By the Bay Cottages

Sadly got a bad impression when we first arrived. Office was the cleaners and supply room, firewood was grossly overpriced, floors were cold, windows didn't seal properly, owner appears to be a penny pincher. Check out the cutlery, no 2 forks alike, this extended to dishware, glasses etc. Probably ok for summer but dicey in the shoulder seasons.

Booked two nights in August on July 8/24 and cancelled on July 9/24. Sunny the scammer only refunded $43. Kept $100 for administrative fees. When called she would not refund the $100. I have stayed at By The Bay numerous times, at least once while Sunny was the owner. Won’t be going back! $100 for ten minutes work when the cottages will be booked by another tourist? Wish I could make that kind on money. Don’t stay here Sunny the scammer will take you for as much money as she can. Was very rude to me when I wanted MY money refunded!😡

The cottages are basic housekeeping cottages. We have been coming here for 20 years, a few of the older cottages have been replaced with new ones. The pool is a great addition. Each cottage has its own fire pit. We rented cottage #3 and cottage #11. We were pleased to find both clean upon arrival and ready for check in on time. Most of the furniture feels too big for the cottages. Many larger family groups rent these cottages and have a habit of moving dishes around for family style dining. This leaves the cottages short on cups, cutlery, wine glasses etc. Sunny is happy to replace these items upon request but a better inventory after each group checks out to ensure each cottage has the basics would improve guest relations and ratings. I come to By The Bay with realistic expectations. The price reflects the cottage style. Sunny puts her heart and soul into this property. She’s on site every day and can often be found helping with cleaning, laundry etc. She, like many other tourism operators, has suffered as a result of COVID and devastating damage caused by Hurricane Fiona. She has invested heavily to replace windows, roofs and clean up the many downed trees. It’s true it wouldn’t hurt to replace some broken blinds and light switches. Those little fixes would go a long way towards making guests feel they are staying somewhere that while dated, is well maintained and safe. Still, I would give Sunny a 5/5 for efforts and warm hospitality. We will be back and look forward to our next stay.

We stayed in Cabin 5 and, unfortunately, the cabin smelled strongly of old food and mildew. The towels were so mildewy that we had to ask for replacements. The sheets, unfortunately, smelled of body odour. The smell really made our stay unpleasant. The cabin could use an update - it still has old carpet, and this cabin does not appear in any of the pictures on the website (surprisingly, it is labelled as an “executive” cottage). In addition, many of the screens were ripped, including on the front door, there was no dish rack, and the bbq did not seem to have been cleaned in a long time, and the basin of the bbq quickly caught fire from all the grease caught in the bottom. On the plus side, the location was great, as were the grounds and the outdoor heated pool. And our friends appreciated that their cabin was pet-friendly. The owners were pleasant, but unfortunately we would not return or recommend this place.

We were APPALLED!!! The cottage was run down with a sloping floor and lots of dings and scratches but that can be easily over looked if a place has nice beds, crisp sheets and clean dishes. This wasn’t our experience. When we arrived the office was closed and there was no note for us or directions. We managed to get a hold of the owner to find out where we were staying. The place was DIRTY!! Hair and dust lined the hallways. The curtain rods are bent in the middle in almost all the rooms. The bathroom floor had so much gunk in the corners, the shower curtain was brown/yellow at the bottom. The cabin slept 6 but there were only 5 chairs at the table. I went into the bathroom to find dirty towels hanging on the hooks. The bedroom closets had dirty towels as well hanging too dry. I pulled back the covers of our bed and suspected they weren’t clean. They looked slept in. I pulled all the covers back and found BODY HAIR! (Gag!!!) We called the owner and she sent over a nice young man who couldn’t speak English. He went to get us new sheets. He brought back a hand full of unfolded sheets that ended up all bring to sheets with no pillow cases. We had to get him and send him back FOUR times!! I wondered if the sheets were out of the drier or the dirty close pile but we had paid with points so there was no getting our money back to go somewhere else! We pulled the dirty sheets off ourselves and made our own beds. I’ve been telling myself that they are clean… they just didn’t put enough soap in the wash… It’s disgusting.

I can't actually review the cottages because our reservation was cancelled without notification. We booked almost a year in advance because we were going to PEI for a wedding in the Stanhope Area. We received a confirmation and we paid our deposit. When we called a month before our arrival we were told that we had no reservation. When we emailed her our confirmation she said she made a mistake and booked our cottage and could do nothing for us. She offered us an apartment unit in Charlottetown which would not work as we were not going to travel back and for to the week long wedding celebration at Stanhope. Run from this place as you never know if you if your reservation will actually be there when you arrive.

We stayed in cottage #5 - it was clean and appointed as the ads claimed. The site is in a good location to get places, and very quiet, most units set back from the road. Hosts were fine, easy to reach during their open hours. They make an effort to run things smoothly Aside #1 - we were originally in # 14 but the loud hum (Mach 1 level) from the pool filtration system was too much , so we asked to move and were accommodated right away Aside # 2 - warning to guests & tip to owners: get some bath mats or etch the tub floors. They are as slick as ice and a liability claim waiting to happen. Good luck.