Vacation Rental

AmberSand

Details

  • Accommodates: 9 guests
  • Open: As available
  • Minimum Stay: 1 week
  • Contact: Henry Touwslager

Welcome to AmberSand

It’s a great location.  Beautiful Whaling Station Bay is a three-minute walk from Ambersand.  You can walk the Helliwell Park loop from the house (5.5 km).  A bike ride to the sandy and awesome Big Tribune Bay beach is 2 km or ten minutes.  It’s a short and relaxing wander around the west point of Whaling Station Bay to Middle Beach.

When you get back, relax on the large, partially covered two level deck with lounge chairs, sofa, arm chairs and a dining table.  A large umbrella will provide more shade if required.

We have bocci, badminton, and board games.  There is a good Bluetooth speaker.

We may have older fixed up bikes if you don’t have one.  Just ask.  Be gentle and don’t go too far with ours in case of breakdown.

Note before you go further… Sorry, we do not allow pets anywhere on the property.  We have a lot of deer we like to keep around, there is more wear and tear, we don’t want to find outdoor surprises, there may be allergy issues, etc.  It seems other guests also appreciate this condition.

For the safety of our guests, cleaners, and ourselves, a minimum double Covid-19 vaccination is required for anybody over 12.  We will ask for everybody’s name and confirmation when you book.

Here is a video of the house:  https://youtu.be/XLLwadoAEss

Upstairs

It has basically everything we need. Let us know if you needed (or even just wanted) something that wasn’t there.

  • Master Bedroom: Queen Size bed and ensuite with a shower. Full-size closet. The ensuite is sharable as it is off of a short hall with separate doors for the living room, bathroom, and bedroom. Just close the doors as desired to share or not.
  • Living Room with two couches and an armchair.
  • Dining Room with long table, long bench, and six chairs.
  • “Lookout” with two arm chairs.
  • Kitchen with quartz counters, dishwasher, propane stove, electric oven, crock pot, and the all-important blender for slushy drinks.
  • The island has tractor seat bar stools.

Downstairs

  • Family Room furnished with a pull out couch.
  • There is a big TV with an Apple TV box in the family room. Use your own smart phone, laptop, or gaming console.  There might be a VCR with movies.  (Sorry, no cablevision or wifi.)
  • Second Bedroom: Queen size bed, full size closet with barn door.
  • Third Bedroom: Queen size bed, full size closet with barn door.
  • Fourth bedroom: Single bed, nothing fancy. The closet will likely be full of our stuff. Good for the last person or a child.
  • Second bathroom with toilet, sink, and bathtub with shower.
  • Laundry is locked off but call us if its urgent.

Amenities

Microwave, toaster, blender, pots, pans, dishes, cutlery, crock pot, large bowls, cutting boards, chef’s knife, paring knife, wine glasses, margarita glasses, propane BBQ…

Sorry, there is no wifi.  Cell service is decent (but not guaranteed) in the house using the cell phone signal booster.  We are able to stream video on our phones but a Zoom call can have some lag.  Hot spotting from cell phone to laptop also works fine.  There is a business office with wifi as Ringside for those critical meetings.  (Just ask for tips on all of this.)  Walking up the little hill to the Adirondack chairs in the backyard helps too.

We leave some of our belongings around.  Feel free to borrow toys, binoculars, books, spices, games, beach chairs, beach umbrellas, and things like that.

Miscellaneous

We ask people to conserve water.  Our well usually goes dry by the end of June. If we run low, we can buy more which gets delivered. But we are also trying to conserve for the whole island.

You are required to bring beach towels, bath towels, sheets, and pillow cases from home. That’s quite common on Hornby Island. We want to conserve water and reduce the cleaning time when you leave. Reducing laundry helps the septic capacity too. Discuss with us if this doesn’t work for you. We will supply kitchen towels and bathroom hand towels.

No shoes permitted in the house.  Bring slippers if you want as the basement floor can be cool all year.

The rental is for the house and immediate vicinity only but you are welcome to use most of the rest of the property where you can watch deer in the meadow, ride bikes on the grass, play hide and seek in the trees, spend think time in a rocky space, and maybe more.

Hornby Island has lots of food options but most people probably know all that so just ask if you need island info.  There is an information binder in the house.

Caring for our place

This is our second home. We recently did a complete renovation to make it like a new house.  We have lots of personal stuff there including art. We are happy to share our Hornby place with you, and hope you’ll treat it gently and with care. We do put most clothes, toiletries, food, and other things in storage. We will leave you with empty drawers and closet space.

We do have house rules like conserving water and no shoes inside.  I leave a lot of notes that you can read and then put away if you prefer.

Please no smoking in the house or near doors and windows. Be careful outside because of typical summer fire hazard conditions.  Use an ashtray.

There’s a wood fireplace but it’s off limits in the summer. The upper deck has an infrared heater if it gets cool at night.

Sorry, no campfires permitted on the property without specific permission.  (There will probably be a fire ban anyhow.)

You made it this far… PLEASE EMAIL FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION YOU NEED ABOUT THE PROPERTY

 

Pricing

2023 Pricing

The prices are below.  The base rate shown is for six people after which there is an extra charge of $315 per person per week, including children and babies.  The cleaning cost is included in the rates.

I will prepare a written agreement for each booking.  Advance rental payments are required on booking ($500), March 15 (50%), and then five weeks ahead of your arrival date (the remainder).  A $1000 damage deposit is required two weeks before arriving.  The damage deposit will be refunded 12 days after your stay if there is no damage.

MRDT (3%), PST (7%), and GST (5%) all apply and will be added to the total cost.

Check in after 4 pm and check out before 9:30 am.  (We may be able to improve these times closer to your vacation date.)

I will eventually talk with everybody before you book since this is my second home and I’d like to know a little about my guests.

Note:  GST is new this year and every year going forward.  I had to pay that myself last year as I did not collect it.

 

May 1 to June 4:  $2500 per week (likely Sunday to Sunday but make a request if alternate dates are desired)

June 4 to 11: $2700

June 11 to 18: $2950

June 18 to 25: $3200

June 25 to July 2: $3450

July 2 to 9:  $3850

July 9 to 16:  $3850

July 16 to 23:  $3850

July 23 to August 1 (9 days): $5100 (Hornby Festival week)

August 1 to August 7 (6 days):  Henry

August 7 to 13 (6 days):  $3500

August 13 to 20:  $3850

August 20 to 27:  $3850

August 27 to September 3:  $3750

September 3 to 10:  $2950

September 10 to 17:  $2500

September 17 to 24:  $2300

September 24 to 30:  $2000 plus one more night for free.

Availability Calendar