JOSH HANSEN
KINGSTON, ONTARIO

A few short miles from the birthplace of Canada’s flag and the burial site of its first Prime Minister grows a round table discussion that has nothing to do with politics. It’s about the nearby Rideau Canal Locks, the recent World Heritage Designation of Fort Henry and summer in Prince Edward Island.

Breakfast at the Rosemount Inn and Spa, however, is far form bureaucratic. Twice a day, seven days a week, Innkeeper Holly Doughty serves breakfast to her guests with an agenda to get guests talking. “A lot of people don’t notice on our website that it says you’ll be sitting with others at one table,” Ms. Doughty tells me. Seating her guests at the same, big, round formal dining table sparks conversation, and on the offhand chance, reunions, she says.

Her stories include a student from Lebanon and a Federal Minister direct who had worked together in the Bosnian war and unknowingly ended up meeting again over a plate of fresh fruit. Another operation, this time at a hospital 30 years ago, was the basis for reunion between a doctor and an assistant nurse.

The table is full of stories about six degrees of separation.

Today, a middle-age educator at the table recounts how she ran into the uncle of a schoolyard friend during a previous stay at Rosemount. Tomorrow it could be a reunion between long lost twin sisters or something much simpler. Either way, the conversation served alongside a plate of fresh fruit with a small cup of cooked egg is as unique as the inn’s 70 year history.

Breakfast at the Rosemount Inn isn’t the only draw of this 1850 Tuscan Villa. Although much has changed over the last 150 years, the Rosemount Inn is still a shell of its original self. The tall tower, the Inn’s most dominant feature, is centered on the left by two large balconies on the left for guests, and by the dining room and Ms. Doughty’s living quarters on the right. Antique furniture revels beneath the spacious high ceilings that carve a pathway throughout the award-winning Inn and into my room, the Coverdale. From $169-$189 per night it’s one of the more affordable of the Inn’s 11 rooms.

The Master Bedroom and two-level Edwards Suite in the Coach House are $219 and $275 respectively.

The first thing I notice about my room is the lack of a TV. I guess that’s fine since it could prohibit conversations with other guests and actually force me to do work. The second thing that catches my eye is how the combination of high ceilings and high four post bed make me feel even shorter. A charming fireplace, large French windows that lead out onto the main veranda and the room’s purely elegant style are the real draws. They give the room character and separation, something that many modern hotel rooms lack.

A vinotherapy treatment, which uses ‘wine based’ products, is also available as part of the inn’s spa package.

To find the Rosemount Inn head north on Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, east onto Johnson Street and then right on Sydenham Street.