By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Hovey Manor, a five-star hotel located on Lake Massawippi just south of North Hatley, has recently won an award, opened a new spa, and is currently undergoing construction to install new bedrooms.
The Record spoke with owner Stephen Stafford to get the details.
Even during a period of construction (the road to reception was blocked off), something that may have detracted from their client’s experience, Hovey Manor managed to win the Travel and Leisure Magazine’s ‘World’s Best Awards’ for three years running; an unprecedented feat in the Canadian category, Stafford explained. “We’re pretty pleased.”
Travel and Leisure Magazine is the world’s premiere travel magazine, “a very large American publication,” Stafford said. They do not send anonymous inspectors but invite all their subscribers to fill in questionnaires about their favorite hotels, “and rate a very, very large number of criteria,” he said. Hovey Manor received the highest marks of every resort there is in Canada, though Hovey is considered part of the ‘resorts and inns’ subcategory. “It’s thanks to our staff for sending away our guests so happy,” Stafford said. It was quite an honour, he added.
The new spa is just now opening, after resolving a few tiny glitches, Stafford said. A thermal-circuit spa, its facilities are comprehensive and offer everything, he said: hot tubs, saunas, cold-dipping pools, pedicures, manicures, facials, different kinds of massages and more. There is also access to a large new 70-foot-long pool recently installed that is incorporated into the spa complex. “We’re planning to keep it heated all winter long,” he explained. Three or four relaxation lounges have also been added that look right over the lake, he said. “It [the spa] is larger than it looks,” Stafford said. It is 9,000 square feet; its bottom floor opens on to the beach, he added. “It’ beautiful in the winter.” It will be open to the public, but current residents of the hotel will have priority.
