kelowna Archives - Curiously Carmen

Travel: My First Airbnb Experience (Kelowna, BC)

July 28, 2016

Last summer, I stayed at my first ever Airbnb!

Even though it was my first experience living in an Airbnb, it didn’t really feel like it because I was browsing Airbnb almost daily at times! Our first choice had a strict cancellation policy and we weren’t entirely sure of our dates yet, so we wouldn’t be able to get a full refund if we had to slightly alter our dates.

We ended up choosing this basement suite because it had a flexible policy, so we figured we could at least secure a place during the busiest season in Kelowna! I am really glad we stayed here because it was a great experience.

After finding this place and doing extensive research (proximity to attractions we wanted to go, reviews, host reviews, looking at the pictures thoroughly, etc), we couldn’t have found a better deal for the price.

My Airbnb Experience Kelowna - Pictures of the suite — Photo credit: Kristine, Airbnb

Our host, Kristine, was great and lived upstairs. She was easily accessible via the Airbnb messaging app. The place was very clean, spacious, and matched the pictures exactly. We loved how there was a full kitchen and lots of comfortable space in the suite.

Entrance/living room: After entering through a passcode lock rather than a key, you will see the living room and kitchen. After our busy days exploring Kelowna, we spent a lot of time lounging on the couches after. There was also a HDMI cable provided, so I was able to watch Netflix/Youtube off my laptop.

However, I just went back to the review now and looks like Kristine has added Netflix to the suite!
Kitchen: Directly beside the living room, is the full kitchen. There was all the supplies and spices we would ever need, and more! We cooked here once only, which was a smooth experience. We mainly used the fridge to store our leftovers and water bottles.
Bedroom: Across from the living room and kitchen is a small area that fits a queen sized bed perfectly. The bed was very comfortable, plushy, and I slept really well on it. There is also a small twin bed in the laundry room, which is not as comfortable as this bed.
Washroom: The washroom was pretty standard, but I liked how there was a coordinating yellow theme. The shampoo, conditioner, and soap provided was also a good quality brand – Aveeno! I appreciated this small gesture because I usually find hotel toiletries to not work as well.

I would recommend this place for three people, MAYBE four if someone does not mind sleeping on the couch. This place was also very convenience to drive around town and to the attractions. The neighbourhood was very quiet and it felt safe.

It is a 3 minute drive to Orchard Park Mall, which is the largest mall in Kelowna. The longest we had to drive was probably 30 minutes to reach the wineries in the countryside. You could easily reach the major supermarkets such as Superstore and Save On in 5 minutes!

You are probably wondering how you can book this place on your next visit to Kelowna. Well, here is the link to the listing we stayed at!

*Photos are not mine, and were taken from the Airbnb site

Travel Diaries: Horseback riding in Kelowna (Pegasus Riding School & Trail Rides)

May 21, 2015

Greetings everyone!

I’m continuing my travel journal today, with what I did during my second day in the beautiful city of Kelowna!

One of the top things that we wanted to do in Kelowna was horseback riding. Prior to the trip, I had done some research and narrowed it down to a small, horseback riding company due to the significantly lower price they offered.

We went with Pegasus Riding School & Trail Rides, which was about a 30 minute drive from the main part of Kelowna, on the other side of Okanagan Lake. You have to take some small, windy roads up a mountain to get there, but the reward is that the view is a bit nicer from up top.

A one hour ride was $40, compared to most places in central Kelowna that were around $60-80 a hour. So much cheaper! To some people, it may be a bit out of the way but we didn’t mind driving a bit extra. The only thing we didn’t like was that we weren’t able to book a reservation, so our plans were up in the air until the day before.

They also only take requests through the traditional telephone (no text or online booking), so you’ll have to call the owner and let them know which day you want and time. Even if you tell them, they can’t guarantee that time for you and tell you to wait and see if other customers call. If others call for the same time, they’ll open the spot up but if not, unfortunately you’ll have to find another time.

This got a bit tedious but oh well, we were able to save money!
After giving you a helmet and riding boots, you’re on your way! One person from Pegasus leads the way, I really liked our guide that day.

Monkey was the slowest horse in the entire group, so we were pretty behind most of the time. He also has to stay in the back because our guide told us that one of their white horses loved to bite Monkey in the back during trail rides. Now, Monkey does not like white horses or behind in front of any other horses – poor guy! Nonetheless, I really liked him – he was a very sweet, shy, and gentle horsey =)
After around 30 minutes of riding, we reached the view point! I’m glad that the weather was cooperating with us, so we had a nice clear view of West Kelowna and Okanagan lake.

Some tips I would give to others would be to wear comfortable, stretchy pants. Your legs may be sore as they get stretched out due to how wide the horse’s body is. Also, as the horse trots along, your body bounces up and down a bit so you may end up with a sore lower back as you try to balance. Personally, I was okay though!

Afterwards, we went to explore West Kelowna’s winery region, the Westside wine trail. The most popular one there is the famous Mission Hill winery, but we didn’t really have a great experience. It was too busy and staff weren’t that friendly.

Our personal favourite from the Westside region was Quail’s Gate. It wasn’t as busy as Mission Hill but had fantastic service, and one of their wines was served with chocolate – yum!!! My favourite part was the view though. They have a big, grassy hill for visitors to relax in and soak in the beautiful Okanagan view, which is what I certainly did.

Have you been horseback riding before? How did you like it?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Travel Diaries: Winetasting & Hiking in Kelowna

May 20, 2015

I just came back from a nice little getaway to the beautiful city of Kelowna and had the idea to attempt travel blogging. I’ve never really done this before but I do follow my awesome friend’s travel blog, so I figured I would give this a try.

For those who don’t know, Kelowna is a small city located around 4 hours away from Vancouver, in the same province (British Columbia). It is a pretty easy drive up as you just follow the highway. This city is situated in the interior region of BC, otherwise known as the Okanagan Valley.

The Okanagan Valley is very well known for the beautiful Okanagan Lake which I couldn’t take my eyes off of and the beautiful summer weather, which in turns produces their famous fresh and delicious fruits. In particular, Kelowna is well known for their tremendous amount of wineries and outdoor activities! It is the perfect place to come and enjoy the great outdoors!
I don’t normally go hiking, but one of my best friends who lived here for 4 years recommended that we hike up to Knox Mountain. I’m glad that we went in the early afternoon, because by the time we were done the hike, the sun was directly on top of us and it was getting really hot. The hike up to the first viewpoint took around 15 minutes, and was pretty easy. There was some slight uphill, but nothing that bad.

From there, we saw signs leading to the Paul’s Tomb hike, and decided to follow that instead of going to the second viewpoint at Knox Mountain. The hike to Paul’s Tomb was a lot easier because there wasn’t much uphill, and a lot of gradual downhill! It took us around 30 minutes at a leisurely pace to get to Paul’s Tomb.

When we got to Paul’s Tomb, I was in awe at how beautiful the view was. The trail was pretty quiet, and we were the only ones there which was something I really appreciated about a smaller city like Kelowna.

We sat here for awhile, absorbing the beautiful view that was Okanagan Lake and the surrounding mountains. Waves gently brushing over the rocks, a gentle cool lake breeze gave us a break from the hot sun, and clear water.

The walk back took more effort than the getting there, but it was so worth it! We took shelter and cooled off whenever the sun would get hidden behind the fluffy white clouds. There was slight uphill as the walk there is downhill, so you do get a bit of a workout. As someone who doesn’t hike often, I certainly felt it in my calves and hamstrings after finishing the hike.

After a quick lunch, we were off to our first wine tasting! There are five main winery regions in Kelowna, which can be found on the online pamphlet or in the wineries themselves. We decided to go to the Lake Country region first. I recommend having a car in Kelowna, as many of the wineries are in secluded, hidden areas. Also, a map – we got lost a few times with all the winding off-roads!

Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of all the wineries as I hadn’t thought of blogging about this trip until afterwards =( My favourite winery in Lake Country was Arrowleaf! The inside had a nice, modern, clean design and had floor to ceiling windows. They also had a nice grassy area for a picnic or a patio where you can enjoy their wine.
This is the view from Grey Monk winery. All the wineries that we went to had breathtaking views of Okanagan Lake! The Lake Country region had around 6 different wineries, we went to 3 of the wineries. At most, wineries in the same region are no more than a 15 minutes drive away from each other but usually less than 7 minutes.

Never been wine tasting?

Worry not! When you arrive at the winery, one of the workers will approach you and ask if you’re interested in sampling some wine. Some wineries charge a small fee (I remember the ones we went to ranged from $3-$8), but sometimes they waive the fee if you purchase a bottle of wine from them. Others offer complementary tasting.

Then, they give you a small menu with all the different types of wine that is available for sampling, it can vary from day to day. Most places limit you to four samples. You will start with the lighest wines (typically the whites and rose) and move on to the heavier wines. This method works better for your taste palette.

Wine tasting goes by pretty fast! In each winery, we completed the wine tasting in under ten minutes and spent the rest of the time walking outside, enjoying the view, or checking out the products on sale.

Where did we stay?

We found a nice, comfortable place on AirBNB! It was very centrally located and convenient. Our host was wonderful and the place was readily stocked with all the necessities plus minor little details. We chose to go with AirBNB instead of a hotel mainly because Kelowna hotels cost significantly more in the summer due to the influx of tourists and were all sold out already, and because we wanted a full kitchen in case we decided to cook.

Thanks for reading! Stay posted on more wine tastings, horseback riding, and an outdoor high ropes/obstacle course!

-Carmen