Add Hotel Zed Tofino to your List of Best Kid Friendly Hotels

Sunset at a beach in Tofino BC
Sunset at the beach across from Hotel Zed Tofino

My family stayed at Hotel Zed Tofino while exploring the Pacific Rim this fall. We live in British Columbia and have visited Tofino multiple times. We always love visiting the Wild West Coast. After staying for 4 days at Hotel Zed, I can confidently say, it’s one of the best accommodations in Tofino. We spent 4 days exploring Tofino beaches, eating, hiking, whale watching, and of course enjoying all the resort has to offer! We had the BEST time! This West Coast hotel has activities for all ages—and is a particularly good option for families and a pet friendly resort in Tofino.

Getting to Hotel Zed Tofino

Tofino is located on the most Western Coast of British Columbia on Vancouver Island. If you are starting on Vancouver Island, Tofino is about 4.5 hours from Victoria, 3.5 hours from Campbell River, and 2 hours from Port Alberni. Because Tofino is located on an Island, if you are not already on “the island” your road trip to Tofino will include a flight or a ferry. If coming from the mainland of British Columbia, you will need to take a ferry either to Victoria or Nanaimo and then drive.

How to get to Tofino from Vancouver

You can get from Vancouver to Tofino by taking a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo (Departure Bay) or the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo (Duke Point) or Victoria (Swartz Bay). The ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island is about 2 hours. As a bonus you get to get out of your car and explore!! You also might see whales! The drive from Nanaimo to Tofino is about 3 hours. So from Vancouver to Tofino it is about 5 hours travel time not including stops to get to Hotel Zed Tofino.

Views of islands and blue inlets from the Pacific ocean with many mountains in the background, on a flight from Vancouver to Tofino
Views flying from Vancouver to Tofino

There are also options for Vancouver to Tofino flights on Harbour Air and Pacific Coastal Air, incredible views included! Harbour Air flies from downtown Vancouver to Tofino Harbour. Pacific Coastal air flies Vancouver to Tofino from the South Terminal at YVR airport (in Richmond) to Tofino Harbour. Charter flights are also available.

The roadtrip from Vancouver to Tofino is well worth it. There are many beautiful stops along the way too!

Rooms at Hotel Zed Tofino

There are so many great rooms at Hotel Zed Tofino. The rooms are one of the reasons we include this on our list of best kid friendly hotels we’ve ever stayed at! All of the rooms are funky and vintage. In the words of Hotel Zed Tofino: “It’s like your home, if your home was weird!” The extra little details like comic books in the nightstand and delicious fresh ground coffee from Rhino Tofino really added to our stay.

  • King bed accessible room-accessible for those with physical disabilities, featuring a roll in shower and grab bars in the bathroom.
  • Zed King Kitchenette-a stunning hotel room with a king size bed and fully stocked kitchenette. Also, stunning rainforest views!
  • 2 beds with Kitchenette-similar, only with 2 beds.
  • Hotel Zed Tofino Skybunks room-Bunk beds, each level comfy and roomy. The top bunk is treated to stunning night sky views through the skylight.
  • Hotel Zed Tofino Family Suite-this suite really spares no detail! 2 seperate bedrooms, one with queen size bunks, plus a twin bed, and another bedroom with a king size bed.
  • Also features a full living room with retro sectional couch, as well as a dining room with room for 8 and a fully stocked kitchentte. Oh and 2 bathrooms, and all the retro details!

We stayed in the family suite and were blown away by the amenities, space, and comfort. We were able to cook full meals in the room, when we weren’t enjoying ROAR Tofino, one of the best restaurants in Tofino. The rainforest views right from our room were stunning, and the trails to Tofino Inlet are right out the door.

What makes Hotel Zed Tofino One of the Best Kid Friendly Hotels?

First of all, and obviously, the rooms!! In addition to the amenities, each of the rooms has unique, fun, retro details. The working rotary dial up phone was a hit in our family!

Hotel Zed Tofino Vibe

A sunken 60's style living room with fire places hanging from the ceiling in the living room of one of the best kid friendly hotels in Tofino
The living room at Hotel Zed Tofino

Fun decor and rooms to find all around the hotel. The sunken living room is cozy with fireplaces and stocked with books and board games for all ages, and there is a giant scrabble board, just outside of the bike through lobby. No detail is spared. There is a Psychic’s Den with a crystal ball. The perfect place to ask, will we see whales today?! In our case the answer was yes! Also, just a really cool room to sit and have a cocktail.

There’s also the Mini Disco room or “Dance Party Room” as we called it. The room is complete with a disco ball, and customizable music playlists. It was so fun to dance and sing in here. Dancing is one of those things that is an instant mood boost in our family!

A young child looks out the window of a piece of art, a camper van made entirely of driftwood at Hotel Zed Tofino. The van has windows, doors, and a steering wheel.
Driftwood camper Van art in Tofino

Hidden Arcade in Tofino

The Hidden Arcade is a true gem in Tofino! The staff will give you clues to find it, if you want, although it is really fun to go on a scavenger hunt around the hotel for the arcade. Once we found it, it was very hard to leave. The arcade is full of old school 80’s arcade games, including the best, Pacman.

Two children are playing retro video games in a room with decor fromt he 1980's in an arcade in a hotel in Tofino
Hidden 80’s Arcade at Hotel Zed Tofino

All Ages Playground -a must for the best Kid Friendly Hotels

The playground features a huge surfboard to balance and play on, Tetherball, a giant shuffleboard court, a climbing structure. Not only is there an onsite playground, its a good one, and not just for kids! There is also a ping pong table, and seasonal outdoor bbq Lanai (patio)-we ate out here a couple nights too. Also a great spot to curl up with a book. Cannot forget the life size camper van made entirely out of driftwood by a local artist. The doors open, the steering wheel turns and you can climb right in. It’s really quite impressive when you see all the Driftwood pieces up close and the time and effort it would take to find and place all the pieces so perfectly.

A white woman and young child are playing a game of giant shuffleboard at an all ages playground at Hotel Zed Tofino. THe colorful hotel is in the background
Playing giant Shuffleboard at Hotel Zed Tofino

Access to Nature

Hotel Zed Tofino is right across the street from Chesterman Beach, you can easily walk here. The bike path in the Pacific Rim region that connects Ucluelet to Tofino runs right across the front of Hotel Zed Tofino. Each night we stayed we went to Chesterman to take in the amazing sunsets! Pacific Rim is literally as far west as you can go, so as you can imagine on a clear day the sunsets are incredible. Tofino is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in British Columbia, and some have even been named as top beaches in the world.

Silouettes of people against a sky at sunset that is pink orange, and red, around Tofino at one of the most beautiful beaches in British Columbia Canada
West Coast Sunset

A little tip for a hidden gem-at low tide there are multiple caves to explore at Chesterman Beach. This also makes a great beach for families to play in the sand, or try out surfing. Hotel Zed has an onsite Surf shop-Swell surf with rentals and lessons. There are multiple beaches all within 10 minute drive as well as access to many hiking trails from Hotel Zed.

Directly behind Hotel Zed Tofino is a trail that leads through incredible rainforest and bird sanctuary to a stunning spot on the Tofino Inlet. This is such a beautiful private spot, the perfect for morning coffees. At the start of this trail you will also find the rainforest hot tub and bubble sauna! I loved going for a cold dip in the very cold Pacific Ocean and heading back for a sauna and hot tub.

A colourful building with a glass dome sauna and open hot tub in the rainforest in Tofino BC. The building is surrounded by green trees
The beautiful rainforest bubble sauna and hot tub at Hotel Zed Tofino

Surfing in Tofino

Canada is not known as a surfing hotspot, but Tofino is known as one of the best cold water surfing spots in the world. The wild west coast means great waves during the winter season. In the spring though fall there are many beaches with waves that are suitable for surfers of all levels, including beginners. Hotel Zed has a surf shop, Swell, right on site. If you are looking for where to rent surfboards or where to book surfing lessons in Tofino, you’ll find Swell on the main floor of Hotel Zed Tofino. Because it’s right across the road from an excellent beginners surfing beach, you can just grab a board and head across. Swell also has bike and paddle-board rentals available. You’ll see fun surf board storage spots and outdoor showers all around the Tofino hotel.

A surfboard shaped outdoor shower outside of the hotel in Tofino
Surfboard Shaped Outdoor Showers at Hotel Zed Tofino

Food at Hotel Zed Tofino

Hotel Zed Tofino is home to one of the best restaurants in Tofino, ROAR as well as the ROAR coffeeshop. ROAR is beautifully decorated and bright even on those famous foggy days, and the food is local and delicious!! We had a couple dietary restrictions and the chef created amazing dishes to accommodate for us. My son is a vegan, and he was served the most delicious pasta with lentils and so many fresh vegetables. We loved the emphasis on fresh local ingredients, and loved every bite. The restaurant uses live fire to cook and serves many delicious West Coast dishes including lots of seafood. The cocktails and mocktails are also worth trying.

Humboldt Squid Appetizer at ROAR Tofino Restaurant
Must try at ROAR Tofino-the Humboldt Squid

Must Try at ROAR Tofino

  • Quinoa porridge with fresh fruit for breakfast
  • Intergalatic Breakfast featuring cocofino yogurt YUM!
  • Grilled Humboldt Squid (Appetizer)
  • Seafood Boil
  • Seacuterie
  • Beetroot Risotto
  • Sablefish
  • Cast Iron Seared Albacore Tuna

Obviously the menu features delicious seafood, and if that is not your thing, the kitchen was extremely willing to accommodate with delicious and nutritious vegan options!

In the mornings, we loved grabbing Rhino Tofino Coffee from ROAR as well as some delicious baked goods and pastries to take in the morning light at the Inlet. ROAR is truly one of the best restaurants in Tofino and the service was impeccable.

Final Thoughts on Kid Friendly Accommodations in Tofino

Our unanimous decision was that this was an amazing place to stay with kids (or not!) in Tofino. My son went so far to say that this was his favourite hotel ever! The staff were friendly and accommodating. Although we spent lots of time exploring outside and around Tofino, it would be easy to stay at Hotel Zed Tofino and have lots to do without even leaving the property. We cannot wait to go back and explore more of the magical Pacific Rim area at our weird home away from home!

Jessica Sproat is the owner and author of Next Up Adventure, a blog that helps travellers find the best experiences and hidden gems, while seeking out an adventurous life (even with children!). Jess is a photographer, writer, and child development expert and has contributed to numerous discussions and publications around the value of travel and access to nature for people of all ages. She is the co-founder of an app called Trail Collectiv, which is an incredible resource! When she isn't travelling, writing, or working as a health care professional you can find her enjoying the finest things in life. The small things, along with her family.

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