Ocean View Hotel

My impression; this is a Motel, not Hotel. We paid for an Ocean View room and did get one on the 1st floor with a door to the parking lot (Ocean), but the room carpet was very old & worn, the smell of the room very mildewy, the bed sheets looked clean - but old, stains on the bed ruffle, furniture dinged/scuffed, the bathroom had a couple upgrades - like the sink - but the rest was circa 1960's. We had dinner at he upstairs restaurant, which was OK but not worth the stay at this hotel. Sadly, if you want to visit this beautiful cove, there are limited choices for accommodations, which is likely why this location can charge what they do for an Ocean View room that is so old & smelly.

This is the largest hotel/inn in the region and as such has much to offer. It is located in the heart of Rocky Harbour with fantastic views. There is a pub, which has music several nights of the week, and a full up-scale dining room on the second floor with views of the ocean through its big windows. The one downside is that the pub does not allow minors in for the music shows, which really is dumb given it does offer food in addition to the liquor. Not different than the dining room upstairs! This blocks adults, with children, from seeing the show, which is supposed to be great. (a law needing to be updated for the modern world) Anyway, the dining room on the second floor is great. Super food, great selection of Newfoundland and international dishes, all prepared excellently. The service in the dining room was amazing. There was one server, Jean Payne, who was just outstanding. She typified the friendly and helpful Newfoundland character. She went to extra lengths to get special food for our son, who can be a picky eater! Toured him through the kitchen and even brought him special meals for breakfast. Amazing person. The owner was also especially friendly and went out of his way to talk to us and make us feel welcome. The rooms were basic but have everything you would want - fridge, tv, air. Make sure you request a view of the bay and preferrable on the second floor.

We stayed here two separate nights (going North then coming back South on the Viking Trail) with both nights in the new annex, which were a little more expensive than other rooms. Our rooms were very nice and had a very good view of the harbor. The weather cooperated, so we had great sunsets both times. We were using this mainly as a stopover en route, but it seems like it would be a great location for exploring Gros Morne and the general area. Due to timing and our schedule, we ate at the restaurant for several meals and they were generally all good with reasonable service and good food, although they were a bit on the expensive side for what is provided. We did not attend any of the shows or the bar/pub downstairs. There were bus tours staying at the hotel both times we were there, but we had lucky timing in that we weren't overlapping with them in eating, checking in, etc. I would definitely recommend staying here (particularly in the newer annex) due to the location.

Very welcoming staff. Entire place is very well maintained. The rooms are nice, the beds are very comfortable. The towels are soft and thick. The restaurant was very good. Situated just across the waterfront with the beach being accessible by stairs. Nice place to see sunset

Whilst our receptionist was friendly and welcoming, our check-in experience here was very poor. The 2 rooms we booked could not be found and the receptionist was just about to give up and tell us we’d no booking, when suddenly she asked if we were booked through a travel agent. The rooms were then identified (we were given the nos) and we were able to get early access to one of them and keys for the other could be collected later. So much for Ocean View – we were sent to the side view, last room at the very back of the hotel for the first room. The room was clean, but dated. Our lift experience was interesting – the lift only works for 2 people and is a manual one (we’d to be shown how to use it!!). On returning to reception later for the other key, a different receptionist was more bothered about eating her dinner at the front desk than she was at getting that check-in completed. (We have never seen a receptionist eating at reception before, never mind one sitting with a full dinner plate of food!!). Even though we gave the Room No, she again couldn’t find any record of us, and even though we explained our earlier difficulty at check-in, it took time to get that room key off her – again mentioning the Jonview travel agent booking!! That second room, still up the back and side of the building had been upgraded and was much more in line with what we’d expect. Having read previous reviews on the hotel restaurant, we opted to dine elsewhere – highly recommend Earle’s (dinner) and Sunset Café (breakfast). Unfortunately there was a powercut across all Rocky Harbour and beyond that evening, that lasted a couple of hours. Totally accept these things can happen. However, when I approached reception via emergency corridor lighting for an update/torch, there was nothing available. No update was supplied during/post that blackout by the hotel.

This is a BUS TOUR hotel hosting BUSLOAD groups. All priority for seating at meals and shows goes to the BUS TOURIST. The hotel website should make this statement so the folks not on a bus are aware of hotel practices. The ticket for a show gives you a chance to sit behind all the reserved seats for BUS TOURISTS. Be up front when marketing the rooms, meals and shows ~ are you on the BUS? If not, you will be disappointed.

It is extremely important to adjust expectations to a national park without any standardizations. There is NO ViEW to 50% of the rooms. Service, as per the difficulty in hiring, yields individuals who have no authority or knowledge. This hotel is surrounded by some private stores that provide liquor, curios., lovely dinners.and are managed by helpful people. Seasoned staff at this resort seemed hardened to individual requests due to the paid in advance reservations that fall into a random room assignment. While I have no problem solving skills on this hotel…try to make dinner reservations in advance and adjust expectations to people who are used to o% of the front desk who have no authority or do not care.

This is such a beautiful, cozy hotel with such friendly staff. We had a suite which was extremely spacious, had a fridge, microwave, bar and the comfiest leather arm chairs! The bed was also so comfortable, with the most throw pillows ever (actually, that was a bit of a negative for hubby haha). There really isn't much to do in town but this is the hot spot for entertainment. The Kitchen Party was so fun (get screeched in), while the Monday night show was excellent. The Anchor Bar had wonderful food (terrific lobster roll and fish sandwich, yes cod). The dining room upstairs was lacking so just skip that and all will be great. Highly recommend but book early as the room fill quickly.

While travelling in Gros Morne National Park we stayed at the Ocean View Hotel in Rocky Harbour for 3 nights. We stayed in the newer annex beside the main hotel. Our room was clean and spacious primarily because it was designed for wheelchair access. Nice little patio to sit and watch a beautiful sunset. All in all a great place to stay. Great bar attached to the hotel with terrific entertainment and fun waitresses. The only issue we had was with the more formal dining room. Apparently the hotel was closed for 2 years during Covid; however, this dining room is incredibly musty smelling. While it looks very clean, there is definitely a mold issue, and as the dining room is pricey, the smell needs to addressed. The dining room is part of the main hotel, and if you are at all sensitive to mold and mildew smell and/or presence, I fear the rooms in this area may have the same problem.