How to make an online bed and breakfast reservation

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Martin

How to make an online bed and breakfast reservation – this step by step guide may help you. It is simpler than the explanation may appear, starting on our website and then moving to Webervations, a separate encrypted secure site.

Check B&B availability Initially, you have two choices. You can click on the beige Check Availability button on the left of every page on our bed and breakfast website. Or you can read our B&B Availability page which chats about the process and has a link on the first line to our Availability Calendar.  This page shows you this handy calendar of available dates (on the top left you can click on an arrow to change the month shown):

B&B Reservations CalendarEither method will take you to where you select reservation dates. Let’s say you wanted you wish to stay here in Victoria on 18th and 19th June 2012:

Check B&B AvailabilityYou next see the below chart showing available units for a two week period after your planned arrival. Click on the small circle under your arrival date.

Available bed and breakfast rooms Then this summary below appears. Choose your room or cottage on the button “Click to make a Reservation Request” and you reach the final form where you enter all your information. This includes Visa or Mastercard details which are securely encrypted. You can opt for one of our packages at this point if you wish.

Select your choice of B&B rooms

We receive an email notification that you have made your reservation request. We log in to the Webervations site for your information and then email you to confirm your reservation. This confirmation email will contain lots of useful information and links to help you plan your visit to Victoria.

It really is easier than it appears!

Then we look forward to welcoming you to this lovely Victoria and southern Vancouver Island.
Linda and Martin.

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Victoria Attractions 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Martin

The greeting “Happy New Year” is still being uttered and our Christmas tree still stands, though for only another 24 hours, but we really must look ahead at what 2012 has to offer to our visitors this year.

There is so much to see and do here, all in a beautiful setting with a pleasant climate. We can select from both long-term attractions like the Butchart Gardens, whale-watching and the Royal BC Museum and from short-term / temporary events and festivals.

I was reminded of our wealth of choice a few days ago. A nephew emailed that he would be returning from South America with an 18 hour stopover in a North American city much larger than Victoria. I suggested he take a bus to some local attractions so went online to locate some good choices for him. They were sadly short in quantity and quality. We are fortunate indeed here and so are our visitors to Victoria and southern Vancouver Island.

Welcome to Victoria BC 2012For many years our website has contained comprehensive local tourist information to help our guests make the most of their time here. Two pages are particularly useful. Firstly, the Itineraries page describes and illustrates suggested tours and attractions to fill a week or so. It responds to what we hear so often: “We never realised that there was so much to do in Victoria. We should have stayed longer“. Secondly, our Victoria events calendar for 2012 lists events and festivals of a temporary or short-term nature. Catch them if you can!

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Happy Christmas from Victoria BC

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Martin

It may not be politically correct but we want to wish all our past (and future) guests a very Happy Christmas.

December is a month when we rest each year, taking a deep breath after the busyness of the past B&B season and preparing for the next one. Most of the leaves have tumbled down and have been placed in several leaf mulch wire bins to slowly decompose for the future benefit of the garden. This seems to be an analogy for our life here now: we have tumbled down, so it feels, and are placed at ease in preparation for the future (hopefully not to decompose yet!).

Saint NicholasWe held a Christmas tree decoration party for 20+ friends so the house is festive. Martin was disguised as Saint Nicholas for a neighbouring childrens party, hoping they do not recognise him and that he does not forget those onerous lines “Ho ho ho” (photo above at our tree just before the visitation). Parties, gift-giving and relaxation amidst good company with good food seem deserved after a long summer. We hope your Christmas, or whatever holiday season you celebrate, will be relaxed and happy. Further, we wish you a happy and healthy 2012.
Linda and Martin.

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Posted on November 8, 2011 by Martin

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Eat off a concrete path?

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Martin

During this years delayed and all-too-short summer we had plenty of work to do outside. The biggest was re-grouting the paths. “So what”, you may think, or “Why are they vacuuming a path?”(bottom photo). Let me explain.

When we bought The Gazebo in 1997 the terrace and paths were covered in older concrete in varying conditions. Over the years they became less attractive due to age so in 2007 we embarked on a project which was to absorb far, far more hours than expected.

Victoria bed and breakfast - gardens

Only 15,000 to go!

We purchased 23 pallets of concrete pavers in three shapes/sizes. I wish I had counted them at the time (it would have justified the hours of work) but we estimate there were 15,000 to 18,000 pavers. Over many weeks with help from friends we placed them over a layer of sand. Most of the path edges required pavers cut to size. Eventually this element was complete. Next we grouted the joints with polymeric sand and then commenced sealing.

I chose a very hot day which caused lines to appear where passes of seal overlapped. The solution? Remove the seal with a pressure washer. Result? The seal was removed and so was much of the sand. So naturally we re-grouted.

Last winter was a bad one for moss in the area so we decided to remove it with a special pressure washer which resembled an old rotary lawnmower. Result: more sand removed, though not quite as much. This brings us to the strange photo below.

We scrubbed paver by paver, joint by joint and then removed loose dirt with a dry-vac followed by a gentler clean up with a regular vacuum cleaner. These two tools were Linda’s idea and the first was good though I think the second over-kill. So you see her sister Pam doing some strange exterior cleaning while I am standing ready to sweep fresh polymeric sand into the exposed joints.

It was at this time that a lady remarked of the still-unfinished terrace “It’s clean enough to eat off!”. Later it certainly was.

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September and October B&B discounts

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Martin

We are offering B&B discounts in a special offer for visitors to Victoria in the late summer and early autumn 2011. 

It is simply:
SPECIAL OFFER – Save 10% on reservations for two or more nights, 5th September – 15th October 2011.

The only small print is that you must mention this special offer at the time of reservation for Gazebo Bed and Breakfast and it may not be combined with other offers.

We hope to welcome you here!

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Take a hike at Sooke

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Martin

The west coast of Vancouver Island has many places to hike, seriously or casually, including parks and beaches in the Sooke area.  A couple of quiet days at the bed and breakfast gave us the opportunities to re-visit some of these places.

Just east of Sooke is Metchosin, a pleasant and quiet area of farms and scattered houses near the coast. Our goal was Witty’s Lagoon.
Witty's Lagoon, Metchosin beach

We recommend checking the tide tables first since low tide opens up an expanse of sand, rare to this area, great for a sandy walk. We had no choice and arrived as the tide reached its high point. Being a rare (such is 2011) sunny Sunday afternoon the strip of stony sand was fairly crowded but this need not be so most days. Watch for the rich birdlife and locate the Sitting Lady Falls.

Closer to Sooke is Sooke Potholes reached along Sooke River Road. Drive about 4km and use parking lot 1. To your left is a ravine with deep sinkholes all carved by the river. It’s a popular swimming spot but I can’t help thinking that a sheltered river must be chilly. We saw an adventurous boy, maybe 12 years old, jumping from a promontory of some 50′ height.

You can not really hike along Sooke Potholes but to the right of the road is the Galloping Goose Trail. An old railway track, it runs for 55km from Victoria to north of Sooke and is now popular for hiking and biking (four of our guests are there this afternoon). I must do a separate post of this one day.
Sooke Potholes

South of here is the distinctively separated area of East Sooke: farms, waterview houses and a great park, East Sooke Regional Park. We have maps for our guests and suggest the Aylands Farm access point for great hikes along the shore and inland. To me it’s everything a west coast trail should be and in easy access of Victoria.

Our last recent visit for taking a hike at Sooke, though merely, a stroll, was Whiffen Spit, just west of the centre of Sooke (a town which warrants just two sets of traffic lights). Within 30 minutes you can saunter to a lighthouse with the Sooke Basin on your left and the Juan de Fuca Strait on your right. I do not rate it as highly as the places mentioned above but each have their own character and you can “do” Whiffen Spit within an hour but can takes hours hiking at East Sooke Regional Park.

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The Butchart Gardens fireworks

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Martin

The Butchart Gardens fireworks are a highlight for many of our guests during the summer. They are held on Saturday evenings in July and August and take place after the evening concert.

We have been several times over the years but yesterday saw them quite differently, and for free. You can too.

After a wonderful relaxed dinner at the home of friends in Brentwood Bay overlooking the Saanich Inlet we strolled down to one of the marina docls. (You might like to dine at Blue’s Bayou overlooking the Inlet.) The Butchart Gardens were the other side, no great distance away. Numerous boats were idling around with the same object in mind.

The Butchart Gardens fireworksWhat we saw were the edited highlights. The emphasis here is on “high lights”, ie those fireworks which exploded above the trees. The accompanying music was barely audible but we could picture the scene in the Gardens: thousands of people sitting on a slope above the lake where static and moving pyrotechnic displays produced oohs and aahs. For us the casual community enjoyment of local people enjoying the show in this marine setting was a pleasure, topped by the Butchart Gardens fireworks over the water.  A memorable evening!

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B&B breakfasts – Granola recipe

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Martin

This year we have added a further course to our Homemade Granola:

B&B breakfasts - homemade granola

B&B breakfasts - homemade granola

Every few days, Martin makes a fresh batch of our homemade granola. He is grateful to Sally Markham of Markham House B&B for the basic receipe to which he added individual touches. He has found that a few recipe changes here and there produces many tasty and nutritious vaieties. For example, we had some dried cranberries so they were diced and added. So … adapt this as you wish.

Our Granola Recipe

Combine these in a large bowl:
4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts and/or pecans
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/8 cup chopped almonds
1/8 cup coconut
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350F degrees while you prepare the next step.
Whisk the following in a separate bowl:
1 tsp orange rind
1/4 cup demerara sugar or raw cane sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup orange juice
1/8 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
Dash of vanilla extract.
Pour the above mix into the larger bowl and thoroughly mix all the ingredients.

Bake for 30 minutes on an ungreased baking sheet, stirring every 10 minutes. Let this cool, firstly adding the following mix:
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup sultanas
1/8 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/16 cup chopped dried pineapple and/or papaya.

How many portions are made from this granola recipe? It all depends on appetites and greed!

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A visit to Finnerty Gardens

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Martin

Four of us went to visit one of the lesser known public gardens in Victoria BC: Finnerty Gardens. Summer was very slow coming and Spring had been so cool that flowers in Victoria were about three weeks behind. So when the sun came out on a late May Sunday afternoon off we set.

Since Finnerty Gardens is in the University of Victoria campus they benefit from publicly funded care (I’m not sure if that is an appreciative or cynical comment). They are known for the hundreds of rhodendrons in the woodland setting of over 3,000 trees so this was a good time of year for a visit. Many were transported here from other collections on Vancouver Island in the last century so they are well-established. Not all parts were evergreen, there are deciduous areas too through which a maze of paths wind.

Finnerty Gardens in Victoria BC

Finnerty Gardens in Victoria BC

Entry is free to Finnerty Gardens at any time, you just pay for parking (free on Sundays) so it has to be worth checking out.

We then drove to the even less well-known Playfair Park, only ten minutes from the bed and breakfast. Only the locals seem aware of this hidden gem. Its reputation is also based on the mature rhododendrons but it has natural grasses and an impressive long border which the municipality of Saanich care for very well.

Playfair Park Victoria

Playfair Park

Two gardens in one afternoon all for free followed by a glass of wine on the terrace in the Gazebo B&B gardens. Now that’s what I call gardening!

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