My hubby and I had the opportunity to sneak away for a couple of nights for a kid free getaway! Without any immediate family in Edmonton, it’s a rare occurrence for us. Denny and I took full advantage of having grandparents close by to babysit! We headed to West Kelowna to stay at The Cove Lakeside Resort which has the most amazing location right on lake Okanagan!

The Cove Lakeside Resort

We checked into our amazing two bedroom suite which was equipped with a full kitchen, living room, two bathrooms and two bedrooms. The suite also offered a full washer and dryer for long term stays. There was a large patio with seating for 8 and our suite was just steps from the pool and private beach on the main floor. The location was just perfect for us and we really enjoyed the views from our patio while the sun was setting over the lake!

This resort offers so many amenities for couples to enjoy including:

  • A private beach
  • putting green
  • fitness centre with private hot tub
  • 2 large pools and a hot tub
  • movie theatre
  • fire pits
  • tennis courts
  • spa
  • Bonfire restaurant

There were so many things to see and do once we checked in! We headed to the pool to enjoy some sunshine and relaxation on our first day. We loved the private cabana which offered a daybed and shaded area. It was fully stocked with cold waters and towels, we enjoyed this extra amenity that is available for booking at through the front desk. The pool area also offered a drink and snack bar, the frozen lemonade’s with tequila were delish!

We loved that the Cove Lakeside Resort is pet friendly! Bandit felt right at home during his stay and was welcomed with a bag of Dex Knows Best pet food upon his arrival. There are plenty of areas to walk your dog including right along the lake front while you take in the gorgeous views. It’s so great to be able to travel with your pet, we noticed lots of people out and about walking their pups!

Westside Wine Trail

The Westside Wine Trail is home to some of the most well established wineries in the Okanagan Valley and is located less than 10 minutes from The Cove Lakeside Resort. The trail is picturesque offering scenic lake views, and rolling hills of vineyards as you visit the 14 wineries within it. We had the opportunity to check out 3 of the wineries and had the most amazing time together!

Mission Hill Family Estate Winery was our first stop for a Taste of the Estate tour! Our private sommelier guided experience included delicious food and wine pairings throughout the 90 minute tour. We were excited to get this peek behind the scenes that is not open to the general public. It was an amazing experience to walk through the vineyards!

The Taste of the Estate tour guided us throughout the grounds including the vineyards and underground barrel cellar. We finished our experience in a private tasting salon where we sampled a variety of estate grown ingredients paired with a selection of their wines. Our tour guide Emma was so knowledgeable about the winery and the region, we were very impressed and learned so much from her!

You can book this or other tours directly through their website, its such a great way to get a behind the scenes of this beautiful winery!

Our next stop was Indigenous World Winery for a tasting and lunch at the Red Fox Club. The winery merges modern culture with Indigenous history. When you taste the wine you are tasting fruit from the land that supported the Syilx people for over 10,000 years. There is a lot of history behind it!

We enjoyed lunch on the beautiful patio at the Red Fox Club. The modern native menu had so many mouthwatering options that we decided to order a few different dishes to share. The Red Fox Board included cured meats, salmon, preserves, mustards, Canadian produced cheeses and crackers and the Bannock Board came with native fry bread, crab apple jam and herbed butter. We also shared the Native Spiced Duck Drumsticks which came highly recommended by our server. They were seasoned in salt and pepper, drizzled with sage honey and presented on a bed of Icelandic yogurt for dipping. Denny and I LOVE risotto so we also had to try the What the Fungus Mushroom Risotto made with brown butter, parmesan and locally sourced mushrooms. Every dish was fantastic!

Our last stop on the tour was Grizzli Winery for a Distinctly Tour. Our behind the scenes experience included a private tour of the vineyards and estate while learning about why the Okanagan Valley is a premium wine growing region.

We finished our tour at Grizzli Winery with a guided tasting of their signature wines paired with a savoury charcuterie platter which included meats, cheeses, nuts, chocolate, olives and a selection of crackers. We enjoyed their award winning ice wine as well as learning how it is made. I had no idea how different the process is to make an ice wine!

We want to thank The Cove Lakeside Resort and Westside Wine Trail for inviting us on this incredible couples experience in West Kelowna. Views expressed are my own based on our personal experience at the resort and various wineries we visited. A big thank you to our friend and photographer Colin who captured our moments together.