We rolled into Handsome Dan & The French Girl’s place on the first day of fall for a three night stay with our little schnauzer, Duke.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
If you're looking for one of those places that will instantly blow you away upon arrival, this is definitely one of them. The the space is light airy with lots natural light spilling in through the two sliding doors that open up into an absolutely breathtaking view of Port Renfrew. There is plenty of room for humans and four-legged friends to sprawl out and enjoy. All of the amenities and appliances are contemporary and well maintained.
Because it was storm season and because the place that we planned to spend most of our time at was closed due to bears occupying the area (Botanical Beach), we spent most of our time at the AirBNB, which is something that we did not have one problem with.
CHECK-IN
Check-in was a breeze. Prior to our visit, we were fairly warned that THERE IS NO CELL SERVICE IN PORT RENFREW, and because of that, we were able to adequately prepared to make sure that we had the door code well before we left for our trip. Our host provided the information promptly and we had no issues getting in.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
-FIREPIT- You are fairly warned that you will need to purchase your own propane in order to enjoy it. Being able to use it is something that would have really made the great deal of time we spent storm watching and soaking in the beautiful view from the porch absolutely perfect. We opted to not burn any time hunting down a propane tank and we were just fine.
-MOSQUITOES ON THE PORCH- There were a good number of them out back on the porch, but what are you going to do? Port Renfrew is their home, too. Bringing a citronella candle or something to shoo away mosquitos is recommended.
-LIMITED PLACES IN THE AREA TO GET FOOD- Again, we were fairly warned that there are limited places to get food in the area. The general store is nicely stocked and there are a handful of restaurants in the area, but if you're looking to do any cooking or rely on fast food places for snacks to tie you over between meals, you might want to stock up, yourself.
I will say that we were able to try the food at the Renfrew Pub and it was absolutely delicious, so having limited places in the area does not mean that there is no good food around.
NOTE ABOUT THE GENERAL STORE: The locals are extremely nice and very warm and hospitable, but do be prepared to be greeted with a sign at the front door saying that non-Canadian residents are not allowed in the store. In true honesty, there's really no foolproof way for them to verify where you live, but we respect their commitment to keeping their residents safe and we complied, having my husband (the Canadian resident) go in for the things we needed.
-IF YOU'RE BIG ON WATCHING TV, BRING A CASTING DEVICE. This last tip is really not one that is a deal-breaker. If you're out at Port Renfrew, don't spend it watching TV the whole time. But in the colder months, the days are shorter and it gets dark earlier. The unit does have cable, but if you're big on Netflix and the like, a casting device is definitely recommended.