Web Exclusive: A fairy tale hotel dream comes true

Ten years ago, for their honeymoon, Canadians Peter and Hailey Sawatzky stayed in the tower of a castle in a village just outside of Rome.

“It had been refurbished and just done really well,” said Peter Sawatzky. “We stayed in this little, tiny tower room that had a spiral staircase leading up to it. The next morning, we were sitting over breakfast, and my wife said, ‘You know, we should do something like this because there’s not a lot of castles in Canada.’”

The North Star Suite Living Room
The North Star Suite Living Room

Fast forward to the last six years, where the Sawatzkys have been building their own hotel inspired by their stay in Italy—by hand.

While that may seem strange, the couple is the owner of Imagination Corporation, a company in the theme park construction business. “We have a unique skill set,” he said.

Luckily, a plot of land became available right next to their workshop outside of Vancouver, and their dream of opening their own hotel became a reality. The hotel, The Hazelnut Inn, has become a side project for the owners. Ultimately, the hotel will consist of four different whimsical suites, the first of which, North Star, opened last year.

Each of the suites has its own fantastical theme and story, with the North Star inspired by the fictional Captain Temperance Longbottom. “There are many tales of her adventures aboard her ship, the Avallana,” the story goes. “According to local folklore, Temperance once discovered a pirate lair filled with wonders from lands of myth and fairytale. She then set out to return these curiosities to their proper homes. However, the North Star still holds a handful of relics of uncertain provenance.”

The North Star Suite
The North Star Suite

The second suite, the Under Hill, is set to open in June. “By all accounts, the Under Hill has been in old Mister Burrows’ family for generations untold. Tucked away behind the walls of its own private garden, this little gem is as grand as they come.”

Under Hill
Under Hill suite

The third suite, the Copper Crown, is the “ancestral home of an ancient line of aristocrats who, in addition to being peers of the realm, were renowned orchardists, librarians, and even (according to one telling) dragon riders.”

The fourth suite, which has not yet been named, will be the one most inspired by the stay in the Italian castle, according to Sawatzky.

Each component of the suites is built in the company’s shop and put together on the site of the hotel. Sawatzky has already received inquiries from other hotel operators to build properties for them, which would be put together the same way.

Even with just one suite open, the adults-only hotel has already seen a great deal of interest from guests, with some showing up in costumes for their stay.