Big and grand, but it was not a cosy home to us, especially with the 14-page rulebook that you're supposed to read upon check-in.
Among others, there was a 13 bullet-point checklist that you have to do before you check-out. We took 45 mins to check and make sure we covered all on morning of departure. Examples:
1) Have to gather all towels and throw into washing machine and start the machine ourselves.
2) Have to strip all the bed linen ourselves and leave in a neat pile in laundry room. (we weren't sure why we had to pay a separate Cleaning Fee of more than CAD 100 if we had to do all these ourselves.)
3) Have to deal with all the compost, recyclables, and garbage separately and differently. Example: The worms cannot eat citrus or dairy so you cannot throw all your food waste together and even have to separate them into different bags.
In terms of bells and whistles, the AirBnB was big, but didn't have tissue paper, body lotion nor bathrobes. We didn't even find towels for the room on 1st floor as bath towels were only put in the 2 bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Everyone was careful not to use this or dirty that since we all have to clean it up later. This means we also didn't use the sauna as there was a long list of bullet points on the use of that too.
I guess it really didn't help that I had just come from an AirBnB from Campbell River (on the east coast of Vancouver Island) which was much more cosy, welcoming, had brilliant appliances and even hotel fluffy bathrobes and all the bells and whistles I mentioned above. Plus, it cost 2.5 times less.
Check-in time and check-out time (4pm and 10am respectively) is also very strict. If you just got off a ferry, you really have to hang out somewhere even if you are dead tired.
Sooke, with the nearest conveniences, is 40 mins drive away. The nearest random cafe is about 10 mins drive away. This is fine if you are really wanting a hideaway for 2 or 3 days, but not good if you want to enjoy nice cafe fare (Go to The Stick in the Mud in Sooke for great west coast small town vibes in a small local roaster) or if you want to do the recommended Sooke trails like Sooke Potholes and Mount Manuel Quimper hike which is in eastwards and requires a 45-min to 50-min drive.
I do not agree that this place has "beach access" as advertised. You actually have to drive to a beach nearby.
Just expressing all this, not as displeasures, but only for future folks to book only if you are prepared to accept all of this.
But clean, has heating, most basics provided, and impressive-looking, plus it has WiFi in an area totally without data and local communication lines. Chelsea is also very fast to responding to any messages. Much appreciated.