An award winning weekend ~ at Harrison Hot Springs!

Remember this little photograph I posted about not long ago?

As previously mentioned, it won one of 2 grand prizes in a local photo contest.

The win? 

2 nights stay in a high end resort, with ALL the fixings. (link HERE)

Are you ready for the longest post EVER? Great! Because I can't leave out a thing. :)

The Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa

The Harrison Hot Springs Resort is a lakefront resort, nestled against a gorgeous mountain backdrop, located in British Columbia Canada.

A little history... my son and I have camped in Harrison Hot Springs for MANY years. And for MANY years, my son has whined, "Can't we stay in THAT hotel sometime instead of camping?!?"

So when we won this incredible weekend getaway, honestly... it was made for us. In every way. So just last weekend we spotted that the weather was suppose to be decent, so we booked our stay and head out.

The hotel

The lovely outside exterior of the hotel tells you you've arrived somewhere special. But once you walk through the front doors, it's jaw dropping time.

The hotel is grand. These lit pillars ran down both sides of one hallway.  Everywhere you turned, there were high end features to gasp at and appreciate. A copper grand piano, a fireside sitting area with sofas, afternoon tea in the lobby, a coffee shop, and the two finest restaurants in the valley. That we ate at at all weekend as part of the package. Oh yes, we got royally spoiled!

 

 The hotel houses 5 (FIVE) infamous hot mineral pools which were amazing.  This is a shot of one of the outdoor ones during the day. But at night? They come to life in the most amazing of ways. All the trees surrounding the pools are lit with mini lights. There are waterfalls over rocky surfaces everywhere you look. And the mist rising above the water... incredible. The illusion was much like a  night excursion at a Disney Land feature. So we saved ALL our swimming for the evenings. :)

Something I would like to say about the hotel... while it is indeed high end, they had rooms available for every budget. They even had special ground level cottages if you brought your pet along!

Lucky for us, our friend Sandra looked after our dog, so we could enjoy what you see next.

The lake front room

We got treated with the best. The 5th floor (out of 6) lake view room was truly heaven sent! The view wall of the room was pretty much all glass, so I left the patio doors open all night so it felt like we were sleeping outside.

 I woke up the next day to the sound of seagulls. :) Brewed a little in room coffee before our all you can eat buffet breakfast at the Lakeside Cafe, and we were set for the day!

And oh my goodness... the room was so pretty! Check out the slate tiles and fresh whites. The main bath really had a high end spa feel. And I love those shower curtain holders with the ball bearings on top. They sounded really cool. :) Even the shower head was extremely generous with water, which felt like a rainfall. LOVE.

web photo

Even the unmade bed looked glorious in all the lovely silky jewel tones. The deep wood tone of the furniture gave the space a very luxurious feel.

This was a VERY fun spot to check out a few links on SNS while my son tried out the TV. :)

Let's go shopping! 

My son didn't have appropriate wear for the lavish dinner we were to enjoy that evening, so I had coaxed him to the local thrift store at home before heading out. But guess what... we forgot his new clothes at home. Nice goin'.

BUT... I did remember my finds. Imagine. :)

I call this white jacket my scrappy shirt. :) It's all cotton and sooo cozy on the inside and I was delighted to have something new and warm to wear while we wandered the sights.

Coming soon to a monitor near you... I want to make this!

This chandy was located in Sticks and Stones, a gift shop located inside the hotel. I immediately loved the store and the coziness of the entire space. And that chandy!!! Oh my word. *sob* That is so me. And I knew you'd appreciate it!

I mean, check out these ceilings in the store! (not to mention the rockwork) I have to believe it was reclaimed lumber. The patina was amazing.

So... being that we forgot my son's clothes, I had a great excuse to head to the local thrift in this town. Darn it anyway. :)

I had forgotten my little black purse for our fancy dinner, so I grabbed this little cutie for $6. Along with new black shoes and black jeans for my boy.

Oh dear... and then we came across this shop on the way back to the hotel. Can you hear the SCREEEEECH?!? (sorry son, go play with... the rocks outside while I dash through quick like before your boredom even has a chance to start... can you relate?!? ) 

Look look look what I found! GOOD JUNK!! 2 vintage white shutters! 2/$15. What a great scoop! The patina was naturally cracked and shows as offwhite and white mixed so they're quite uniquely beautiful as is.

(I've already shown you one displayed in my kitchen HERE... the other will be revealed on SNS's shutter day in 2 weeks)

And then NEXT we head to The Back Porch, which is a lovely pottery/antiques/garlic/coffee bean roasting store on home acreage land. I've done a post on this place previously HERE. (lots of character building shed inspiration in that link)

Hey Jayme, of Tales from the Coop Keeper, this one's for you! :)

Something very unique about The Back Porch is their petting/feeding zoo out back.

Smarty Pants here taunted (not fed! not fed!) the chickens with his popcorn because we didn't bring the right change to get some machine fed chicken scratch that' s avail on site.

And about that popcorn... when you drive into Harrison, you go through a little town called Aggasiz. (pronounced Aiga see) The Super Value makes and sells freshly popped popcorn on site. Sometimes you get lucky and it's even warm. :) So, it's a MUST to pick up a bag or 3 on our way in.

"MEEEE TOOOO!" Hilarious.

And then... nirvana hit.

I 'bout died when I read this sign. I haven't been able to find these ANY WHERE out here! And made a complete idiot of myself. I raced to him stuttering, "Where are the rest?!?!?!?"

There were only 3 in stock. The wonderful owner remembered me from last year, and had spotted my blog post of his place (they aren't online) so he immediately wanted me to save the $3 and just take them. Gaaaahhh....

The Back Porch  roasts  their own specialty coffee beans in all kinds of flavors and strengths, so as you can imagine, the place smelled like coffee heaven!And there's always fresh brew on tap so you can sip and... stutter.

Dinner at The Copper Room

Well my goodness... what a great day this turned out to be! But it was time to head back to the hotel, for it was nearing our dinner time at The Copper Room.

The Copper Room is a high end restaurant on site with meals starting in the $35 range. This was by far a massive treat for us and I was so grateful I could expose my boy to something other than the standard fare we normally indulge in.

And CHECK. US. OUT. :) (I'm wearing my beloved mom's white sweater) Fine dining meant we had to fit in. My scrappy shirt had to take a backseat.

Now don't we look all happy, rested and refreshed, geared up for a lovely leisurely dinner? Wait till you see the after picture. :)

I had a wonderful salmon with the most amazing sauce ever. My son got served the most tender steak on the planet earth. And, not really being a veggie lover, I LOVED theirs. I believe the magic comes from them being sauteed. Duly noted! The dessert was an incredible frozen chocolate mousse. It was like an ultra creamy ice cream covered in a white and chocolate drizzle and a single chocolate dipped strawberry. Crazy amazing. 

The atmosphere was just lovely too. I expected to be in a quiet room where you could hear a pin drop. Didn't happen. Friendly chatter was everywhere. I immediately relaxed, no longer worried I'd tip the table over by accident or something equally horrific. We ate until we could no more.

Story time? I had walked ALL the way to the restaurant when I remembered I forgot my glasses. I couldn't read the menu... So I walked back to the room, pretending my shoes didn't hurt.  By the time I got back again to the restaurant, I needed to sit. BAD. 

Equally funny? My son's shoes were just as bad. He didn't try them on at the thrift prior. I mean, what could go wrong if I bought'em big? We literally limped back to our rooms.

The After Picture

Lil Dude had to remove the  shades to wipe away the tears. (kidding but not by much) So much for the coolness of it all.

The Hot Pools

So then it was simply time to go for a nice hot soak to sooth those sore 20 tootsies of ours.

Oh. My. Goodness.

 Take your pick. There were only 5 to choose from. They're all naturally hot mineral pools set at various temperatures. So so lovely!

Did you notice that middle picture? We saved our swimming times for dusk so we could enjoy the mistylit outdoor magic. :)

The hotel also offers you these wonderful white robes because of the pools. It was quite a sight to see so many white robes sauntering about in the lobby. It doesn't get much more casual and relaxed than that!

The town and lake

Harrison Hot Springs is indeed one of the most beautiful lake front resorts ever.

A walk through the quaint little town felt so familiar and at home. I labelled this side of Harrison 'the camping side." :) For this is where we frequented most often when camping. 

I mean, look at the colourful detail to this one restaurant alone. Adorable!

We did spend abit of time on the beach just wandering and enjoying the view, but for the most part, my son declared our weekend to be a complete hotel experience. And I couldn't have agreed with him more this round. It isn't often we get to hang in such lovely surroundings. :)

The Digital Camera Win

Part of the winning prize package was this wonderful digital camera! Hot red too!! It was delivered to our room on the last day. It felt like Christmas morning to be handed a box and my son gasping at everything that came out of it.  What a lovely generous gift for what was to transpire next!

The Boat Cruise

Yes indeed, mateys, let's head out on an Eco Tour  boat trip for a picture safari around the lake! Come on in!

Our tour boat guy was the coolest. His career is on the lake and you could tell by his stories that this indeed was his passion. I love listening to those that are in the thick of it. :)

The scrappy shirt makes it's way into the cozy cabin of this ride. I've been on summertime boating excursions with friends before, but none quite like this. My hair stayed on my head, and we were warm! Very very nice! The two lovely ladies along for the ride were also winners of another contest and had much of the same treatment as we did, so it was a blast to exchange notes.

One VERY big deal out on Harrison waters is the sturgeon fishing. It's a catch and release sport, so we got to watch first hand what it was all about.

A successful day indeed! For the guys and for us lucky camera toting tourists!

Folks come from all over the world to Harrison for this sporting adventure, so if you're a sturgeon maniac, have I found the place for you!

We saw tons of eagles, loons, jumping salmon, but no bears. And loads and loads of beautiful nature.

I didn't touch the tones on this picture. Straight out of the camera. Isn't that water amazing? (this pic was not from the new camera)

 And then the trip was over. And it was time to go home. Sigh... ONE MORE NIGHT would have been so awesome. I just wanted to return to those lovely hot pools again, the quiet lake front room complete with coffee, the spa like shower... everything. Our stay was FAN SPANKIN TASTIC.

To the readers of my blog,

Thank-you so very much for sharing this little adventure with me! I knew you felt a part of this by the response I received when I won. You overwhelmed me! I hope my report back did you proud. :)

I'm telling you, the timing was impeccable with this little getaway. I was big time overstressed and needed to run away for a short while. This was an amazing opportunity for the two of us to reconnect and enjoy each other again without all the normal background noise of life. Whadda way to unwind. :)

And, the message I'd like to share from all this is:

I'm just a  girl with a dream, like anyone else. The one thing I did here that made a difference was put myself out there to 'see what would happen.' And look what did.

This goes to prove, you need to take those somewhat fearful small steps yourself, to get to your own destination. For if the seeds aren't planted, nothing can grow.

I hereby encourage you to think about the smallest things that move your earth,  quit saying you can't, and to try instead.  Believe in your passion, and believe in yourself. And just do it.

Care to share what dreams you're currently striving for? 

When's the last time you had a little hotel getaway?

Dear Ian, and the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa,


My son and I had the most incredible weekend, thanks to your generosity! You couldn't have chosen two bigger fans for this Harrison experience!


Thank-you to the committee for choosing my photo! I'm still blown away. And thanks so very much for each and every hotel feature that was generously offered to us! 

We will be talking about our lovely weekend for a VERY long time to come, and hope to visit on our own accord sometime very soon! This is a weekend we will NEVER forget.

I only have one complaint. It could have been longer. :)


Sincerely yours,



P.S. Would you like your hotel reviewed like this too? Not a problem! Please send accommodation confirmation to signmakergirl@hotmail.com. We'll bring the camera and our eager selves and be right over!

Hey, it doesn't hurt to try, right? Dream BIG. :)