Hillcrest Hall Country Inn

When we saw the room which was a suite overlooking the ocean, we were so excited. Things went downhill from there. There was a little air conditioner going in the living room. The bedroom just had an oscillating fan. When we came back from dinner, much to our surprise, the room had not cooled down at all. It was miserably hot. (Were they baking muffins in the kitchen below us?) It wasn’t until about 3:00 AM that the temperature in the room became comfortable and I was able to sleep. I personally think there is no excuse for this. When my alarm went off at 7:30 AM, I dragged myself from the bed and went to the shower. There to greet me was a trickle of water from the shower head. I have long hair and it took me forever to get things done. The breakfast, which I assumed would be fantastic based on all of the rave reviews, was minimal. Not a scone nor a pancake to be found. The coffee was literally brewed on an ancient double-pot device I haven’t seen since the TV show, Alice. Furthermore, they filled the machine with a pitcher of cloudy water clearly from the hot tap just so you could be sure to get your heavy dose of heavy metals for the day. I ate nothing. We paid $278 for the room. After check-in, there is literally no one at the front desk ever again, including in the morning. I think you can guess why that is. They don’t want to hear the complaints. They don’t want to give you any kind of rebate on your room for all of the inconvenience you endured such as losing FIVE hours of sleep.

We stayed at this lovely inn for our 10th anniversary trip. Wendy took such good care of us, providing us with ideas and maps about where the best trails would be. She even surprised us with a bottle of wine chilling outside our room on our return. We were quite busy during our stay, up and out early so we didn't get to enjoy the complimentary hot breakfast the first morning - but they packed us a to-go snack for the car. The second morning we enjoyed the ample buffet. Our room and bed were comfortable and the inn had such a beautiful charm. It's a good location to stay as a home base from where you can explore the many things Cape Breton has to offer. Some of the other guests were seen relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous front porch view both morning and evening. I would happily stay there again.

Good, but not outstanding, B&B. We stayed for 1 night in a king room with sea view which was comfortable and had a bathtub. Hot breakfast consisted of eggs and sausages with juices and pastries. Very limited restaurant choice nearby. All in all fine for a one night stay.