Poplars Motel

We just completed another stay at the Poplars Motel which was hands down the best experience we have had at this location. Management was welcoming and friendly, very unlike previous managers. The place was cleaner than it’s ever been. It was a welcome change to feel appreciated for our business. Thank you Rod and Crista for such a pleasant experience. Well done and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

Would not recommend this place. They have no housekeeping, the place was unclean and needed serious updates. Although the lady owner was very kind and struggled to keep the place going, the husband was in the wrong business of PR. Very snappy and rude! Renovations should be on the top of the list and should have been started a long time ago. Only thing going for it is location!

The new management has transformed the Poplars into a lovely clean and beautiful place to vacation. A huge kudos to Gordon and Kathy. I’m looking forward to booking our holiday again with you.

Love the location of this motel, at the end of osoyoos beach. The sage pub and liquor store across the street. The owner very kind and considerate. I will be back.

Spent canada weekend plus 3 days, Exceptional service, rooms were very clean, the staff is very friendly, nice and quiet rooms. Peter and Kathy take pride in Poplars Motel and it shows, Great Hosts!

This is an older classic 2 storey motel under New ownership. Pleasant staff, good parking, rooms are clean and have been partially updated, rates are comparable.
Gas Bbq's in common area
Quiet beachside location with good swimming in the lake
Restaurants within walking distance
May 25/22

Absolutely, HORRIBLE, customer service. We had a three night reservation with the hotel starting on August 15th. I contacted the hotel on August 10 and asked that they cancel my reservation because of the situation in Osoyoos. I received an email back from them saying "If you are concerned about forest fires there are no fires in our area anymore". I provided them with the government advisory describing the Nk' Mip Creek fire, burning 6 kilometers outside of Osoyoos as "Out of Control" and was expected to worsen. I checked the advisory again today and it says "fire behaviour to increase",
and "growth of the fire is expected". I explained to the "Family Owned Hotel" that our child was recently hospitalized due to a respiratory issue but they still are refusing to cancel my reservation without a one night penalty as they have a two week cancellation policy. I think it would be hard for anyone to predict two weeks ahead of time what conditions will be like due to forest fire. Will definetly never consider using this hotel again.

We did not have a good stay at Poplars Motel this year and would not recommend it to anyone. We have been coming to this motel for 10 plus years but it seems that long term loyal customers are no longer welcome. Upon check in we were told that in order to book the room for next year we must leave a non-refundable deposit of one nights stay plus taxes. I’ve never heard of a one year cancellation policy for a motel before. It was also mentioned that they may change that to requiring us to pre-pay for our entire stay next year. When I asked what the rates would be for next year I was told they were increasing by $ 35 per night for our 2 bedroom room. This room is not worth $ 225 per night. It is very dated and although they did remove the old carpets and add new flooring it does not make up for the less than sanitary bathroom that does not appear to have been upgraded for decades. Don’t look at the bathroom or kitchen windows – they are covered in cobwebs and bugs.
We overlooked the declining state of the rooms for years because the old managers, Frank and Cindy, were extremely friendly and kind to all of us and we felt very welcome there. They have since retired and the atmosphere is no longer the same.
We have a large group of friends that all meet up for the week at Poplars. That has never been a problem until this year. Our offence was that the owner did not like how our chairs were set up on the beach. Instead of a circle of friends sitting together to socialize we were told that we needed to break into much smaller groups of 3 or 4 people, never mind that some of the family groups contained 7 to 8 people. They were not supposed to sit together. It seems that we did not comply with this request to the owner’s satisfaction so have been informed that we are no longer welcome. No great loss – this motel is not where I would wish any friends or family to stay. Think long and hard about whether you want to stay at the Poplars. There are a number of other motels to choose from and you would be wise to choose a motel where the owners/managers actually care about retaining long time customers.

What a strange vacation at the Poplars Motel this year, which is under new management and relatively new ownership. I'm still shaking my head about it. Apparently the wrong layout of beach chairs is enough to be told you aren't welcome back. And don't dare to question the rationale or you will be told to read the Hotel Act. I was shocked, angry, frustrated and finally just felt pity for the lack of business sense. You'd think you'd want to retain a loyal 14 year customer base. Oh well, after adding up the costs (including outrageous rate increase) it's cheaper to book a cruise!

Beware: new ownership and management. This motel USED to be amazing. It is amazingly awful now.
No room service the entire week, blood stain on our bedding and bathroom is in dire need of a cleaning and update. Owner was standing over us the whole time, making us feel not welcome right from the start. Easy to do as she took the prime room for herself as a vacation home. Our family has been nothing but respectful in the past many years, even helping when the old managers would raked the beach (this wasn’t done the entire time we were there, so there’s a line of seaweed/garbage along the shore), and kicking random people from hanging out on the private area at night. We are quiet, clean and rent two rooms each year for our family. Apparently rates are going up $35/night, but we won’t find out as we were told they won’t rebook us, as with many other longtime families. I’m sure the the old owner, who apparently was her father, would be ashamed and embarrassed of how the guests are being treated…Oh, and did I mention that the new manager when questioned on their horrible service, told my husband ‘too bad, that’s the way it is…the customer is not always right? ’.

New owner. Ignore all previous 5 star reviews. This was the worst experience, in 14 years, we have had at Poplars. Important to note, the owner intends to increase the rates by $35/night when it only ever used to increase every year by $5/night. There is also the expectation for you to pay up front for the next year; and if you do and you cancel, you will not receive your money back.
This has been an annual family vacation for us and the entire time we were there, she kept an eerie watch over us which ruined our time. One incident involved us having to break up our group into smaller groups of 4 people. One family that travels with us has 7 people in their family and they would not be allowed to sit together. Her reasoning involved her saying, "Well I'm the owner so I'll stand here until you move". The power-trip was/is immense.
Now, my next point, the quality of the rooms. These are dated, uncared for rooms that do not get a thorough cleaning between guests. I highly recommend you do not look under anything. The TVs are below average, the WiFi is awful, and the bathrooms look like something from the 70s (terrible water pressure too).
All-in-all, this place used to be acceptable because of Frank and Cindy who made you feel genuinely welcomed and the pub across the street. We never once felt welcomed during our stay. Simply put, if the option is between staying here or not going to Osoyoos, do not go to Osoyoos.
I hope the "no" in the vacancy signs remain unlit after the treatment given to us and other families.

We have been vacationing at the Poplar's Motel for many, many years. For 27 years we returned for our yearly summer vacation - first with our children, and now with our grandchildren. Over time we patiently waited for our turn to gradually improve our room status until we finally achieved a prime view end unit. We have occupied this room on the Canada Day week for many, many years. There was a standing process in place that you reserved the same room and dates at checkout for next year’s vacation. We always made our next year’s Canada Day reservation at check out and that’s how we returned that same week along with the other family groups that also book to return in a similar fashion.

This year new managers cruelly gave away the next year’s reservation of our end unit view room with no reasonable cause, purposely keeping quiet with regard to booking us in for the same time slot in 2022. In fact, they actually cancelled us and gave the 2022 reservation out while we were still occupying the room for our 2021 stay. The new managers reserved the room to someone who has no history of staying in this room during the Canada Week time period in the last ten years - because we were there! They simply dismissed any thought of what this would do to our traditional family vacation. We believe this scenario was a planned set-up, probably because we did occupy the prime rental spot, and that the managers had plans of their own on what they would do with this particular unit as soon as they were in control.

We diplomatically tried to plead our case to the new managers who have the ability to correct 2022 room reservations and restore our next year’s reservation right now, but found that loyal and returning Poplars Motel customers mean nothing to them - they will not budge on the issue. Just another reason to believe the managers planned to bully out the seniors and then give a prime room reservation to their cronies.

The more I think about the managers uncaring treatment towards us the more I sense that they have also taken reservation booking power trips in the past that have spoiled other family vacations in other properties. Beware of the actions of these new managers!

An absolute epic fail in customer service. After 15 years of taking our family to Poplar’s Motel for a week of relaxation and fun with friends and other returning guests, it was anything but that. New management, and owner, made it clear we were not welcome from the moment we arrived. From the required payment in full at check in, excessive rate increase for next year, to the unclean rooms with no cleaning staff it was obvious the guests are not their priority. They gladly took full payment for our two rooms for our family of 7 only to tell us, and our entire group, we could not sit in groups larger than 3 or 4 on the beach, which they do not own. When questioned, we were told we were no longer welcome back next year. That was day 1. Instead of engaging with their guests in a warm and welcome manner, asking how our stay was or what could they do to help improve our stay, like good ownership and management should do, it was more important for them to continuously spy on us, with talk of even being photographed of how were arranging our chairs at the beach. The end of our stay culminated in being told WE were disrespectful and could no longer book a stay there, and when I asked what we did to be treated this way I wasn’t given any explanation, only that’s just what the owner wants and too bad if you don’t like it. If we are unable to return, we say sorry to the City of Osoyoos, it’s business association and all the wineries, golf courses, restaurants, and other businesses that our group has gladly spent tens of thousands of dollars at annually. We will miss your kindness.

Utterly disappointed after over 20 years of family vacations, our recent July 2021 stay was anything but restful and stress-free. We were aware of the prior managers' retirement, however we were not notified of the changes being implemented prior to arrival. Multiple changes had been made such as: new requirement to pay upfront, booking a year in advance now with a deposit that has tax added, no room service, floaties expected to be kept in our room, no towels or bathing suits allowed to be hung out to dry over the railings, and a new manager who repeatedly stated, she DID NOT CARE if we were upset. Disheartening treatment to loyal returning families that are this motel's bread and butter.

Changes are envitable, but to not be met halfway, especially when it came to booking for the next year was frustrating as hell. We generally book for the next year at check-out, but this year we got told our week and rooms have been booked two days prior to us coming up. We were not given any alternative or any compassion for the repeat family (s) we have been for years! After many many years, it was disheartening to hear our loyalty was mistaken for being entitled.

-Fletchers.