Sparkling Hill Resort

I stayed at Sparkling Hill in Vernon, BC, and while the facilities and room were nice, nothing about this stay lived up to the “luxury” image the resort tries to project. The food was average at best. But the real disappointment was the service: A friend thoughtfully arranged wine and cheese for our arrival. The items were in the room, but the hotel failed to include the note. That meant we had no idea it was arranged for us, ruining the entire gesture. For a property at this price point, missing such a simple detail is inexcusable. I accidentally left my wallet in the unlocked safe (yes my mistake), but what followed was entirely on the resort. I realized the same day I checked out (Friday) and immediately called during my 5-hour drive back home. I was assured housekeeping would confirm and someone would call me back. No call. I called again Saturday and was told there was a “backlog” of lost and found items. A backlog? This wasn’t a t-shirt or phone charger; it was my wallet with all of my ID and credit cards. Still, no one followed up. I emailed. Nothing. By Tuesday FOUR days later, I had to call again and leave a voicemail for a manager, and I have still not heard back. This is appalling customer service. A guest leaves behind something as critical as a wallet, and the resort can’t even bother to pick up the phone or send a single email in response? For a place that markets itself as world-class, the lack of urgency and basic professionalism is shocking. I will not be returning, and I would strongly caution others to think twice before trusting this resort with anything beyond the bare minimum.

Have to say that for a supposed 5star resort they missed the mark on sooo many things!…and not sure I would waste your money on this place. My husband bought me a gift certificate to the spa, well apparently you can’t use the spa unless your a guest, ..and gift certificates are “none refundable” so even when you try and book a staycation (oh did I mention I live in the area) I was still unable to book a spa treatment (apparently you have to book your spa treatments 6-8 weeks in advance!!)… so anyways we still went for a staycation so I could use the $600 gift certificate, that was none refundable for our stay instead. Check in was a bit of a wait, but got our room when we arrived, the rooms are beautiful and the views are breathtaking, but the amenities in your room or lack there of, leaves you scratching your head,..no coffee maker, no mini bar, just two lonely glasses in your room without even water for your arrival. Oh did I mention don’t forget to bring your own water bottle , and fill it up in the lobby of the hotel, cos you don’t even get that simple amenity in your room!… The pool area was quite disappointing as well, they had quite a few guests when we where there, and had already closed half of the outside area(around the outside pool ) down for the season, even though the hotel was booked with guest, the weather is in the plus 30’s , and people are wanting to sit outside and take advantage of the outside infinity pool, and the gorgeous views of the okanagan lake. We had to sit inside while waiting for a chair on the pool patio to open up!…was quite disappointing. But that wasn’t it!…they have a good number of guests in the hotel and one restaurant open!…a coffee bar that doesn’t serve actual meals just pastries and snacks, along with coffee, tea, and beverages…if they haven’t ran out of them!…the staff in there were just going through the motions, and didn’t come to our table to take our order, had to go up to the till and place it ourselves (again for the supposed 5 star experience this hotel failed)…oh did I mention, again with the occupancy at the hotel while we were there, they had one restaurant opened for dinner, and you can’t make reservations…only opens at 5,it’s a first come first serve approach. Needless to say out of the whole experience the Germany restaurant (the only restaurant on the property open for dinner) was excellent, the views, the food, and our waiters was exceptional! So to sum it all up, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to my family or friends who are coming to the area, the prices are ridiculous for the service and attention that you are given for supposedly being a 5 star hotel,…so sad as this is where I live and I am embarrassed with this supposed “high end” …”luxurious” ‘spa experience” , “5 star” ……resort…extremely disappointed, and did I mention..WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL! Oh and one last thing, please be mindful of taking all your belonging with you when you leave, as the staff make it extremely hard to get in touch with them(usually at a 5 star you would think they would contact you to let you know they have your “forgotten iteam” … and help coordinate a solution for the return of your belongings left behind) at sparkling hills, the staff even after being contacted by you in regards to an iteam being left behind in your room, and to speak to someone about getting it returned, you get “it’s not my department, and that department has gone home for the day, can you call back another time”kind of answer ……only to finally get some communication with the right department a week later. To then finally arranging a pick up of the item …to find that the staff have already put their name on your iteam as their own(after the 21 day waiting period!)…and have left the not on your iteam for you to see !!…UNBEIVABLE!……sorry “joy” go get your own charger! Again, not the experience you would expect from a so called 5 star resort/spa…don’t even get me started on the spa treatments!……

We did have great opportunity and stay for three nights in August 2025. Resort is stunning and view from our special Birthday and anniversary room was spectacular thanks to our boys for this surprise!! Daily breakfast chooses very nice, we try every day something different. Spa was little disappointed t as we try to book two weeks before our arrival. Girl told us everything is book and people booking months before. WELL, if you get this as present gift you do not have the time to do that! Luckily we get at least 1/2 hour massage as somebody cancel day we arrived. All saunas and pools was nice experience. Time to check out is very early and extra change is little over board. Very bad is situation with sun beds people are putting staff on the concrete so maybe add more would be great idea. Our stay was nice and we enjoy time in resort even with little hiccups on the way. Thank you all staff they doing good job!! L & J from Calgary

My wife and I stayed over the Labour Day long weekend, planning to "relax and do nothing". Valet parking was complimentary as we arrived...yes, you read that correctly! The resort is located at the very top of a hill and has spectacular views in all directions. Breakfast is included in the room charge. The restaurant is very busy at breakfast, and reservations are advised. Lots of menu choices, but there's an up-charge for anything beyond regular coffee, for example a latte. The same restaurant isn't nearly as busy at dinner time for some reason. The sable fish was delicious, ditto for the duck. We had lunch on an outdoor patio restaurant one day, with more spectacular views of Lake Okanagan. The day we arrived, we had dinner at the nearby Gerni's Farmhouse, an authentic Austrian farmhouse that was moved from Austria and re-assembled in Canada. Other than pork or chicken schnitzel (no veal schnitzel), there are only 4 other entrees on their menu. We had both schnitzels, and both were overdone and dried out. Very disappointing. We didn't use the spa or pool facilities, but we assume many of the patrons did because there were lots and lots of people wandering around all parts of the hotel, including in the restaurants, dressed in the hotel's dressing gowns! Our room was spacious, with a king bed. The bed was comfortable. It had only a bottom sheet and a duvet, too hot for her and too cold for me. After that first night, we had them put on a top sheet and a light blanket, and our hot/cold problems were solved. It was very quiet at night, so we had good quality sleep. Maid service was very slow each day. Our room wasn't made up until past 2 PM every day, and past 4:30 PM one day. There's a non-jetted tub in our room, situated right up beside the floor to ceiling windows (which do have sheers as well as room-darkening shades). The walk-in shower was fine, but the separate hand-held nozzle wouldn't stay in its holding bracket and kept falling down, so we just left it dangling. That looked like a DIY repair using the wrong parts. The resort doesn't supply bottled water. Bring your own reusable container and use the water stations to refill when needed. Good for them...no plastic water bottles to recycle or toss away. There's also a coffee/dessert/lunch/bar spot where you can get all the exotic coffees, teas, etc. But it doesn't open until 9:30 AM...not much help for an early morning latte junkie like me. We did have a relaxing stay. But there are a few things, noted above, that the Sparkling Hill should tidy up for a high-end and relatively pricey resort.

Our second visit this year to Sparkling Hill, 100% happy with both experiences. The food, the bar, the pools, the Spa and Sauna’s. Staff was excellent, special thanks to the Valet guys for getting our vehicle on short notice so we could take a little drive to visit relatives in the area.