Name: North America Royal Aristocratic Castle
Address: 1393 Port Mellon Hwy, Sunshine Coast F, BC V0N 1V6, Canada, Langdale, Langdale, Langdale, V0N 1V6, Canada
Rating: 2

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North America Royal Aristocratic Castle

Langdale

Where to begin…   Let’s start with that name:   “North American Royal Aristocratic Castle.”   Say that name three more times.   Any alarm bells ringing?  There should be.  Read on, my intrepid traveling friend.  

My wife and two little girls drove up from Seattle that hot July Saturday to begin our journey through the unbelievably beautiful Sunshine Coast.    There were no rooms available in the area – but luckily my wife found a $170 vacancy listed on Booking.Com at the aforementioned…oh, let me just write it again:  “North American Royal Aristocratic Castle”.    

We knew something was odd before we arrived.  My wife called ahead to confirm the room.  The manager, however, said, “We don’t have rooms.   Look somewhere else!”   She pushed the guy and he finally relented and said he had ONE room we could have.   
We arrived to a nearly empty place, cars scattered around, a pack of dogs barking.   That “one” room could have been one of twenty vacant rooms.   Before I entered, an exiting traveler told us the room was filthy with hair everywhere and that he was going to look elsewhere.   The adventure traveler in me kicked in – so I found myself curious, stepping into a dirty but grand lobby with hanging chandelier and wrapping staircases.   The manager greeted me – a very friendly man – and indicated for me to take off my shoes.   I looked down to a floor covered with scattered shoes and slippers.   Okay, this is weird.   I kicked off my flip-flops and slid my feet into some dirty slippers.  He led me up two flights of stairs to a long hallway with perhaps 10-15 empty rooms in that one hall.   He led me into that “one” vacant room.   To be fair, it could have been a really nice room.  I mean, I didn’t see any hair on the furniture as the last traveler had mentioned.   I didn’t find that hair, in fact, until I showered later that night and had to move a wad of black hair to open the drain.   And sure it was hot and the room was stuffy – but there was one window and I figured the little 12-inch fan could pull some fresh air.   I thought of my wife who was waiting for me in the car still – and depending on my good judgment – and I smiled and told the affable manager “I love it.   We’ll take it.”   I followed him back down and signed for the room rented at $250.  (Yes, my friend, not the $170 my wife reserved it for…but I didn’t discover that until later.)
Back downstairs I said, “Honey, it’s not that bad.   Let’s take it.”  “Bad” is a relative word.   Malaria is worse, war is worse, President Trump is worse.   So how could we really complain over the fact that:  the bed had no sheets, the manager was unable to bring us any sheets or extra towels, someone’s bag of half eaten peanuts sat on the table, the bedding was filthy.   I mean, there are people living in refugee camps.   This is not so bad.   

But it was creepy.  How creepy?  Creepy as in: why is this place empty?  Who are the 2-3 guys I saw eating in the kitchen and do they eat people?   I honestly slept a little nervously – which was a good thing because I didn’t know our bedding was filthy until my wife explained it to me later.   We left the next morning with all our body parts intact.   Even after departure, the story continued: my wife received a cancellation fee from Booking.Com.   Yes, you heard that right.   We got a financial penalty for not staying in the room we stayed in of the fully booked but completely empty hotel and for which we were overcharged by $80 while not having towels or clean bedding or the promised included breakfast.  

The (let me write it again) North American Royal Aristocratic Castle – from what I could glean during our one night stay – was built as a personal mansion for a New Zealand businessman and – this is where I am speculating – was sold to an overseas investor who decided for some reason to convert it into a hotel.   The building was elaborate gaudy over-the-top with perhaps 20 rooms as well as a small exercise area and even a pool. The location is lovely; on a hilltop and overlooking forest and a large garden full of dead grass.    I know expensive hotels aren’t supposed to have a pack of dogs running though it – but I actually liked the dogs – they were puppies, right?  Everyone loves puppies.
In summary the (ahem) North American Royal Aristocratic Hotel makes no sense.  From the moment the manager tried talking us out of staying there, to the lack of cleanliness, towels and guests – from its very name! – it just didn’t make sense as a business.   It does make sense as a money-laundering scheme – but I’m just speculating.   Obviously, I would recommend nobody stay here…except those drawn to the bizarre.

So Bad It Was Almost Worth It

I booked this place based on how beautiful it looked in the photos.  While waiting for the ferry we started reading reviews of this place and they were all terrible.  We took the chance anyway and went.  After we finally found the place.  We where greeted by two full grown German Shepard guard dogs that charged and attacked and scratched at my truck. The other reviews mentioned this But we are dog people and didn't imagine it could be that bad, but my girlfriend didn't even want to get out of the truck. Upon looking at the property.  The garden was dead, the fountain was full of Slime and not working, no patio, and no outdoor pool. And random cars parked all over the lawn. I was then greeted by a man who spoke next to no English and had no idea about my reservation.  But he said rooms where available and he would show me around.   The place smelled bad.  Was messy, I had to put on someone's sweaty used slippers. The room was not clean at all.  I would sleep on the ground before I touched those sheets.  The pool area was a mess , broken toys and chairs everywhere and half the pool area was being used as storage.  But the pool it's self was pretty nice I guess. And it was not quiet. There was a whole lot of yelling going on by what would I assume was this guys family who live there.   Anyways we got back in the truck turned around and waited an hour and a half for the next ferry back to Vancouver.   But not before being greeted by rover and Fido, our favourite guard dogs one more time.  Waste of time and almost my money. We called a bunch other spots for a last minute chance and they all talked smack about this place as well.  Listen to the reviews and don't make the same mistake I did.  I ruined our weekend by booking this place.  I should mail them my ferry receipt.

I should have listened to the reviews DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!

It would be an understatement to say that this place is not as advertised. I wish I had read the reviews before I booked. My partner and I had seen the "castle" featured on a YouTube video and decided we'd celebrate our one year anniversary there. HUGE MISTAKE. 

Driving you the driveway you quickly realize the property is not kept up. There over growth, no curb appeal, and a general disarray. Once you're in eyeshot of the house you're greeted by dogs that seem wild and are in attack mode. You drive around back to find a few parked cars (looks like they've been there for years) garbage, odd and end items strewn about. 

First things first...trip advisor told me when booking online for this place that there was only one room available and that I should book. When we arrived we were the only people in the 13 room building. Thanks trip advisor. 

There's an Asian man named Michael who is the attendant of the place. He doesn't speak English well. He resides on the property. Upon entering you're told to take your shoes off and put on sand led they provide that look like something and old lady would wear. You then quickly realize how unkept the place is. The foyer had Christmas decorations in it in July. The place truly looked abandoned and unused. We were given a tour of the place and were shows the gym, the pool, hot tub, rooms, kitchen and living room. We were told to make our own breakfast if we wanted to from the various items left in the fridge and filthy kitchen. Every room we saw was in kept and dirty. Furniture, patio chairs, garbage strewn about everywhere. 

We were shown our room, it was poorly decorated and unclean. The toilets had rings in them and our toilet didn't even work so we had to ask for another room. Bed sheets are Asian silk and not at all royal or high end. We walked to the window to see the view and there right in front of the bedroom window was the fountain. Not working, water is green and market, lawn hasn't been cut or kept, no flowers, shrubbery or anything else to make it look nice. Definitely nothing like the photos online. 

Since we had plans to meet some friends we quickly showered (no shampoo, conditioner or lotions available) and came downstairs to pay for the place. We arrived at 930am and were planning on leaving the following morning at 6am. Cost? $310. Absolutely overpriced with nothing offered other then a place to sleep. I asked my partner if it was ok? And if he wanted to stay there. We decided we would given we had just that day to explore Gibsons, Sechelt and Pender harbour. One our drive to see our friends we discussed the place and decided that since we had the whole place to ourselves and there was a pool we could use that we'd turn a blind eye to how poor the rest of the house looked. I decided to call Micheal from the car, asked him if the pool was heated? No surprise he tells me the pool is not heated and is cold rendering it useless. This did it for me, I thought I'm paying $310 to stay one night in a 13 room house that is filthy and have no use of the amenities they claim online. Upon returning we packed our bags and I asked for a refund which he provided. 

We looked online and were able to find a lovely cottage at Rock Water Secret Cove Resort for $268. An incredible improvement from the "castle"

Our anniversary was saved only because we decided to go elsewhere. 

I absolutely, unequivocally do not recommend this place. It's not at all how it's advertised and a waste of your money.

Absolutely not as advertised! DO NOT BOOK HERE!

On May 23rd I had originally booked a room for a 1 night anniversary weekend for the middle of June.  A couple of days before our scheduled stay, I called them up to see about getting an early check-in time. I tried their number 3 separate times over the course of one day, and on each call only got voicemail -- no live person. 

At that point I decided to check a bit further into this hotel, and found the current reviews on both Expedia and TripAdvisor, which weren't there when I had originally booked. After reading those, I decided to cancel our stay and ended up booking at the Bonniebrook Lodge only about 10 minutes away (see my review). 

However, because of the disparity between the listing info and the reviews, I still wanted to see this place for myself, so when we arrived in Gibsons yesterday we went to check it out. The first thing we noticed was that there was no sign on the main road indicated any kind of establishment at all -- just the street number on a small sign. We proceeded up the narrow overgrown access road towards the hotel. No sooner had we rounded the corner opening onto the grounds of the building did not one, but two, German Shepards come racing towards our car, with no one in sight. We continued to follow the road to the main entrance of the building at the back, with the dogs barking and chasing our car the whole time. 

We pulled up near the front doors, and the place looked deserted. No people, a couple of cars, and no activity. And with those two dogs running around we weren't even going to get out of the car. The whole place, both the exterior, and the bit of interior that we could see through the windows, had a very shabby, creepy feel to it. I can't tell you how glad we were that we had cancelled our reservation. 

I don't understand how this place can be advertising themselves as a hotel at all, let alone on the major sites like Expedia or TripAdvisor. There's no way they should be accepting reservations -- anyone staying here would be a complete fool. This place could be an absolute goldmine with the right management. The building itself and grounds are incredible, but until someone who knows this business takes it on, this would be a guest's worst stay come true...

DO NOT BOOK HERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

DO NOT STAY HERE!!!!

The building was once beautiful, when they took the pictures, but it isn't anymore. The lack of maintenance and service was apalling. The room was not at all clean. We were welcomed by an angry mother german shepherd who had just given birth in the entry way  of the building.

North America Royal Aristocratic Castle

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