I’m currently Between Jobs and decided to take a bit of a road trip to visit my aunt in Penticton, BC. I like road tripping but I always end up taking two hours longer than planned and it’s a 9-10 hour drive so I decided to break up the trip and stay in a delightful town about halfway: Creston, BC.
I’ve previously stayed in Creston, with my mother, at a lovely B&B that stopped operation as an inn during Covid and went to simply renting out rooms. It was beautiful and we had our own bathroom, but it was in the hall and I prefer to have a private bathroom. My mother had previously made the plans but this is a solo trip so I looked for a locally owned hotel and settled on the Uptowner after looking at reviews online.
I rang the bell and could hear someone coming downstairs from what I assume is the office or suite. Just like in the movies! The rooms are great. The beds are comfortable. The bathrooms are a good size and there is a lot of suitcase storage in the manner of older hotels. The common areas are clean but a little dark and out of date but I dig that, and I’m not sleeping in the common areas. There’s a jacuzzi and a gym, which I didn’t know but appreciate, and it is right downtown, walking distance from anything you’d want to see in town. The only weird thing is there’s no bar soap in the bathroom? Also, the windows all have a/c so it’s nice and cool but the windows don’t close all the way. Like, someone could walk right up, slide open the window and come inside. I’m a solo woman traveller so I asked for a room on the second floor and they were very helpful and understanding. I am coming back through and staying here next week so I asked to get a second floor room then. No problem.
I wanted to go to a Thai place where I had previously eaten but it isn’t around anymore. I googlemapped for restaurants and found a place with coconut curry – Thai enough – and went there – Real Food Cafe, about a 5 minute walk. I ended up not getting the coconut curry but a chicken satay instead. The woman who took my order asked how spicy I wanted it. I told her I like really spicy food because I used to live in Thailand and how spicy is their “hot” spicy? She said it was “medium”. Because spiciness is so subjective, I asked her if it was White People spicy. She said “Oh, yes, it’s cooked by my husband and he’s Scottish so be doesn’t do spicy.”
I opted for “hot”.
I usually have satay as an appetizer so it was weird as dinner, but it tasted perfect and while it was not as spicy as I like, it meant I wasn’t bloated on water to offset it. She offered me some extra spice on the side but it was awesome as is. Saffron rice, local vegetables (3 different zucchini?). I will probably go again on my way back, maybe try the coconut curry. The rose petal lemonade was good but, as far as I could tell, just lemonade with rose petals in it – not infused or anything. Price was about what one would expect with the way things are now. I didn’t eat out during Covid restrictions so the price increases have surprised me but this was on par with current pricing. Desserts looked good but I was full, so passed on the sweets.
GoldenRationalism 