Malahat Bungalows Motel

We only needed somewhere to sleep after the ferry, and didn’t want to spend much. Places along route 1 were over $275, so this was what we could find. As campers, we don’t need much, and the cottage was a good size with a comfortable bed. The comforter could use an update, and there was a musty smell; the shower also needed a clean. We left early and moved on after just sleeping and showering.

For a lower price than hotels nearer Victoria, this place is close to the Skywalk. The bungalow was decent and clean, and there’s free wifi for streaming on your own devices. The TV is an older flat screen with cable only, so you can’t connect a phone or stream on it. The location can be confusing: coming from Victoria, you pass it, exit 1.5 km away, loop around, head south, and exit again. Google may point you at the RV park with the same brand, but the bungalows are farther along. The bathroom had plenty of hooks, though the old shower took a while to get to the right temperature. The coffee was tasteless, and one cup had debris, possibly a small cocoon, at the bottom, so check before using it.

The bungalow looked spotless when we arrived, smelled fine, and had a lovely suite layout in the woods by the highway, about 25 minutes from Victoria. We liked having dish soap, a rack and sponge, pots and pans, a stove, full fridge, and coffee pot. The front desk people were sweet, and the price was competitive. There was one large towel per person; ask for extras at the front desk or put it in the booking requests, but be warned they might charge for them. I barely slept because I was bitten all night by bed bugs or something. Other family members also woke repeatedly, so we think there was some kind of bug in the beds and hide-a-bed. The windows stayed shut all night because it was wooded, and the bites were worse under the blankets, so we don’t think they were mosquitoes. We had to sleep without blankets to lessen the severity. I hope room 18 gets treated for bedbugs or fleas, though I don’t think fleas fit either, since the bites seemed confined to the sleeping areas at night. My other daughter stayed in a different bungalow and was fine, so maybe it was only bungalow 18. We’d also been emailed that there’d be no charge for the hide-a-bed or cot request for our four adults, but we were charged extra. We were grateful to find a place in peak season and were exhausted, so I only noticed after paying and didn’t have the energy to complain.

No bathtub, and the narrow galleyway only lets one person through at a time, lol. The bedroom was big, but the pillows seemed ancient. For two people staying two days, one coffee filter and a quarter roll of toilet paper just didn’t cut it. Sadly, that’s all true.