Trout Point Lodge among top 10 in world

A list of the 10 best hotels with “luxurious lodgings that offer lessons in the fine art of cookery,” has included Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia. “Rugged wilderness, sustainable food practices and cozy accommodations that include freestanding cottages make this Atlantic Canada property one of our favorites,” says the independent review.

Other hotels on the list include Casa de Sierra Nevada in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Gayot.com serves as a serious, honest and professional resource on dining, travel and lifestyle for an international readership in search of the best. Gayot guides were founded by André Gayot, who with his friends Henri Gault and Christian Millau coined and promoted the term “Nouvelle Cuisine” in the early 1970s.  André and his children Alain and Sophie have been directing sophisticated travelers to the world’s best restaurants, hotels, shops, sightseeing and cultural attractions for more than 45 years.

Trout Point Lodge has offered culinary vacations and cooking classes since 2000.

 

Read Full Post »

Nova Scotia property among just 2 in Canada on list of world’s best wilderness lodges and gets “MJ Approved” too

Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia received notification today from Men’s Journal editorial offices in New York that it was chosen among the magazine’s pick of the 19 world’s best wilderness hotels. Each lodge on the list is also now “MJ Approved,” a new series of endorsements by the sister publication of Rolling Stone magazine.

“Our readers seek out the best experiences to lead the interesting life,” wrote assistant editor Blaine McEvoy in the notification. “To meet the standards of this highly influential readership, we’ve introduced our MJ Approved series on MensJournal.com. Whether it’s a hotel, a blazer, a recipe, a slope or a saw, our editors put them to the test and feature what they deem best as MJ Approved.”

Trout Point joins renowned properties such as Amangiri in Utah, The Point on Saranac Lake, New York, and Bay of Fires Lodge in Tasmania, Australia. The only other Canadian property is King Pacific Lodge, a seasonal floating hotel in northern British Columbia owned by the scion to the Sony electronics fortune.

“We’re very pleased to be in such amazingly good company,” said chef/proprietor Vaughan Perret.

“Situated at the confluence of the Tusket and Napier Rivers, it’s surrounded by the 400-square-mile Tobeatic Wilderness Area – one of the largest protected areas in Eastern Canada – and the night sky here is so dark that an astronomer is on staff at Trout Point to guide guests through the stars,” noted the accompanying article. The Lodge opened its doors in 2000. Soon after, UNESCO declared the surrounding lands a World Biosphere Reserve. Men’s Journal also highlights Trout Point’s offerings of cooking classes, live music, and guided hiking & kayaking.

In other news, the Lodge was also just approved by the board of directors of Select Registry, an association of North American inns, after a rigorous anonymous inspection process.

The magazine and accompanying web site, published by Jann S. Wenner, claim an audience of over 1 million. It is distributed in both the United States and Canada.

Read Full Post »

Distinguished Inns of North America selects Nova Scotia lodge primed for expansion

In 2013, Trout Point Lodge will become Atlantic Canada’s only member of the exclusive Select Registry group of inns after a rigorous anonymous inspection process and a vote by the board of directors at their annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past weekend. The Lodge is also announcing an expansion of guest units and facilities for the coming summer season.

Select Selection

Also known as Distinguished Inns of North America, the Association was founded in the late 1960s by author Norman Simpson, the “father of country inn travel in America.” In his pioneering book, Country Inns and Back Roads, Simpson noted that,

Each [member] inn is original and unique, a reflection of the personalities and tastes of the individual innkeeper-owners … this was never intended to be a total guide to country inns in the United States and Canada, [but rather] a carefully selected group of inns. The purpose is to encourage travelers to visit … and to experience this unique type of personal hospitality …

Select Registry has particular membership strength in New England, and Trout Point chef/proprietors Vaughan Perret and Charles Leary believe it fitting to have a Nova Scotia link. “There are some fantastic properties in the collection,” said Leary, “including those who share our commitment to superb food and wine.” Examples of other Select Registry inns include the Hartstone Inn in Maine, and the Manor on Golden Pond, which like Trout Point is also a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the world’s finest grouping of boutique hotels.

An important distinction between a Select Registry member inn and any other is the system of quality assurance. The Association carries out a quality inspection of each of its nearly 400 inns. This program involves independent inspectors – not employees of Select Registry – with years of experience in the hospitality industry.

The inspectors arrive anonymously, spend the night, and evaluate the inn based on a detailed point system, which translates into a pass/fail grade for the inn. Inns applying for membership are inspected periodically as are existing member inns. Trout Point’s inspection occurred earlier this month.

Not all have what it takes to pass the inspections. Thus, this process provides a guarantee to the traveling public that a Select Registry inn is in a class of its own.

Growth

The acceptance by Select Registry culminates a great season for the Lodge as it prepares for 2013 guests. This past fall, Canada Select granted Trout Point 5 stars in the Inn category, while Halifax-based Progress magazine named the small enterprise among Atlantic Canada’s top 8 for growth in 2012 for businesses with sales under $1 million. Earlier in 2012, USA Today included it on a list of the world’s top 10 eco lodges.

Trout Point will expand from 12 guest units (including 2 cottages) to 14 for the 2013 summer season, when visitation to Nova Scotia peaks. It will also ad a new exercise facility and 2nd hot tub on its 100-acre campus along the Tusket River in the southwestern part of the province, part of a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve. In doing so, it bucks a trend towards declining capacity and a tourism crisis in the area, which has lost nearly all its transportation links over the past several years, including direct ferry links with the United States.

“We have occasionally lost corporate or group business since we can only offer 13 bedrooms,” said Leary. “Having 15 rooms, including one 2-bedroom cottage, will mean not only more group bookings, but also greater capacity for the July & August peak.” The new indoor exercise room and protected outdoor hot tub will enhance the guest experience in the winter months. Trout Point opened fully year round–including dining–for the first time this winter.

“If we actually get a Maine ferry back in 2014, we’ll be ready, especially with the Select Registry membership” said Perret. “If not, we will still offer a world-class destination vacation experience and continue to draw guests from around the globe.”

Read Full Post »

The latest version of the Trout Point e-brochure is here!

You will find the Trout Point Lodge e-brochure in pdf format here. This is a large file and may take some time to load . . . 

Don’t forget, Trout Point is open year-round this year! Online reservations are possible 24 hours a day. 

Read Full Post »

Conde Nast Johansens selects Trout Point Lodge for 2013 guide

Condé Nast Johansens, the international luxury travel guide of premium resorts, hotels and spas from the most trusted name in travel, Condé Nast Publications Ltd.,announces the release of its stunning new portfolio of guides including the 2013 Recommended Hotels, Inns, Resorts and Spas – The Americas, Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific. For the 6th year, Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia was selected for inclusion after independent inspection. For the 1st time, the Lodge remains open year-round with dining and a full range of activities.

The Guides, which are celebrating their 31st year of publication, have attracted a loyal readership throughout Europe and the Americas by guaranteeing that each Recommended Property undergoes a rigorous annual inspection process to ensure exceptional quality is maintained. A property is specially selected for its dedication to the highest standards of comfort, unique personality, warmth and service, impressive facilities and surroundings. Only then is it awarded the “Condé Nast Mark of Excellence” wall plaque. This distinctive sign is a visible endorsement for more than 10 million of the world’s most discerning and experienced travelers.

Trout Point Lodge selected for 6th year in a row

“We do all the research for you”, says Charlotte Evans, the London, England-based Group Publishing Director. “Our inspectors visit all the properties to make sure that each meets the exacting standards of the Guides and in turn the expectations of our 10 million readers. The Guides help you to pick your perfect vacation – whether it’s relaxing on a beach at Parrot Cay in Turks and Caicos, enjoying an exquisite romantic getaway at the historic country house hotel Blantyre, in Lenox, Massachusetts, or escaping to a luxury lodge resort like Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia, Canada. We make it easy.”

The Condé Nast Johansens website (www.condenastjohansens.com), a vital part of the Condé Nast Johansens benefits, reflects the varying ways in which the Guides’ users research hotels and destinations. The user friendly website allows visitors to find a hotel by country, state, island, or by special offer such as “spa” or “beach” breaks. The site also sends an availability request directly to the hotels. Other features of the site include a meeting venue finder, spa finder, special offers, and online gift certificate purchasing.

Readers also interact and find suggestions via the new Condé Nast Johansens social media sites on both Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CNJohansens and Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CNJohansens. There is also the innovative and interactive Condé Nast Johansens iPad application featuring the entire collection of hotels.

The 2013 Recommended Hotels, Inns, Resorts and Spas – The Americas, Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific – and the entire Condé Nast Johansens international collection of guides is available now at select bookstores nationwide and major online bookstores. Consumers can also purchase Condé Nast Johansens Guides by calling the US Toll Free +1 800 564 7518 or via the online bookstore at http://www.condenastjohansens.com.

The complete international collection of Condé Nast Johnasens includes:
Recommended Hotels & Spas, Great Britain and Ireland
Recommended Small Hotels, Inns and Spas, Great Britain and Ireland
Recommended Hotels and Spas, Europe and the Mediterranean
Recommended Hotels, Inns, Resorts and Spas: The Americas – Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific
Recommended Luxury Spas
Recommended Venues

With 5 stars from Canada Select, Trout Point Lodge is also a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

About Condé Nast Johansens

Condé Nast Johansens is owned by Condé Nast Publications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Advance Publications and Condé Nast International, which publishes a wide portfolio of magazines around the world, including Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest, The New Yorker, GQ, Tatler, Vanity Fair, Brides, Glamour and Wired.

Read Full Post »

Lodge achieves fifth star

Trout Point Lodge is pleased to announce that it has achieved a 5 star rating in the Inn category from Canada Select, the national accommodation rating agency. The Lodge previously had a 4 1/2 star ranking. According to Canada Select, “a 5 star property is luxurious at a world standard, offering outstanding facilities, guest service and amenities.”

The Lodge made capital improvements this year that allowed Ronald van der Weegen, Managing Director of Quality Visitor Services, to grant the final 1/2 star increase after an on-site inspection today.

Trout Point was also accepted for membership in Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a prestigious London, England-based hotel group, earlier this year after a thorough inspection process.

Trout Point’s managing directors Charles Leary and Vaughan Perret believe the increased ranking will assist their effort to keep the full service lodge open year-round in 2012-13.

Trout Point is among just 4 Nova Scotia accommodations in the Inn category to have the 5-star designation.

Read Full Post »

Independent Trout Point Lodge Reviews

Unbiased, third-party reviews and ratings of Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia include:

• annually inspected and recommended for the independent traveler by Conde Nast Johansen’s guide, “the first name in travel”
• Fodor’s Choice in the 2012-13 Fodor’s Guide to Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada
• 4 1/2 star rating from Canada Select, the national accommodation rating agency
• Inspected & recommended, “Award of Excellence,” by AAA/CAA
• Member, Relais & Chateaux Association
• Member, the Diamond Collection of BedandBreakfast.com: An exclusive group of professionally inspected and guest-reviewed luxury inns with extensive modern amenities
• 2012 London Telegraph Hotel Review: 8/10 overall and 9/10 for food & drink
• Inspected & recommended by the Michelin Green Guide: “luxurious forest hideaway”
• Signature Experiences Collection®, Canadian Tourism Commission, as of May 1, 2012
• World’s top 10 great places to check in to an eco lodge, USA TODAY

Reservations can be made online or by calling +1 (902) 761-2142!

Read Full Post »

Lodge among top 10 eco friendly accommodations

Trout Point Lodge proudly announces that it appears on the top 10 list of eco lodges published today by USAToday Travel. The worldwide list of accommodations that “adhere to green values, offering nature adventures in a sustainable setting” was compiled by veteran travel journalist Larry Bleiberg and green vacation expert Irene Lane of greenloons.com. The article forms part of the popular national newspaper’s “10 great places” series.

“You’re not sleeping on a straw mat on a dirt floor. There are opportunities to stay in very comfortable accommodations” says Lane in the article. While emphasizing Trout Point’s outdoor activities such as star gazing, fishing, kayaking and mountain-bike safaris, the article also pointed to the Lodge’s emphasis on local foods. “You have local delicacies, which, from an eco standpoint, is great,” states Lane.

Other hotels on the top 10 list were as far flung as Ecuador, Kenya, the Czech Republic, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Trout Point was the only Canadian property. Earlier this year, Where magazine placed the Lodge on its list of “15 Deluxe Wilderness Retreats for All Seasons.”

USA Today remains number one in total daily print circulation in the United States. It also has one of the largest average-issue print audience of any national newspaper, with 3.2 million readers daily.

Trout Point Lodge opened in 2000 next to the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Secluded at the junction of 2 river, Trout Point offers the “darkest night skies in eastern North America,” as noted by USAToday. The 2012 season starts May 1.

Read Full Post »

Believing in the local economy & geotourism: Trout Point achieves 100% local employment

Last September, the Lodge was pleased to announce that 90% of its 14 employees were from the local area.

In its 12th season of operation, Trout Point is proud to say that has a truly home-grown (and fantastic) staff, truly representative of the local area. The only employee out of a current 14 from the outside area is the new staff astronomer, who graduated from Halifax’s St. Mary’s University and is native to New Brunswick. All 13 live in Yarmouth County, most in Kemptville itself.

Why is local so important? For one, it greatly increases the beneficial impact that Trout Point can have on the local economy. For another, it enhances the Lodge’s geotourism values; employees who live and play in the local region provide a more worthwhile, experiential experience for our guests. They become our concierges. Finally, it restores a Kemptville, NS tradition of guides, lodges, and nature tourism that deserves reinvigoration.

Trout Point has concluded its planning for the 2012 season, extended now from May 1 to November 30, and it looks as though 100% of the fabulous core team of 14 will be returning employees!

This includes locals hired as early as 1998 & 2003 to those who just joined the Lodge staff last year. As noted in this presentation, local hiring is an integral component in developing and sustaining a tourism destination:

What does Geotourism add?

• Builds on “sense of place” ‐ a destination’s geographical character & distinctiveness
• It’s synergistic ‐ All the elements of geographical character work together to create an experience that is richer than the sum of its parts
• Involves the community ‐ Provides a distinctive, authentic experience
• Informs both visitors & hosts – As residents become more informed & develop pride & skill in showing off their locale, tourists get more out of their visit  (both take responsibility for destination stewardship)
• Benefits residents economically ‐ Travel businesses hire local workers & use local services, products & supplies
• Supports integrity of place ‐ Destination‐savvy travelers seek out businesses that emphasize the character of the locale; In return, local stakeholders who receive economic benefits appreciate & protect the value of those assets
• Means great trips ‐ Enthusiastic visitors bring home new knowledge; They encourage friends & relatives to experience the same thing, which brings continuing business for the destination

When Trout Point was honoured as worldwide top 10 finalist in the Geotourism Challenge, Power of Place: Sustaining the Future of Destinations, it reinforced the Lodge’s commitment to geotourism and sustainable tourism practices. Efforts were redoubled to hire locally, which in turns gives guests an enhanced experience of place and benefits the local economy. As the Wikipedia entry on geotourism explains:

Like ecotourism, geotourism promotes a virtuous circle whereby tourism revenues provide a local incentive to protect what tourists are coming to see, but extends the principle beyond nature and ecology to incorporate all characteristics that contribute to sense of place, such as historic structures, living and traditional culture, landscapes, cuisine, arts and artisanry, as well as local flora and fauna. Geotourism incorporates sustainability principles, but in addition to the do-no-harm ethic, geotourism focuses on the place as a whole. The idea of enhancement allows for development based on character of place, rather than standardized international branding, and generic architecture, food, and so on.

Lodge proprietors and staff look forward to welcoming new and returning guests starting May 1! In so doing they will be continuing a century old lodge, camp, and guide traditionin Kemptville and Yarmouth County. As renowned local travel writer Bruce Bishop notes in his article “What might have been is not (yet) what is,” 

In another life, I’ve reviewed hotels and resorts for guidebook companies in places as far away as Bintan, Indonesia and Cape Town, South Africa…and I still contend that what we have here is a natural goldmine waiting for proper and sustainable tourism use. The state of New Hampshire has taken a keen interest in its old grand hotels and inns, many of which have been refurbished by private enterprise. And similar to the volume of visitors to that state over 100 years ago, Canadians alonemade more than 359,400 visits to New Hampshire in 2006, spending $78 million.

Let those fellow Canadians come here instead – and Americans, too – and make Loran Ellis Baker proud of what he began in 1892: a strong, self-reliant tourism industry in western Nova Scotia.

Read Full Post »

Trout Point Lodge announces new accolades

Trout Point Lodge is pleased to announce that it has been independently selected for a 5/5 rating from Greenty.com, the leading online eco-travel guide, and has been accepted as a member of the Diamond Collection from travel web site bedandbreakfast.com as well as a “Fodor’s Choice” selection for the prestigious 2012 Fodor’s travel guide to Atlantic Canada. The guide was published on March 6, 2012.

Fodor’s, the leading name in travel information, today announced that Trout Point Lodge has been recognized as a Fodor’s Choice selection for the 2012-13 guide. According to publisher Random House, Fodor’s Choice selections recognize the top sights, properties, and experiences that the guide’s professional travel writers have found while traveling the world. These places are the “best of the best,” providing remarkable experiences in their price range, destination, or category.

Every year, Fodor’s writers experience, examine and evaluate thousands of hotels, restaurants and attractions in their travels across the globe. While every business included in a Fodor’s guide is deemed worth a traveler’s time, only those offering a truly remarkable experience are given the Fodor’s Choice designation.

As a 2012 Fodor’s Choice property Trout Point Lodge will receive special recognition in the next Fodor’s guidebook to this area and on http://www.Fodors.com.

The Lodge also learned today that Greenty, a website for eco-consumers to find a destination and search eco accommodations, has just finished its focus towards the green hotels in Canada, analyzing and understanding the policy those hotels have implemented to respect their environment. Greenty informed the Lodge that it had finalized the listing on Greenty.com where it had a rating of 5/5.

Finally, Trout Point Lodge was just approved for membership in the Diamond Collection by bedandbreakfast.com. The leading Austin, Texas-based specialty travel web site started the Diamond Collection about 2 years ago as an exclusive group of professionally inspected and guest-reviewed luxury inns. Each Diamond Collection property participates in a comprehensive annual inspection program, maintains top consumer reviews on BedandBreakfast.com, and offers the amenities and services required for a top-quality guest experience.

Trout Point Lodge is the collection’s first Canadian member.

The goal of launching the BedandBreakfast.com Diamond Collection was to distinguish a select group of properties that tend to highlight that smaller, independent properties can cater to all types of travellers. The company states: “Travellers will seek out properties that have both great consumer reviews and professional inspections, plus all modern amenities/luxuries, from online reservations to Wi-Fi to whirlpool tubs to first-rate hospitality. Diamond Collection properties are an exclusive group of professionally inspected and guest-reviewed luxury inns with extensive modern amenities. Once guests have experienced one Diamond Collection inn, they’ll be looking for a similar experience on their next getaway.”

About Trout Point Lodge
Founded in 2000, Trout Point Lodge counts among Canada’s best independent hotels. Nova Scotia’s only member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux Association, Trout Point offers an authentic Canadian wilderness experience with spacious accommodations and gourmet cuisine. The Lodge was the only accommodation finalist in the National Geographic Society’s Geotourism Challenge, Power of Place: Sustaining the Future of Destinations. Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

About Fodor’s
Fodor’s Travel, a division of Random House, Inc. is one of the world’s leading providers of travel information. Covering over 300 destinations worldwide, Fodor’s guidebooks and website, Fodors.com, have provided the most up-to-date, accurate information for travelers for seventy-six years. Written by a team of over 700 writers located around the globe, Fodor’s provides travelers with engagingly written, intelligently and accurately reported, and absolutely indispensable travel guidance. Visit http://www.Fodors.com.

Read Full Post »