The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa, Victoria

A mixed experience

Suites are expansive and surprisingly well fitted out with a full kitchen and two bathrooms. The area is quiet and beautiful, and a brief drive from downtown Langford and Victoria.

It's clear after a few hours at the property that you're a guest of the neighbourhood, not the hotel. The fitness suite and pool is shared with the rest of the local community, and isn't hotel-specific. Unless you're a golfer, you'll probably never use most of the features in the resort fee. Staff in the on-site restaurants are overstretched, tired and error-prone as a result — a Friday night had two waitresses and one bartender, and all service ground to a halt because of an empty keg. For the size and scale of the hotel, it's woefully understaffed.