Small Stays — indesxora

What does not enter this section

Size alone does not qualify a place for this section. A small room inside a large building is still a large building, and a lodge twenty metres from a highway is a room beside a road.

Scores on this site are editorial judgement formed from published material, architectural record and public reporting. They are not an inspection.

8.2Sleep average

8.2Light average

7.8Food average

9.2Setting average

5.5Effort average

Best in NovemberBritish Columbia

The Wickaninnish Inn

The inn stands on a rock point at the end of Chesterman Beach, with open Pacific in front of it. It is largely responsible for the idea that a Canadian winter storm is something to book rather than avoid, a position it has held since the mid-nineties. Rooms are timber-framed and glazed toward the swell, and every one of them has a fireplace. In November the systems arrive in sequence and the whole point is to sit inside one.

Setting is a ten and nothing else in this catalogue has matched it. Effort is a four: the road across the island takes four hours and the last stretch is slow.

What you getA rock point on open Pacific and a fireplace in every room

When to comeNovember, for the storm sequence

Skip ifYou cannot drive four hours on a winding road

Assessed from published material — November 2025

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Best in SeptemberOntario

Drake Devonshire

The building started as a foundry in Wellington and now runs as a small hotel on the edge of Lake Ontario. The lakeside addition is almost entirely glass, so the water is present from inside the public rooms all day. Contemporary Canadian work is hung through the building and changes often enough to matter. The County around it is farmland and shoreline, and in September the fields are cut.

Food is a nine, and the kitchen is the reason a good share of guests come at all. Effort is a seven: the drive is easy, and the last stretch fills badly on summer weekends.

What you getA glazed lakeside room and contemporary work through the building

When to comeSeptember, after the cut and before the weekends thin

Skip ifYou want neighbours out of sight

Assessed from published material — September 2025

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Best in JulyOntario

Windermere House

Windermere House has stood above Lake Rosseau since 1870 and is one of the last of the Muskoka summer hotels still working. It burned in 1996 and was rebuilt to the original form, verandas and all. The lawn runs down to the water and the verandas face west across the lake. Sound travels a long way over water here, so a Saturday is audible from every room.

Setting is a nine because the lawn, the veranda and the lake read as one thing. Food is a seven: competent and traditional, with hours that suit the house rather than you.

What you getAn 1870 veranda facing west across Lake Rosseau

When to comeJuly, when the lake is warm enough to swim before breakfast

Skip ifYou expect the lake to be silent on a Saturday

Assessed from published material — August 2025

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Best in SeptemberNova Scotia

Keltic Lodge at the Highlands

Keltic Lodge stands on Middle Head, a narrow peninsula reaching into the Atlantic inside Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Water is visible on both sides from most of the property, and the Cabot Trail runs past the gate. The main lodge is a white and red gabled building that has held the same silhouette for decades. The trail out along the headland starts behind the buildings and takes about an hour.

Setting is a ten because the peninsula puts open Atlantic on two sides at once. Effort is a four: it is four and a half hours from Halifax and the trail beyond is slower.

What you getA headland inside the national park with water on both sides

When to comeSeptember, when the wind drops for part of the day

Skip ifYou are unwilling to drive most of a day to arrive

Assessed from published material — September 2025

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