The hotel is older but it is quaint in its own way. The room was clean. Bed was decent. Wifi was available which was important since Port Clements lacks cell service in most areas. The hosts were friendly. You can purchase breakfast from them and it was quite delicious. I'd recommend the omelette!
Obviously the Golden Spruce isn't a five-star motel, but it was one of the best bang for your buck motels or hotels I've stayed at on Haida Gwaii. The room was very clean, the staff warm and friendly, beds were comfortable and the kitchenette well-stocked with everything I needed. And they warmly welcomed my dog. All said, for the money, it was surprisingly comfortable.
Stayed at the Golden Spruce Motel as part of our book pilgrimage and I wouldn't have picked it if not for the name. My wife would have killed me if I took her here but travelling with a buddy kept the complaints down. The room we stayed in looked like it hadn't had a proper cleaning in 50 years. The walls were dirty in the bathroom as if they were once washed with the dirtiest water on earth. I'm not allergic to much but I was itchy as ever falling asleep. The floors were carpeted which probably doesn't help. I should say too, for the overall condition of the place you pay way too much to stay there. The only interesting thing about the hotel is that Urs has a small piece of the Golden Spruce in a jar and Grant Hadwin once stayed there. Enter at your your own risk!
We stayed at the Golden Spruce Motel, as it is right along highway 16 and it is halfway up the island, so you can go all the way north or south in about 45 minutes. We got a kitchenette suite with three beds - two twin and one double. The double bed was in the same room as the kitchen and the twin beds were just around the corner in a separate part, but it didn't have a door. The only other door than the main one, was the bathroom door. The bathroom had no tub, only a shower. It was small, but clean. The towels were the scratchiest, roughest towels I have ever seen (so bring your own). The kitchenette had a fridge with freezer, a two burner unit, a microwave, a toaster, a kettle, a few pots, a few plates, cups and cutlery. The table had three chairs. There was a coat rack behind the main door, but no other place to store clothing. The beds were only average for comfort. There was free wifi. There was no breakfast included. There was no air conditioning, and it got very hot in there. The manager/owner was very friendly. There was a gas station/ convenience store next door. There was a grocery store in town (about 8-10 blocks from the motel).
We didn't plan our trip all that great for the last week. Called the motel later on in the day and were able to get the last room in the motel which needed to be cleaned before we arrived. We got there to be greeted by Urse and Diane. We ended up stay the whole week and with advise from them got to take in many beaches, hiking trails and different places around. Urse is also has a charter business we found out so we decided to go out and managed to catch our daily salmon limit. Urse also is the chief at the motel amazing breakfast and he chiefted up an amazing salmon dinner for us. Diana is great and super friendly..we totally enjoyed our stay and even though it's not fancy what so ever and lacking a few room amenities it is an great place to stay and we will return if ever back on the island. GREAT!!!
