Best Western Northgate Inn Review
My first trip in a COVID world was focused on socially distant activities. After spending a few days in and around Vancouver, we rented a car and headed out to Vancouver Island. (Not so pro-tip, book your BC Ferry as early as possible, you can reserve your spot online here) We were visiting friends in Nanaimo, and aligning with the current Pandemic rules, we stayed at the Best Western Northgate Inn, which I will be reviewing for our brief stay.
The sunset on the Ferry to Vancouver Island
Booking
We were travelling on the long weekend, hence rates were quite expensive.
Instead, as I had a bunch of Best Western points, I went ahead and booked a base room the day before arrival for 20,000 Best Western Rewards points, which is about 0.8 CPP, better than the 0.5 CPP that I value them at.
In addition, another thing to note is that if you’re an elite member with another program, then you’re eligible for a status match to Diamond or Diamond Select status instantly by filling out this form.
The Stay
We arrived at the Best Western Northgate Inn late in the evening and left early in the morning, so the stay was brief. Although the hotel was built in the 1980’s, the hotel was renovated in 2017, which shows.
This doesn’t look like the Best Western I know!
It was immediately clear that the hotel was offering modified services, which had the breakfast buffet closed, housekeeping unavailable and the fitness centre closed. We were welcomed by the friendliest front desk agents in the history of front desk agents, even at 11 PM at night. She was truly passionate about her job and she proactively upgraded us to a suite.
We got to our suite and it was much better than my stay at the Belleville Best Western. The King sized bed was in the corner of the room, with a couch in the other corner of the room. Both were clean and looked like they were recently replaced.
There was also a clean, simple desk with a comfortable chair, perfect for a bit of writing before hitting the bed.
There was a rather small TV, and a safe. In addition, the accessories in the room were updated for the modern traveler, with multiple plugs near the bed, important for those of us with multiple devices.
The Point
Overall, the Best Western Northgate Nanaimo was clean and the service was friendly. I wouldn’t hesitate to return to this hotel the next time I needed to stay in Nanaimo, at least until the Marriott Courtyard Nanaimo opens in the summer of 2021.
