We have spent one night at the Naramata Heritage Inn & Spa, located in the Okanogan wine region of British Columbia.

After reviewing the properties history from their web site "The Hotel Naramata, resting on the shores of Okanagan Lake..." one would think this was a lake front property. However, while close to the lake, it is in the midst of a residential neighborhood and separated from the lake by houses on three sides and a fruit packing warehouse on the other.

Looking forward to our relaxing stay at a historic Inn, we made advance reservations for dinner in the Inn's restaurant. As the Inn's web site describes itself "The well appointed 12 room Inn hosts the Rock Oven Dining Room for fine dining...". Reading this, one would expect a pleasurable dining experience in the heart of the Okanagan wine country. To our great surprise, after we were seated and handed menus and a wine list, we were then told that the kitchen decided to close! The Inn posted signage both outside the hotel and in a flyer in the room that the restaurant was open until 10:00 pm. We sat down around 8:15 - with a reservation. At no time when we made the reservation, or at check-in when we reconfirmed this reservation, were we never advised that there was any chance that restaurant would close early.

Naramata is a very small town with little other choice for food so on a Sunday night after 8:00 you are left with few choices. We could have driven back to the town of Penticton, which was 20 minutes away, but after a full day on the road we decided to fend for ourselves. Luckily we had some left over snacks from the day's picnic lunch so we did not go completely hungry.

We paid $169 per night (low season rates) for a room which we thought a good value for what is stated to be a "luxurious" Inn & Spa. The room was small, but comfortable, although surprising not well appointed. One nice feature was the in-floor heating under the tile floor in the bathroom, and outside seating area, albeit with no view whatsoever.

Overall I would say this is one of the most disappointing Inn's we have ever stayed at.

We spent two nights mid-week in a king sized room and very much enjoyed the setting, history and ambience of the property. It is a very old building so expect the rooms to be small and quaint (the bathtub is in the bedroom). The restaurant/winebar is an indoor/outdoor experience and very popular so be sure to book for dinner. The food is very nice with good local products and, to be expected in wine country, a great wine list with all the better local wines featured. There's a lovely continental breakfast that you can enjoy on the verandah and a great local market on Wednesday afternoons. Driving to a dozen local wineries on the Bench is easy and there are a couple of really nice restaurants within about 12km of the hotel. Next time we would try to get a larger room or suite and go earlier in the year to enjoy the spring wine releases. We would happily stay at this property in future - one of the nicest features - NO TV.

Well, the first thing you can say about this inn is that it lives up to the heritage name. The building dates from 1908, I think. And for that reason, I can forgive it for a lot of sins I wouldn't forgive in other buildings. I think this is why the rates are what they are.

It's a very nice, old building. The accommodations are historic. And it's close to the water, although the water views are obstructed a bit by trees. There's a very good restaurant on the premises. The clawfoot tubs are deep, if not long, and we had a nice balcony in a corner room, although we couldn't enjoy it since it was -3.

However, the walls are quite thin. We had a corner room, which means two walls faced the outside, one wall faced another room, and the other faced the bathroom and then another room. We could hear all the conversations in all the rooms around us -- the other two rooms, plus the room below. Don't count on a romantic weekend getaway, unless you have no inhibitions about everyone around hearing everything that happens in your room. Also, as we had two walls on the outdoors (despite the very nice balcony space), and there was a storm overnight, we both woke up feeling as though we needed to close one of the already closed windows. It sounded as though the storm were coming straight into our room. The windows aren't double-paned, so this probably adds to the impression that the weather is coming straight in if your neighbours aren't.

The rooms are quite small. We paid $200+/night for a "queen" room, which was barely large enough to get a small rollaway suitcase in. I can't imagine what a "queen small" room would have been like, but I imagine the answer is tiny and overpriced.

We had dinner in Kelowna (I highly recommend Fresco), but then got back at 11 p.m. No one at the hotel had mentioned that they'd lock all the doors before 11 p.m., which led to an awkward moment where we were calling the hotel main number asking to be let in from the balcony while a janitor happened to walk by so we could ask him for access. Otherwise, we were afraid we were sleeping in the car.

The restaurant in the hotel is very nice for lunch, at least, although we'd been told they had the best selection of wine by the glass in BC. That claim is not true -- they had eight local wines by the glass, which is nice but not the best selection of wines by the glass in BC.

Overall we felt we'd paid a lot for the age of the inn, and hadn't received much in return but a tolerable room that we couldn't even speak comfortably in. Because the average B&B in BC tends to be more like a British B&B (a nondescript room in someone's house), we paid for the security that we'd be in a professionally run establishment. I don't think that Naramata Inn is worth the extra money, though. We felt we'd paid $50 too much. Apples d'Or guesthouse up the road is building what looks like a very nice inn. I'd recommend trying them.

We stayed at the Naramata Heritage Inn for two nights in the middle of June/06. As other people have stated, it is a bit pricey. I think about $50 less per night and there would not be so many complaints about the price.I personally like not having a TV in the room. It allows you to reconnect with whomever you are staying with. We enjoyed the excellent complimentary continental breakfast each morning and the coffee that was available in the reading room for self-service. We also spent some time sitting on the balcony reading our novels/magazines. We went for a stroll on the Kettle Valley Railway and visited the many wineries in the immediate area. The hotel really allowed us to re-adjust our timeclocks and slow ourselves down for a few days. I agree the hotel is old and creaky, i think that is what the "Heritage" stands for. But it was quite clean, my only suggestion would be screens in the windows. And the tiles in the bathroom were heated.
We had dinner at the Winebar on Friday night. The live music was excellent, we spent several hours there. The food was superb! One of the best meals i have had at a high end restaurant. Similar in quality to restaurants in VIctoria and Vancouver. I loved the spa (had a facial and pedicure). I've been to several spas and this was definately one of the most relaxing. Complimentary steam bath and foot soak before treatments.
I would definately go back with my husband again, we loved the area, the food and the spa. It is expensive, but has a lot of character and is very relaxed.