Hospitality Design - July 2014 - 70

perspectives

places eastern canada

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gold tones in the new guestrooms (two-thirds of
which were done in a contemporary style, the
rest are more in line with the original Château)
are "muted and clean versus the more traditional
colors with heavy prints in the old design," she
adds. Meeting rooms, meanwhile, were inspired
by a "wealthy businessman's wardrobe," says
Yong, with pinstriped wallpaper, detailing that
suggests cufflinks, and leather drapes with
horned-button accents.

Algonquin Resort

Pinstripes and cufflinks have no place at the
Algonquin Resort, which opened in 1889 in the
quaint town of St. Andrews by-the-Sea in New
Brunswick. The 233-key, Tudor-style grand
dame had in recent years become a "sadder
and sadder place," says Robynne Moncur,
president of Toronto-based Moncur Design
Associates, which this past March completed
a three-year, $30 million restoration of what
is now a signature property in the Marriott
Autograph Collection-the first in Canada.
"Still, I recognized every square inch of it from
visits when I was a child," she adds, "and the
importance of memory became part of the
design story."
Encircled by sweeping verandas, the hotel
is intimately connected to its pastoral setting,
reflected in Moncur's palette of punched-up
Victorian hues including mustard, rust, and
gray-green for the guestrooms. Its "basementto-rafters" renovation was not intended to be
a true restoration, says Moncur, but instead
an extensive freshening and modernization
(including the introduction of heating and
cooling to the main building) that "gave us the
opportunity to add some elements that you
wouldn't expect to find."

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July 2014 hospitalitydesign.com

2. The Tudor-style
Algonquin Resort was
given an "extensive
freshening" by Moncur
Design Associates.
3. Fogo Island Inn's
contemporary,
cantilevered building
juxtaposes with some
of its more traditional
interior design
elements.
4. Quilts and other
textiles found in Fogo
Island Inn were created
by the island's artisans.

In tackling the public spaces, for example,
Moncur and her team chose an approach that
spotlights modern materials. Four bubble-glass
screens with imprinted imagery of antique
alcohol bottles divide two seating areas; there's
now a black millwork bar inset with 12-inch
square tiles made from leather, horsehair, and
crocodile; and the spa is outfitted with black
lacquer doors set against gold medallion-print
wallpaper, a dramatic color scheme that also
informs the fine dining restaurant Braxton's
Restaurant & Bar.

Fogo Island Inn

Equally ambitious is the recently opened and
quaintly luxurious Fogo Island Inn, located on
the largest of the remote islands off the coast of
Newfoundland. The property is the public face
of a multi-pronged philanthropic effort by the
hotel's operator, the Shorefast Foundation, and is
designed to showcase the fishing island's culture
while serving as an economic development

engine. The modern, cantilevered 29-room
inn was fashioned by Newfoundland-born,
Norwegian-based architect Todd Saunders,
with interior design by locally based Kingman
Brewster, who is now on the foundation's staff.
The interiors, says Brewster, are an
"interesting mix that reference the island." For
example, many of the sheds on the island are
finished in the utilitarian tongue-and-groove
black spruce. "All of our interior walls and
ceilings are clad with it," Brewster explains.
"Everything-the restaurants, bar, hallways,
and guestrooms." Local artisans crafted the
inn's furniture and lighting, as well as soft goods
including quilts and hooked rugs.
"The deeper into the building you go, the
more traditional it feels," Brewster says. "You
start to recognize and feel the kind of local
textures and textiles. There's an interesting
combination of being in a very contemporary
building but feeling like you're in somebody's
grandmother's house-a Fogo Island home." hd
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