Welcome to the latest series of Super, Neighbours blog posts where we highlight incredible travel destinations in British Columbia! In THIS first post I brought you on the ferry headed to Rockwater Secret Cove Resort near Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast. My wife and I were invited to spend a romantic weekend at the resort in one of their luxury tenthouse suites and I promised last post that they would totally blow your mind. The resort has a number of ocean view rooms in the lodge available, as well as 16 oceanfront cabins, but the main attraction is most definitely the tenthouses. 13 of them were constructed a couple of years back and while the walls are made of canvas what awaits you inside is undeniable luxury. Laying there on the bed looking out the doorway to a view of the Pacific I kept thinking that this is what it would’ve been like to go on a safari with Hemingway… if it were West Coast style, with heated floors!

So I’ll walk you to our spot, starting with the entranceway just past the lodge.

There are 1,500 feet of boardwalk that lead from the lodge to the tenthouses. Forget my Hemingway reference for a minute and think Ewok village, with a pathway that leads through the trees, at some points 30 feet up from the ground and others a couple of feet above the rocky cliffs the tenthouses are perched on.

Now think Hemingway again. The housekeepers toll that big bell as they arrive to fluff your pillows and make sure everything is in order. Best. Doorbell. Ever.

This is what it looks like inside your tenthouse when everything is in order. The bathroom is out of sight on the left and there’s a large window that zips open behind the bed. In fact, all of the “drapes” are pieces of canvas that unzip revealing a plastic window. And though it’s practically winter and you’d think it’d be a little chilly the heated floors and that gas fireplace pictured left keep it super cozy.

I think one of the design elements that help keep it cozy is the fan located right above the bed, pushing the warm air down and keeping it feeling like summer in a tent. A luxury tent.

Here’s that fireplace I mentioned. It’s operated by remote control and even though I didn’t put the image through a warming filter you can almost feel the temperature coming off of it, can’t you?

And the double-headed shower which hits you from multiple angles. Note the needles from the trees that you can see sitting on the roof. You’re tucked right into the forest here and when the wind blows sometimes the needles from the trees fall onto the top of the tenthouse and it makes the most incredible sound, one that I have never heard anywhere else. I tried (unsuccessfully) to capture it in a recording but it is one of those sounds that’s more experienced than it is heard.

A familiar sound you might hear quite a bit of in the winter months is the rain as it comes down on the tent. It’s actually quite soothing and even more enjoyable while you’re relaxing in the hydrotherapy tub. Imagine the sound of the rain coming down on your tent on a camping trip then flip that around a complete 180 degrees so it’s actually something to look forward to hearing and that’s what you’ve got here.

Lastly, perhaps the most important luxury of them all is the one that’s afforded to the environment. As far as I can tell Rockwater Secret Cove Resort doesn’t really flaunt this in any of their marketing but one of the things I really, really love about these tenthouses is the footprint they leave (or, I should say, don’t leave) on the area and on the planet in general. This photo of one of the cables holding the tenthouse in place sums up the minimal impact that these units have – there’s much less materials required to build these as opposed to traditional cabins and while there are small concrete foundations the earth is left relatively untouched when they put them in. Everyone wins.

Stay tuned for part 3 when I take you into the dining room for some meals!