Last year we traveled to the Okanagan for our annual family vacation. We had stayed in Kelowna on previous occasions but it was just too busy.

We discovered Turtle Bay Resort and Marina in Lake Country just north of Kelowna. This is a small family operated resort. We were greeted and checked in by the owner, Sandy Smith who was very friendly.

Her daughter Sammy showed us to our condo which was just steps from the lake. with a beautiful view. Our children got a real thrill out of watching the turtles and large fish swimming around the dock.

We rented a boat and toured Woods Lake and then went through a small canal which took us to the larger and stunningly beautiful Kalamaka Lake. The water skiing on Woods Lake was some of the best we have ever experienced.

We had the option of cooking our own meals or relaxing on the deck at Turtle Bay Pub & Restaurant right next door.

We spoke with some of the other guests who told us that they come every year and have been vacationing at Turtle Bay Resort since it was built. Once couple commented that they had actually watched a pregnant Sandy helping her husband build the docks.

We have decided to make staying at the resort a family tradition every summer.

We booked at Turtle Bay Marina in advance and chose this resort as it has a really nice boat launch onto Wood Lake where you can join to Kalamalka Lake (Beautiful Lake). This reservation was taken by Sandy, and she was very accomodating, we were excited about the holiday and I was sure that I had made a good choice.

Well, we checked in about 1:30 in the afternoon, and did not see Sandy, but were taken care of by her daughter-which was fine, we got our key to the one bedroom, and off we go. Before I go into details I do have to give Sandy the benefit of saying that this was the day that a storm blew through on the Okanaghan side, and she was very busy trying to salvage her boats from that dock (that was no longer there). The One bedroom was old, but we were not expecting alot, it had a fully stocked kitchen which was nice, and living room area and of course one bedroom-unlike alot of condos we have stayed at they did not have a DVD player or get this a phone. As we were settling we noticed that there was still dirty towels on the floor, and the bathroom had not been cleaned; we asked for towels and toilet paper...none of that also. In the morning when we went to make coffee, we pulled out the filter that was filled with mold...not so good, we always travel with coffee and filters, so we used our own filter. We ended up asking for towels again, and Sandy did bring them up-stating that we had plenty under the sink...yes...2 towels were left- we have 2 teenage daughters---not quite enough, plus we felt like we were inconveniencing her for asking. We stayed from
Thursday through to Monday, and not once did we get housekeeping...having to ask for toilet paper twice was annoying...and by monday the floor really could have used a sweep. They also had a BBQ there-which is a nice touch, but my husband had to go and fill the propane (which they did refund us for)

As for the boat launch and the marina, we were very happy with this, we had no problem getting a slip for our boat, and the staff at the marina were very accomodating- we ended up having problems on the lake the first day, and one of the guys brought us tools out so that we could repair- very nice. Kalamalka Lake is absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed boating there alot, but I'm sure the next time we make a trip down there-we'll skip the stay at Turtle Bay, and just launch our boat from one of the various docks on the lake...coldstream has a nice place to dock also.

Sorry that I can't say more good things, but the service really did put a damper on the holiday,

Never had the chance.
I wanted to moor my small boat and stay at the Resort.
I spoke to Sandy the owner or owners wife and Sandy takes the care of rentals and morrage.
I have never spoken to anyone so rude in my life. Not interested in my business and could care less if I stayed at the resort or not.
The toll free number does not work - Sandy told me that the phone company has a block on it. You have to call her cell phone and she makes you feel like you are not welcome.
I called twice and each time she was either too busy or told me that she takes care of her long time customer only and they have no space or morrage. I wanted to be put on a waitlist and I was abrublty told that they only look after regular customers. I wonder how you become a regular customer when the owner could care less.
I would advise everyone to stay away from this place if the front line worker who takes the booking could care less, i could imagine what the rest of the place is like.