Manoir Hovey

While the Eastern Townships of Québec are the French-speaking answer to the rural idylls of northern New England, the Manoir Hovey takes its inspiration from something a little further south — this lakeside retreat was built a hundred years ago, in the style of George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation.

It’s a fine local alternative for those Québecois in the know, and perhaps a bit of a surprise for those of us south of the border who are given to imagining rural Canada as something vast, flat and frozen. In fact Lake Massawippi, where Manoir Hovey makes its home, is as lush as anything on the American end of the Appalachians — and this classic country inn is an escape that’s so refined it borders on the aristocratic.

Thus the antique ambience of the 39 rooms, suites and cottages — they’re unashamedly old-fashioned in style, yet modern in appointment, from the goose-down duvets on the antique bed frames to the up-to-date bathrooms and the occasional Jacuzzi tub. The cuisine, too, is upscale and proud of it, with local ingredients and traditional French-Canadian dishes updated for a 21st-century palate. Worth a thought in winter as well, when cross-country skiing and dogsledding replace summertime tennis and canoeing. And all year round, guests appreciate the thoroughly modern spa, with its four-season lakeside swimming pool.


How to get there:
Manoir Hovey is located 140 km (1h 45min) from Montreal.