| Little Inn of Bayfield
Patrick and Gayle Waters, Innkeepers
100 Main St.
Bayfield, ONT
(519) 565-2611
www.littleinn.com
Rates & Reservations:
Hours: 24 hours; Season: Year round;
Rates: $$$$;
Two-night minimum stay
required on weekends;
Reservations required;
Check, Visa, MC, Amex, Disc,
Enroute, Diner’s Club accepted
Accommodations:
15 rooms w/bath; 15 suites w/bath
Amenities: Double whirlpool tubs, cable TV, phone in room, Internet,
air cond.
Meals: Full breakfast,
lunch, dinner, brunch;
Beer, wine, and liquor served
Special Considerations:
Guest pets allowed;
Handicapped accessible;
Parking available: On street
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DESCRIPTION
Traveling along the Blue Water Highway (Route 21), you can easily miss the little village of Bayfield tucked away along the shores of Lake Huron. Our first visit was a short one, a stop to browse the specialty shops that line Bayfield’s wide Main Street. But it was long enough to gain an appreciation of the village’s nineteenth-century architecture and magnificent maple and locust trees, and to discover the Little Inn of Bayfield. Originally a stagecoach stop on the London to Goderich route, the inn has welcomed guests since 1832. We sat on the veranda, shaded by a huge old willow tree, and watched the parade of visitors march from the park-like Clan Gregor Square at one end of Main Street past the chic shops and then past our post at the Little Inn. This historic village center has been designated a Heritage Conservation District. It doesn’t take long to get the sense of tradition and pride in this enclave along the Huron.
When innkeepers Gayle and Patrick Waters bought the inn in 1981 it had nine rooms. The Waters restored the carriage house and built a Guest Cottage across the street, making a total of 29 guest accommodations. The 16 suites all have double whirlpools, and many have access to verandas. The old inn is a calming retreat with botanical prints, a small settee, good reading lights, and a high bed made even higher with a puffy duvet. A spacious adjoining bath with Jacuzzi stocked with the thick towels and luxurious toiletries one expects to find in a fine country inn.
We settled in the formal front parlor to read the morning newspaper and chatted with guests from Canada and the U.S. It is a delicious room done in Devon cream-colored wainscoting, with cream and raspberry wallpaper in an old-fashioned, elegant ribbon design. A marble fireplace and antique piano highlight the room. The furniture is original Canadiana in walnut, cherry, and butternut. In the cozy back parlor, an eight-foot-high antique cherry armoire filled with puzzles, games, and books makes this the place to relax and pull up a chair to the brick fireplace.
The dining room is perhaps my favorite spot in the Little Inn (which, by the way, is not little—the inn’s name came from one of the owners, the Little Family). With floor-to-ceiling windows on to the heritage main street, the exposed brick wall of the early inn, ladder-back chairs, and white linen service, it’s a romantic setting in the evening, with flickering candlelight, and is just as lovely the next morning for a breakfast buffet in this sun-splashed room. The inn is known for regional and seasonal dishes. Chef Jean Jacques Chappius selects the best of fresh, country grown produce from Huron County, “the breadbasket of Ontario.” A summer meal could start with cold smoked Huron boar, continue with cracked-peppered duck breast with duck foie gras brioche, and finish with fresh ginger creme caramel.
This traditional country inn, cloaked in an almost-unassuming grace and venerable history, has garnered a list of awards, including the coveted CAA/AAA Four Diamond Restaurant designation for four- years in a row and Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence. The inn is a four diamond accommodation member of the Select Registry, Distinguished Inns of North America (member since 1981).
THINGS TO DO
When you finish a leisurely repast at the Little Inn, what is there to do in Bayfield? We took a short walk to Pioneer Park to watch the spectacular Bayfield sunset on Lake Huron along with other visitors and local residents.
Summertime folks walk the golden sandy beaches or try fly-fishing on the Bayfield or Maitland rivers. Evenings can be spent at the theater; the nearby Blyth Festival has earned an international reputation for performing plays by Canadian playwrights, and the Stratford Festival is a 40-minute trip from the inn. Autumn brings the Huron Harvest Trail, an event that offers a chance to see the great variety of food produced in Huron County, with stops at farms and businesses. The innkeepers plan celebrations for both American and Canadian Thanksgiving, and once the snow flies guests can access cleared and pruned cross-country ski trails.
DIRECTIONS
I-80 to exit 5 for I-280; north on I-280;
north on I-75; east on I-94 to Blue Water Bridge;
east on SR 402; north on SR 21; left on Main St.; on right
NEARBY ATTRACTIONS
Stratford Festival, Blyth Festival, conservation areas for hiking, biking,
and fly-fishing
Copyright © Doris Larson. All rights reserved. This text may not be reproduced in any form or manner without written permission of Gray & Company, Publishers
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