These Wildly Luxe Canadian Lodges Need to Be on Your Hot List

Stay in a castle. Or escape to an island where icebergs float past your hot tub. Here, a local shows you around a historic chateau presiding over a French-speaking food capital. And if you like that level of luxe with a side of adventure, you’ll love these unique retreats around Canada…

Fogo Island Inn, Newfoundland and Labrador

You’ll love… Watching giant icebergs from your hot tub

Time moves differently on Fogo Island; a fog-swept, sometimes ice-bound island on Canada’s remote north Atlantic coast. When you’re planning a stay at Fogo Island Inn , a modern architectural marvel hovering above rocky coastal cliffs, you need to consider seven seasons rather than four.

You’ll get snow, bonfires and pease puddings in winter and coastal strolls or swims at sandy coves in summer. In spring, local foragers collect edible plants, chunks of glacier and fat sea snails for their kitchens. The long and warm days of “trap berth” season are ideal for fishermen, while November is “late Fall”, when farmers pull up parsnips and caribou are about.

In the berry season, between September and October, island meadows brim with blueberries, partridgeberries and raspberries that locals invite you to help bottle. “Pack ice season” is in March, when creaking, almost-living ice floes surround the island, attracting seals and seabirds to bask on their shimmering white expanses.

The inn’s trick is to coddle you while exposing you to the elements. You’ll dine on strictly seasonal bounty and centuries-old Fogo recipes. Inside suites, giant windows blur lines between the inside and the sea. Come between mid-May and June and you might be able to watch skyscraping icebergs from the rooftop hot tub.

Local tip: This is a retreat perfect for couples or groups but the serenity of Fogo Island is also ideal for solo travellers. You can explore the landscape on your own – unlikely you’ll have to share any of it – or one of the inn’s community hosts can join you on your rambles.

Trout Point Lodge, Nova Scotia

You’ll love… Rustic luxury in ancient woods

 

At first it seems all’s quiet in this mossy green woodland but then your ears adjust: a hummingbird buzzes as it dips at a flower, a deer rustles behind a maple and a beaver clunks a log onto a dam. You’ll soon feel part of the ecosystem at Trout Point Lodge, a log cabin gone five-star on the edge of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, around a four-hour drive from Halifax. Pull on your boots and puffer jacket to go fly fishing, forest bathing or canoeing. Then stargaze around a firepit or retreat to the fireplace in your plush suite. The kitchen turns foraged, wild Atlantic ingredients into a fine dining experience, with dishes such as just-caught lobster tortellini, or meringue dressed in wild blueberries, chocolate crumb and lavender.

Local tip: The resort is open between May and October. Summer’s the pick if you want to see lively wildlife; book in autumn if saunas and crackling log fires are your scene.

Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge, British Columbia

You’ll love… Embarking on a food safari

On Vancouver Island, a 45-minute seaplane ride from Vancouver’s bright lights, you’ll find yourself in iconic wild Canada: pure air and epic scenery begging for bracing adventures. Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge is the highest-end base camp imaginable. There are 25 lavishly appointed canvas tents woven into the old-growth conifer forest, some only footsteps to the waters of Clayoquot Sound. You’ll want to do it all – ride horses, heli-hike, canoe and kayak – before surrendering to a hot-stone massage inside the waterside spa tent, the sauna or a hot tub. Eating is also an adventure in indulgence. The Cookhouse restaurant specialises in sustainable British Columbian produce such as freshly-caught ceviche and prairie-raised bison. In the evenings, s’mores are toasted on the outdoor fire.

Local tip: “Visit in September and you can swim with the wild salmon,” says general manager Sarah Cruse. “You can snorkel and swim with the spawning fish as they cruise freely in the pure – and cold – Canadian river waters. It’s a remember-forever moment.”

Northern Lights Resort and Spa, Yukon

You’ll love… Northern Lights or midnight sun

For the most part, it’s aurora chasers who book up the cosy log cabins or modern glass-fronted chalets designed for optimal viewing at Northern Lights Resort and Spa. From November to March, the typically clear skies and long dark nights here just outside of Whitehorse give you a great chance of seeing the lights in a three- or four-day stay.

You won’t mind the wait. Go for a husky sled ride, soak in an outdoor jacuzzi, or book in a full-body hot-stone massage.  

From May through early August you can’t see the aurora in summer’s 24-hour daylight. But you can tour along the Yukon River, visiting a dramatic canyon and an historic gold-rush town. Keep an eye out for bears, otters, beavers and bald eagles.

Local tip: The lodge is surrounded by coniferous tree-lined trails perfect for hiking, biking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing depending on the season. Speak to the staff about maps and the most scenic spots to visit. 

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City

You’ll love… Living in a fairytale

“I love how this place brings old-world magic to a city full of modern food and culture,” says Marc Duchesne, who has lived in Québec City since the age of seven and now runs Cicerone Tours, guiding visitors around its twisting cobblestoned streets.

“The Château, which sits on a cliff top overlooking Québec, isn’t just the castle on postcards. This place is tattooed on the locals’ hearts. We come here for Pernod cocktails or a roasted chicken club sandwich because they are the best – and Québécois care alot about food! The Château is part of what makes this city unlike anywhere else in Canada, or the world.

“It’s filled with history. The opulent Salon Rose is where Roosevelt and Churchill worked out the plans for the landing at Normandy to end World War II. Princess Grace of Monaco stayed here in 1969. And although it looks so European on the outside, little touches connect to the Canadian landscape; the ceilings in the lobby are painted the blue of the St. Lawrence River and the top-level suites have views all the way to Orleans Island and the gentle peaks of the Laurentian Mountains.

“This city’s wound together by First Nations, Canadian and European cultures. Our cuisine reflects Italian and French influences and chefs are putting more and more emphasis on boreal flavours, which is what makes the food scene here so unique.

“One of my favourite restaurants is Bistro Hortus on rue Saint-Jean in Old Québec. The chef, Stéphane Roth, exclusively uses local products – the restaurant even has gardens on the roof and bees are kept there.

“Right next to Château Frontenac, there’s a spot called Le Chic Shack that I say does the best poutine, our local favourite. They make it with potato wedges (rather than the usual French fries), fry it in duck fat and top it with cheese curd and a veal stock gravy.

“We also love our craft beer and pubs. There’s one called Le Sacrilége in the borough Saint-Jean Baptiste: downstairs, inside a nook in a stone wall, there’s a little case marked “This is where Champlain lies”. Samuel de Champlain was the French colonist who founded the city. No one really knows his resting place and I don’t think it’s really here but it’s very Québec. There’s a little bit of history or culture wherever you look.”

SEE ALSO: 15 Adventures You Can Only Have in Canada