The answer is yes, particularly if you’re on your way to Salt Spring Island, with a reservation at Hastings House, the isle’s most delectable accommodation. Though only an hour-and-a-half by ferry from Vancouver, Salt Spring is so different from the Mainland that it’s perfectly suited to honeymooners.
For starters, the relaxed ambience of island time is incredibly contagious. Just minutes after setting foot on this idyllic isle, you lose the inclination to rush, and settle into a more peaceful state of mind. Without a doubt, there are lots of things to do on Salt Spring, including kayaking, hiking, sailing, biking, horseback excursions and ambling lazily through the many delightful art galleries, pottery studios and gift stores in Ganges. It’s just that the urgency with which we tend to lead our daily lives evaporates on Salt Spring Island. In its place comes a tranquil sense of calm that’s a quintessential ingredient to the honeymoon experience.
The 25 acres of forest and restored farmhouse buildings that constitutes Hastings House is only minutes from Ganges, the epicentre of Salt Spring Island. Take the winding gravel road towards the inn and you’ll pass sheep grazing in the pastures, in the shadow of the heavily forested hillside. Sunlight dances off the harbour, its many picturesque vessels easily visible from the Hastings House restaurant, and a bowl of fresh plums is placed on the stone wall outside reception, a wordless yet perfect welcome after a long journey.
Hastings House specializes in an element of pleasant surprise. Approach your room and you find your name on the door, and a beautiful posy of flowers from the garden in your room. Come afternoon and the fireside lounge is abuzz with the aroma of tea and fresh pastries, as guests mingle in shared admiration of the spectacular ocean view and discuss dinner, a much anticipated event at the House. No kids, no pets, no noise. Just the respectful tones of adults who have come with a mission: to relax, enjoy the company of their partners and be treated to lavish, sumptuous meals by Marcel Kauer, the Swiss-born chef who presides over the kitchen.
This is an establishment that exudes charm from its very pores. The 18 rooms are divisible in two: the newest additions are located on the hillside and framed by the trunks and branches of massive trees. Sleek and well-finished, they feature large soaker tubs in impeccably tiled bathrooms, step-in showers, a huge king-size bed and a separate lounge and patio from which to enjoy the view. The older buildings have all the grace and dignity of their age, although they have been restored to the point where their years do not compromise their ability to deliver heat, light and hot showers and baths. With old beams on the ceilings and antique furniture in the bedrooms, they carry the appearance and names of century-old farm buildings: the Post, the Barn, the Manor and the Farmhouse.
It’s not often you get the opportunity to spend a night on a farm. And it’s amazing how romantic that night can be at Hastings House, where you get the farm experience without sacrificing comfort. There are cocktails and aperitifs at dusk, and turndown service at night, with chocolates carefully laid on down comforters. The starched white tablecloths in the dining room witness a magnificent, five-course, customdesigned spread every evening—unless, of course, you’d prefer to dine privately in your suite, in which case dinner comes right to your doorstep, and the attire is terry cloth robes. And if you’re up with the birds the next day, you don’t have to wait for breakfast to satiate your appetite, as staff place muffins, tea and coffee in your room in anticipation of your hunger.
Hastings House is no longer a farm per se, although the legacy of the farm that once stood here lives on in the friendly sheep, in the magnificent garden with its spray of floral art and fruit trees, and in the vegetable garden, which yields tomatoes, berries, herbs and vegetables. Deer amble meekly down the hillside in search of food, and a vast number of birds inhabit the forest, not the least of which is the bald eagle that circles above.
On Saturdays the farmers come to Ganges, setting up a market where they display their wares. The rest of the year, the quaint town centre is filled with locals and visitors, sipping lattes at the cafes, browsing through the galleries, book shops and gift stores and relaxing in the park, which overlooks the harbour. With no rushing, honking of horns or the sound of sirens so inextricably associated with city life, a relaxed calm descends on those who come here, and visitors join the locals as they drift around town, directed solely by whim and conversation. Salt Spring Island is ideal for picnics, with mountain vistas, parks and lakes creating a plethora of private spots perfect for laying down a picnic blanket and cozying up with your newlywed. At Hastings House, Kauer creates a memorable picnic from items guests select off a list the previous day. After breakfast, you simply collect your lunch, which can include a variety of foods like smoked tofu sandwiches, croissants, sourdough bread with cheese, smoked salmon, fruit salad and juices. The spot locals recommend is Mount Maxwell, a mountain accessible by vehicle and one with unrivalled views.
Most leave Salt Spring the same way they arrive: on a ferry ride that seems magical, somehow, given the vessel쳌fs massive size, its poignant voice and the passage it traverses, sprinkled with islands, some inhabited, others home only to forests and birdlife. Step outside and the wind whips your hair and tickles your skin, while the blissful relaxation of your honeymoon lingers on long after you return home.
