We were looking on short notice for a place to book nearer Tofino and the beaches of the Pacific Rim area, to follow our stay in Ucluelet (at the new Black Rock Resort; mainly a thumbs-up at their current intro. prices), from May 13-20/09. All we could find unbooked was Middle Beach Lodge, for that time period. After reading many reviews (some good, some quite bad), we decided to chance it & I was at least grateful to see many said it was kept spotlessly clean, even if service wasn't always up to snuff, depending on seasonal staff. But at least it was also well-equipped, so we could hang out there and not have to go out to eat all the time, or do laundry offsite. Were WE in for a few surprises!

We had Unit #61 (an end unit) in the so-called Deluxe Sixplex at their Lodge at the Headlands, a main floor unit with jacuzzi tub (never dared use....you'll see why). At booking, I asked how far the beach was from the unit and was told "A few steps from your door!" I'd read another review of this same unit, where the reviewer mentioned "..only if you jump off the cliff!" Turns out, the latter was right. Yes, ocean-front, but on a hill/cliff overlooking a tiny cove with a beach (invisible from these units), with McKenzie Beach to the left, but even that a few mins. walk through the forest, so barely visible unless you stood up on the deck. (Middle Beach itself, a small beach, is another 5 min. walk in the opposite direction & not even visible from most units anywhere) Okay, not the best, but not terrible. We were still CLOSE to the ocean.

I'd asked if there was indeed NO closet for clothes, as I'd also read. I was told there WAS, although it was quite small. Wrong again. There were only a few hooks above 2 drawers in the bedroom, and a very cramped bedroom, to boot, with an ill-fitting dust ruffle carelessly put in place. So it's 'quaint.'

The bathroom COULD have been okay, with slatted wall doors from the bedroom which you were supposed to have been able to open, for a view to the outside (but no privacy then!). One of ours was so warped & stuck, it almost jumped out of its track when we tried to open it all the way. Finally got it open and had to leave it like that, lest it break the next time. The lighting was another matter entirely. Almost NONE near the vanity; one globe-type bulb. Just 'super' for us gals! I ended up dragging in the living room floor lamp, but even that didn't help much, so did my 'face' out in the kitchen each day, with my own make-up mirror. How convenient.

And that floor lamp for the living room? Here's where our little adventure with Middle Beach Lodge really began! It was dim enough in the whole unit, w/o one bulb burnt out in that lamp. We asked for another bulb. You'd think we'd have asked for the moon. Sure, they got on it right away, but gave us a FLOODLAMP bulb, as well as leaving another bathroom GLOBE bulb...for a lamp that was designed for regular 60W. bulbs only! They'd put in the floodlamp bulb for us, which then sat a mere 1/4" away from the paper-like lampshade! Yikes! Were they HOPING to burn down the joint, and then blame us?! We tried 2 more times to get this rectified during our stay, yet never did get a proper bulb, despite the (feigned?) concern & empathy from the (various) women at the front desk. Same for the burnt-out bulb in the nightlight in the bathroom. Left with a note to the cleaning staff to replace it, please, it simply disappeared, never to return.

Though this made us uneasy, we tried to make the best of it....until the next day, when we checked out the BBQs that I'd ALSO asked about beforehand. Oh sure, there's a shared BBQ area....for use with BRIQUETTES ONLY! And NO briquettes, matches OR starter fluid supplied! And no plans to get any (by the Lodge) until summer! Nice. Good customer service.

I'd also asked ahead of time about the fireplace in the unit. Was it GAS? Twice, I was assured it was definitely GAS. Uh, no. It was
ELECTRIC, i.e., no heat from it, just a 'picture' of flames. Okay then!

Then there was the kitchen. OMG. We went to fetch the spatula to flip our food in the pan for our dinner. NO spatula. "Full kitchen." Sure. Since we were in the middle of cooking already, my husband used 2 forks instead, and burnt his arm in several places from fat flying. We later asked if perhaps someone had stolen it from the unit, and could we have one, please? Well, we "might" be able to "borrow" one from THEIR kitchen in the Lodge itself, "if" we needed it, but we'd have to give it back after use! Excuse me?????? Not a spare part IN this joint! No S&P shakers, either. Just those tiny packets with 1/4 tsp. in each, and most of the salt was gone anyway, and never replaced. And when I spilled a bit of raw rice on the floor and used a paper towel to clean it up, I discovered how black the floors were with dirt. Ewww.

What else could they do to make our stay more unpleasant? Well, how about not getting a message to us until the day AFTER it was left, because it had been "misfiled"? (what if it had been an emergency call?!) How about NO alarm clock in the bedroom? Yes, we got a 2-inch miniature one, & thankfully only needed it once, as its accuracy was up to 20 mins. off the time set. Or trying to get a drink in the Lodge's Great Room in under 20 mins. (no set bartender, ever) and having to tell them how to make the cocktail you ordered. How about never throwing on logs more than once/evening in the main Lodge's Great Room, even though it was quite chilly every night? Or their laundry facilities, with (only) one washer and dryer that looked like they hadn't been cleaned off in several years - ick! (we used a CLEAN laundromat in Tofino instead, adding to our costs)

After our first day (and one home-cooked dinner later), we received our little "check list" from the 'cleaning' staff, of the items they'd supposedly taken care of. "Garbage removed - CHECK!" NOT!! Our almost-full kitchen garbage was still there. "Counters, sinks, tub sanitized (if necessary)" -- ???! - CHECK! NOT!! Still water spots everywhere and ONLY sinks wiped out. I cleaned the bathroom mirror myself, from top to bottom, to clear off all the dust, so I could see....errr...the darkness.

There was also no little broom & dustpan to clean up your own messes if need be. At this point, since it IS a beach area, we had some areas around doors and in the kitchen in need of vacuuming (it's mainly hardwood flooring), so I asked when floors were usually cleaned (they hadn't been by day 2). We were told they do them "if they need it" (IF??? at a beach???), but they would "make sure" ours got done tomorrow. That was to be our 3rd day, and as per their policy, also time for a full linen change, so I had some hope.

We got our daily cleaning checklist left, with EVERY ITEM checked off and a pointed comment that said: "Enjoy your fresh new cabin." Yet we were left with only one tea towel in the kitchen, NO floor cleaning done (same bits of dirt everywhere they'd been), still sand and grit in the bathtub (from throwing our bathroom mat in for a clean one), still spots on counters, and NO bed linen change, either! (trust me, I checked) It was then we began to wonder what had been left from the PREVIOUS guests! EWWWW! I didn't want to touch anything at that point. So we began checking the other resorts for any possible openings for our last few days, and luckily we found JUST what we'd originally wanted, at Pacific Sands down the road.

We took one more walk to Middle Beach that night, which we were told is a "private" beach of the Lodge (not sure if that's legally correct), to find a group of people CAMPING there (supposed to be ONLY for use of guests of the lodge), as well as breaking trees in the forest for their fire. We stopped at the Lodge at the BEACH (their other section) on the way back to report this, but the staff person there nonchalantly said yes, someone else had mentioned it already but she'd have to wait until morning to report it to an unnamed "someone." She didn't know, either, if it was illegal or not to fell trees for campfires. Ugh.

However, our stay wasn't over just yet. Our last night in this dubious place, and we had another encounter. A very sad one. Next to Middle Beach Lodge is a campground, on McKenzie Beach. It was the May long wknd., with lots of campers and several beach fires going at night (and some fireworks). I suddenly found, on our deck, a poor, wet, old, arthritic dog, w/ a collar but no tags, and he was crying. Long story short, he was obviously lost & we couldn't find his people. We let him spend the night in our unit, giving him water (had no decent food left for a dog, though) & a safe, dry place to sleep. The next morning my husband went to ask if they could take him in (he was sneezing by then), feed him and help find his people, as we were then checking out. IF they're to be believed, they did say they would, and would call the other area resorts as well, to see if anyone had reported him missing. However, instead of following my husband as he'd done the evening before when he'd gone to ask the same thing (but there's no desk staff beyond about 10pm, turns out), he disappeared, and we never found him again. According to the staff, this "happens all the time" in this area. Oh, great. And no animal shelters of any sort listed in the phone book, that we could find. Another 'nice.' But one POSSIBLE credit to the Lodge's staff...maybe.

To their credit for certain, though, they DID give us a decent discount for all our troubles, before we left with now very saddened hearts, for Pacific Sands, with their well-deserved reputation of being a much, much better place to stay. But I still think of that poor dog...

In light of everything, I would NEVER recommend this place, unless you enjoy being deceived and being treated like, as other people have said, "an imposition" on the too-young, careless and inexperienced staff, or living with dirt. The positives of their free breakfasts (even with the xlnt. cinnamon buns), the fresh cookies at 8pm, and the ambiance of the Lodge's Great Room don't outweigh the rest of all the negatives....besides, I now wonder how much grime is forever embedded in all those 'cozy' chairs, couches and pillows?

NOTE: the "great food/wine" in my checklist refers to places on Vancouver Island, and including Ucluelet & Tofino, OTHER than Middle Beach Lodge (whose wine list rather sucks).