commonly sought features are:
Price Range
There is accommodation in Okanagan to suit any budget. You can stay at the
Okanagan University College residence/conference housing (in the summers) or the Youth Hostel for only dollars a day.
Pricing is seasonal. Summer is high season in the Okanagan and Shuswaps, with
ski season (late December through April) coming in second. Area hotels are also more expensive over holidays and long weekends. Fall (September to December) and spring (April to June) are definitely the less expensive times to visit. Each hotel's dates for high, low, and shoulder seasons differ a bit so watch your timing or your hotel.
Our pricing guidelines (exclusive of taxes) are as follows:
| Price | Low Season | Peak Season | $ | <50 | <60 |
$$ | 50-79 | 60-99 | $$$ | 80-119 | 100-149 | $$$$ | 120+ | 150+ |
Location
The desired location of the hotel depends on the purpose of your visit. We have grouped the hotels by "Area" to assist you with selecting appropriate accommodation. The Area is in most cases, the city in which a hotel is located. Inside the City of Okanagan, we also list the part of town.
If you are in Okanagan on business, you would want a hotel close to the major
cities (Vernon, Kelowna, or Penticton). Because everything is so close
together, many Kelowna and Penticton hotels have either a view or waterfront or both.
All hotels are within walking distance (or a $4 to $8 cab ride) of downtown shopping,
beaches, the many restaurants and the nightlife. There are some value-conscious hotels in the Downtown
area of each city.
If you are here for power-shopping for the family, most of the hotels are close to the
various malls in each city, which tend to be clustered close to Highway 97.
If you are travelling across Canada along the Trans-Canada Highway, and wanted
to take the scenic route through the Okanagan, all hotels are convenient for
you and Highway 97. If you are skipping the Okanagan, and taking the highway along the Fraser or the Coquihalla toll-route, then the best highway stops are (from east to west) Revelstoke, Sicamous, Salmon Arm, and Kamloops.
If you are trying to find something VERY NEAR your meeting, use the "Postal" feature in the Hotel Search screen, where we match the first the digits/characters of the postal code! This also works on our Restaurant search, to find a restaurant near your hotel (and in every other search form on our site).
|
