Thunderbird Motor Inn

2.5 star property

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Photo gallery for Thunderbird Motor Inn

Premium bedding, soundproofing, iron/ironing board, free WiFi
Breakfast, lunch and dinner served
Fridge, microwave, coffee/tea maker
Reception
Front of property

Reviews

8.0 out of 10
Very good

Popular amenities

  • 24/7 front desk
  • Air conditioning
  • Bar
  • Laundry
  • Housekeeping

Explore the area

Map
5849 York Rd, Duncan, BC, V9L 3S3
  • Vancouver Island University-Cowichan Campus
    ‪7 min walk‬
  • Duncan Visitor Centre
    ‪10 min walk‬
  • Duncan Farmers Market
    ‪13 min walk‬
  • Victoria, BC (YYJ-Victoria Intl.)
    ‪77 min drive‬

Room options

Room, 1 King Bed

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Room, 1 Queen Bed with Sofa bed, Kitchenette

  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 Queen Bed and 1 Double Sofa Bed

2 Queen Beds, Non Smoking

  • 23 sq m
  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Queen Beds

1 Queen Bed, Non Smoking

  • City view
  • Sleeps 4
  • 1 Queen Bed and 1 Double Sofa Bed

Room, 2 Queen Beds, Kitchenette

  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Queen Beds

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About this property

Thunderbird Motor Inn

Motel in Duncan with 24-hour front desk and coffee shop/cafe
A restaurant, a bar/lounge and a coffee shop/cafe are available at this motel. Free WiFi in public areas and free self parking are also provided. Other amenities include a business centre, laundry facilities and a 24-hour front desk.
Thunderbird Motor Inn offers 32 air-conditioned accommodations with coffee/tea makers and a hairdryer. Rooms open to balconies or patios. Beds feature premium bedding. Guests can make use of the in-room fridges and microwaves. Bathrooms include a combined bath/shower unit with a deep soaking bath and a rainfall showerhead, bidets and complimentary toiletries.

This Duncan motel provides complimentary wireless Internet access. Flat-screen televisions come with premium digital channels. Housekeeping is provided on a daily basis.

Our customers tell us that they can't get enough of the helpful staff at Thunderbird Motor Inn. During your stay, you're just a quick walk from Cowichan Aquatic Centre. Enjoy features like free WiFi in public areas and free self-parking, plus a restaurant.
  • Free WiFi
  • Free self-parking
  • Drinking and dining options include a coffee shop, a restaurant and a bar/lounge
  • Amenities include newspapers, a business centre and laundry facilities
  • Just a 4-minute walk from Cowichan Aquatic Centre and 4 minutes on foot from World's Largest Hockey Stick
Along with a restaurant, there's a coffee shop/cafe on site. You can enjoy a drink at the bar/lounge. There's an onsite business centre.

WiFi is free in public spaces. Thunderbird Motor Inn also features a garden, laundry facilities, and express check-out. Free self parking is available.

Smoking is allowed in designated areas at this Duncan motel.

York St. Diner – This diner serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Guests can enjoy drinks at the bar.

Languages

Chinese (Mandarin), English

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Free self parking on site
  • Wheelchair-accessible parking available

Food and drink

  • A bar/lounge
  • A coffee shop/cafe
  • A restaurant

Restaurants on site

  • York St. Diner

Family friendly

  • In-room microwave
  • In-room refrigerator
  • Laundry facilities
  • Soundproofed rooms

Conveniences

  • 24-hour front desk
  • Laundry facilities
  • Newspapers in lobby

Guest services

  • Housekeeping (daily)

Business services

  • Business centre

Outdoors

  • Garden

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • Grab bar near toilet
  • No lift
  • Raised toilet seat
  • Wheelchair accessibility
  • Wheelchair-accessible parking
  • Wheelchair-accessible path of travel

More

  • 1 building
  • 2 floors
  • Designated smoking areas (fines apply)

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Premium bedding

Bathroom

  • Bidet
  • Deep soaking bathtub
  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer
  • Private bathroom
  • Rainfall showerhead
  • Shampoo
  • Shower/bathtub combination
  • Soap
  • Toilet paper
  • Towels provided

Entertainment

  • Flat-screen TV with premium digital channels

Food and drink

  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Microwave
  • Refrigerator

More

  • Air conditioning
  • Connecting rooms available
  • Heating
  • Iron/ironing board
  • Soundproofed rooms

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 3 PM; check-in end time: 1 AM
Contactless check-in and check-out are available
Minimum check-in age - 21

Check-out

Check-out before 11 AM
Contactless check-out
Express check-out available

Special check-in instructions

Guests must contact the property in advance for check-in instructions; front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property
To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property ahead of time using the information on the booking confirmation
If you are planning to arrive after 10 PM please contact the property in advance using the information on the booking confirmation
For any questions, please contact the property using the information on the booking confirmation
Guests traveling with pets must contact this property in advance to ensure the availability of a pet-friendly room.

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

  • No pets allowed

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.
  • Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
  • Cots (infant beds) are not available.

Payment types at the property

Important information

You need to know

This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business or profession.
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards
Please note that cultural norms and guest policies may differ by country and by property; the policies listed are provided by the property
To arrange for check-in, guests must contact the property in advance of arrival using the information on the booking confirmation. Guests arriving after 10 PM must make advance arrangements by contacting the property using the information on the booking confirmation. Guests must contact the property in advance for check-in information. Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property. For any questions, please contact the property using the information on the booking confirmation.

We should mention

  • Please note that this property can refuse certain bookings for the purpose of group events or parties, which include pre-wedding stag/bachelor and hen/bachelorette parties.
  • Registered guests are the only ones allowed to be in guestrooms.
  • Connecting/adjoining rooms are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property at the number on your booking confirmation.

Property is also known as

Thunderbird Motor Duncan
Thunderbird Motor Inn
Thunderbird Motor Inn Duncan
Thunderbird Motor Inn North Cowichan
Thunderbird Motor North Cowichan
Thunderbird Motor
Thunderbird Motor Inn Motel
Thunderbird Motor Inn Duncan
Thunderbird Motor Inn Motel Duncan

Thunderbird Motor Inn Reviews

Reviews

8.0

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 202 out of 577 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 225 out of 577 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 81 out of 577 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 38 out of 577 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 31 out of 577 reviews

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

7.2/10

Amenities

7.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Zeta

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff are excellent…friendly, accommodating, hard working. Unfortunately the place is old and rundown and when you open the door, it smells strongly of cleaning solution. That’s good…because you know it’s been properly cleaned…but it wasn’t a pleasant smell and we had to air out for quite awhile before feeling comfortable. If you simply want a place to sleep for the night while driving through, it’s fine.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2025

8/10 Good

Danielle

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
My family stayed two nights for a hockey tournament. While this motel needs a reno, it's clean. After a little adjusting and humour about the 70's we leaned in and had a great stay. There were no issues with pests/insects. The mattresses are zipper wrapped with protective casing, nothing getting in or out. I wish all hotels did this. The hot water takes a minute to get started and then is plentiful. Comfortable beds, warm, convenient and very reasonably priced. Sure I could complain through a privileged lens about this or that, but why bother? Make the best of what you have.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2025

2/10 Terrible

Robert

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
In a bad part of town with druggies stay there, buying, selling and using.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2025

2/10 Terrible

Robert

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

4/10 Poor

Scott

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2025

4/10 Poor

Nina

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service

Stressful being told that they would give your mon

We were greeted and being told that our room was not available that they were overbooked and they would give us our money back. The manager came and then found a room for us to have as a king bed but would bring a extra bed in so my daughter and I could share the room that never turned up. Manager was friendly. I did what she could do.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

8/10 Good

Niels

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

Acceptable

All that we needed for a one night stay. Bed was comfortable. The room temperature was a bit challenging to regulate.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

6/10 Okay

Robert

Liked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

8/10 Good

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The area surrounding the hotel isn’t the most secure area but I had no problems.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2025

2/10 Terrible

Oliver

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Well the pictures were nice and the girl at the front desk when we checked in was lovely. We saw the room and it was fairly sketchy with many layers of mattress covers. We immediately checked everything for bed bug evidence with flashlights given the odd coverings. We found no evidence. We woke up the next morning and found blood stains on the beds and pillows and found bed bugs scurrying away from us. We immediately got our things and got out of the room but it was bit late by then. When the manager was told he refunded the room but since our belongings couldn’t come in the car with us safely and we couldn’t just take the bugs to a new hotel the next night we had to throw many of our belongings away which couldn’t be heat treated safely in the small hotel dryers. As it’s hard to bring trash bags on a plane instead of luggage, this is quite a challenging situation. The manager essentially told us nothing could be done about it but he did say he would heat treat the room (which is only a band-aid solution). The whole hotel will likely have them given the state of the walls and the lack of full treatment for the building. Given the other reviews we found after we left clearly he hasn’t had luck with ridding the hotel of them yet for the last few years. Don’t come here unless you want to bring friends home. If you’re looking for a cheap stay include replacement of all your bags, shoes, outerwear, and any clothing you can’t put in a dryer for a few hours.

10/10 Excellent

Johnny

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A nice gem in a rough area. It’s got all the basics you need for a quick stay in Duncan. Heat and hot water took a little longer than expected to kick in but they’re there. The little drip coffee makers are the best you can get in a motel!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

8/10 Good

Ryan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Excellent for the price
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2024

8/10 Good

Alexandra

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
It was good
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

10/10 Excellent

DAN

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2024

6/10 Okay

Harpreet

Travelled with family, Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2024

6/10 Okay

kurtis

Good hotel. Clean and friendly staff. The area is a bit rough
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2024

8/10 Good

Paula

Good stay
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Christopher

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2024

4/10 Poor

James

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Room was clean but the area felt unsafe (parking lot needs more lights). Traffic noise was heavy as well.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2024

8/10 Good

Mar, vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good place to stay simple no frills clean
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2024

4/10 Poor

Nicole

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The room smelled bad, there was a hole on the ceiling of the shower stall, anything metal was rusted and there were many homeless people across the street. I didn’t feel safe
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Soubhik

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2024

8/10 Good

YH

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I got there late in the afternoon and the clerk was very efficient to process my booking. Had a good rest for the night before leaving early in the morning.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2024

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Staff were friendly and helpful and the bedding and linens were very clean. The bed was a bit hard on my back and that is the only reason why I didn’t give it a higher rating.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2024

8/10 Good

Ron

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The tv didn’t work. We had trouble with the toilet.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2024