Harrison Hot Springs Archives

Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa: Weekend Getaway

September 5, 2015

Harrison Hot Springs is a great day trip from Vancouver, BC for families or couples. It is a 1.5 hour drive away from the city via Highway 1. There are spas, recreational activities, and restaurants to enjoy. The best part is really the view. A 10 minute drive away, you can even visit Sasquatch Provincial Park to see Hicks Lake.

There is a tiny village where you can check out stores and some other local restaurants. Or take awesome selfies with Sasquatch.

Harrison Hot Spring Resort and Spa is located closer to the East side of the lake. The full-service resort really is surrounded by mountains and has a beautiful view of the lake. There are 340 guest rooms with varying views. Of course try to get a room that has a view of the lake.

If you are a guest of the resort, there is complimentary parking.

There’s lots of activities like their 3 outdoor, 2 indoor hot springs pools, golf, fishing, tennis, lake tours, boat rentals, kids programs, nature walks, and their Healing Springs Spa for added relaxation.

Check-in begins at 4pm, but if you get there earlier, you room might be ready and you can also grab some complimentary tea service.

Our room was in the West Tower on the executive floor with a lake view.

When we arrived in the room, awaiting us was a selection of Farmhouse cheeses, fruit and crackers for two as well as champagne. A great way to start the weekend with this surprise.

The room was clean and comfortable. The balcony is great to watch the sunrise or sunset. Just make sure to keep the screen doors on since there are bugs outside.

There is wifi, a coffee maker, and flat screen tv in the room. You can tell from the interior that they have renovated a little bit but you can tell certain things are out dated. They don’t have a mini fridge.

The washroom is pretty standard and has a slightly different look than the rest of the room. Definitely a more earthy feel. If you’re missing anything, you can call up the front desk and they will help you out.

Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa features five different hot-spring-fed mineral pools – 3 outdoor and 2 indoor pools. Each pool is kept at different temperatures.

They have 4 on-site restaurants if you want to stay close to the resort. Each one is different from one another.

The Copper Room is like a throwback to the 80’s with a live band and dance floor. From Sunday to Monday, Patsy B. And The Lefties play live and then from Tuesday through Saturday, The Jones Boys play. This restaurant isn’t for everyone, you will notice the age group is a little bit older. There is a minimum dress code, so make sure you don’t wear t-shirts, shorts or sneakers.

Lakeside Cafe is located on the second floor of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. Their breakfast buffet starts at 7am and goes on till 11am on the weekdays or 12pm on the weekends. Lakeside Cafe offers dinner too and it’s much more casual than the Copper Room.

Overall, a nice mini getaway from Vancouver. It’s always nice to get away from the city and enjoy nature. It was a nice stay at the resort, but since I don’t particularly spend a lot of time swimming or being in pools, I didn’t get to fully embrace the whole experience. I’m afraid of water.

I enjoyed the car ride to and from Harrison Hot Springs as it’s just a nice drive down the Highway with lots of mountains and farms. Don’t forget to check out the Circle Farm Tour.

Website:
http://www.harrisonresort.com/

In Harrison Hot Springs

Circle Farm Tour: Self-Guided Farm Tours

June 28, 2015

When you’re in the Fraser Valley, don’t forget to take a look at the Circle Farm Tour. It is a self-guided farm tour and it is available in 5 different regions:

Abbotsford
Agassiz + Harrison Mills
Chilliwack
Langley
Maple Ridge + Pitt Meadows

Depending where you are passing through, make sure you make a few stops at the farms or wineries. Each farm is unique in its own way and you can really go grocery shopping at the source of it all – the farm. Just make sure you pack a cooler so nothing spoils.

It’s free and you can go at your own pace. Especially if you have kids, you know sometimes they can’t be kept on a schedule. The only requirement is that you need to travel in your own car.

Make sure you have a GPS or a map to navigate your way around. Even though we have Google Maps on our phones, we did manage to get lost a few times.

We actually didn’t mind because the drive is very nice! Mountains in the background, lots of trees, and even some animals.

I made a long stop at The Farm House Natural Cheeses as it was one of the highlights on our tour. It’s a family farm near Harrison Hot Springs

Right before the barns, you will see a shop where you can purchase a variety of their dairy products.

I even got myself some cheese curds! Who says you need to go all the way to Montreal to get squeaky cheese.

Besides buying cheese, you can go into their barns and check out their animals in the area. We saw a few cats and man, these cats were nice and friendly. Very chill cats and they just were enjoying the nice summer weather.

You need cows to produce milk to make a lot of dairy products, so we caught a glimpse of their cows. These cows looked happy, they had lots of space to walk around and were not crammed together.

I really admire that. You gotta keep the animals happy in order to make high quality products.

Then there were the goats. They had a lot of goats that were so vocal and curious that we were on the farm. I think they wanted to jump out of the barns to check us out. Very cute and beautiful.

There were also horses!

Every farm is a little bit different and may have other activities or special events happening.

Be sure to check out the Circle Farm Tour to see which farms works for you and if it is worthwhile making a stop.

The tour can be short if you only want a day trip out of the city. I enjoyed making a few stops at the farms since it’s good to really take a day and spend it away from the city. There’s a lot we take for granted and BC farms make some awesome produce.

Website:
http://www.circlefarmtour.com/

In Brunch

Lakeside Cafe: Breakfast at Harrison Hot Springs

June 24, 2015

Lakeside Cafe is located on the second floor of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. We came here around 8:30am to partake in their breakfast buffet. It starts at 7am and goes on till 11am on the weekdays or 12pm on the weekends.

Lakeside Cafe offers dinner too and it’s much more casual than the Copper Room.

The interior is a bit dated, so sitting inside really reminded me of a 90s buffet. We opted to sit outdoors on the patio.

The view is stunning on the patio. If you aren’t too afraid to be a tad chilly, definitely sit outside.

After we were seated, the servers offered us coffee and tea to start off the breakfast buffet. They also give us a pot of coffee so we can refill it at any time.

You can alternatively get some juice if you like. You can’t go wrong with orange juice.

Their most popular feature is their omelette bar. The man that takes care of this area is hilarious! He’s great to chat with and makes all the guests laugh. You can also have plain eggs too if you don’t want an omelette.

You can choose from a variety of toppings.

Once everything is in the pan, you can wait till it cooks. It does take a while and the line is a tad long, but its worth it.

There is a cereal area with oatmeal and different toppings like nuts and dried fruit.

There is also a section for yogurt and fresh fruit.

There is a bread and toast area. When you use the toaster, be ready to catch the toast as it likes to fly out of the toaster.

There’s also the heated food area that I didn’t take pictures of. They have, waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, etc. A decent amount of options, but we all know that bacon and sausages are the most important.

I got the omelette packed with a bit of everything. Smoked salmon, sausages and a pile of bacon.

They have fresh fruit, but the fruit was a bit mushy like it’s been siting in some sort of liquid for a while. Definitely could have been more fresh.

M got a little bit of everything, but we both agreed that the quality was pretty average. The options are a bit limited in the buffet and could used more protein options. It was around ~$20 for the breakfast buffet, which is pricey because no one really needs to eat huge portions for breakfast. If you are a huge eater, maybe this is for you.

After we had the breakfast buffet, we took a stroll around the lake. In the morning, you’ll see a lot of wildlife around.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa and my meal was comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Lakeside Cafe:

Address:
100 Esplanade Ave,
Harrison Hot Springs, BC

Website:
http://www.harrisonresort.com/Lakeside-Cafe.aspx

In Harrison Hot Springs

The Copper Room at Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa

June 22, 2015

The Copper Room is located in the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. It’s a bit hidden, but just make sure you follow the signs. They serve up food from the West Coast, so expect some good seafood and steaks.

The restaurant is like a throwback to the 80’s with a live band and dance floor. From Sunday to Monday, Patsy B. And The Lefties play live and then from Tuesday through Saturday, The Jones Boys play. This restaurant isn’t for everyone, you will notice the age group is a little bit older.

There is a minimum dress code, so make sure you don’t wear t-shirts, shorts or sneakers. I made all of those mistakes and felt embarrassed. I should have done my research ahead of time to figure out there is a minimum dress code. Long story short, we ended up getting all their dishes sent to our room.

Complimentary Bread arrives with butter.

Ahi Tuna Sashimi ($18) has pickled ginger and a wasabi dressing. The dressing was subtle and did not have a strong wasabi taste. The cut of tuna wasn’t that great and could have been prepared a bit better. The slabs were quite large and when we used our knives to cut into it, it just ended up mushing the sashimi up. I would have preferred smaller bit size pieces so we didn’t have to cut it like a steak.

Mushroom Ragout ($16) is a sauteed bouquet of wild mushrooms, white wine, and fresh herbs. I love mushrooms, so it was a great dish to accompany an entree. It didn’t work very well as an appetizer because its a lot of mushroom to eat. It can be shared amongst the table.

Buffalo Mozzarella ($15) is wrapped with prosciutto and a sweet fig dressing. The star of the dish was really masked by the prosciutto. It was still a decent dish but I just wanted more of the mozzarella taste.

Rack of Lamb ($52) has veggies, mashed potatoes with a black currant thyme demi sauce. It was our favourite entree of the evening. Lamb had great flavour and was cooked to a perfect medium and the demi sauce paired very well. The vegetables were a nice compliment but the mashed potatoes weren’t as fluffy as we imagined.

Lobster Newburg ($49) has shrimp, white wine, and a sherry and creamy lobster bisque. The lobster was prepared nicely with the creamy sauce. Risotto was good too. The shrimp seemed like it was plopped onto the plate with little thought. It could have used a tad more seasoning or had it integrated into the dish more.

Bone-in Rib Eye ($56) with wild mushroom demi. The steak was cooked to a medium rare and it was nice and large. We had the same thought about the mashed potatoes. It wasn’t that fluffy and was quite solid.

Mascarpone Tart ($12) has dried figs , ricotta cheese, pastry and a citrus butterscotch sauce. The dessert looked pretty but the crust of the tart wasn’t very impressive.

Chocolate Pot au Crème ($10) comes with rich chocolate pudding and ice cream. The dessert was pretty average. Nothing too exciting about it. It does look pretty.

Overall, I was sad that I couldn’t experience the full service at the Copper Room. M and I didn’t mind that we had to eat our whole meal in our room, but at least we could look at the beautiful view from our window and also watch the Food Network. This review is based solely on the food. The price is quite expensive for what you get, but we found their entrees to be pretty good. It’s a very traditional place, so you won’t find a modern flare in the food.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa and my meal was comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate The Copper Room:

Address:
100 Esplanade Avenue,
Harrison Hot Springs, BC

Website:
http://www.harrisonresort.com/dining.aspx

In Four Beakers

The Black Forest Restaurant: German Cuisine in Harrison Hot Springs

June 21, 2015

M and I spent 2 days at Harrison Hot Springs. Sometimes it’s nice to just get away from the city and enjoy some more nature. The first thing that we did here is eat. M always talks highly of the German restaurant called The Black Forest Restaurant.

The Black Forest Restaurant serves up authentic German cuisine. I was super excited to come here since I miss my University days backpacking through Western Europe. Germany was one of my favourite countries to visit.

The interior is dated and you can tell this place has been her for a long time.

Krombacher Pilsner is what M ordered to go with his schnitzel. I was suprised he ordered it since he rarely orders beer to go with his lunch. It’s a great light beer that has a bit of a citrus finish. Great German beer to go with German food.

Bratwurst is served on a bed of SauerKraut, topped with fried onions and peppercorn sauce. It is served with pan-fried potatoes, steamed vegetables and dijon mustard. Very delicious!

Schnitzel is pan-fried till it’s golden brown and crunchy. It is topped with mushrooms and a peppercorn sauce. It is served with red cabbage, steamed veggies and pan fried potatoes. M loved it.

Overall, our quick lunch here was delicious. I’d definitely be back again. The decor here isn’t very nice, but we were really drawn by the food. It’s pretty hard to find good German food in Vancouver.

We Rate The Black Forest Restaurant: