You know when you’ve enjoyed yourself just a little too much at a choice drinking and dining establishment, and wish you didn’t have to find the energy to get yourself home? Well, your friendly mates at Spinnakers Brewpub have taken great, restorative steps to ensure you get a restorative night’s sleep, just a few steps from your bar stool.
Before you think that this is just some pub renting you some shady cubbyhole for intoxicated guests, let me share with you the legacy of Spinnakers. This pub, on the neck of Victoria’s Inner Harbour and nestled on Esquimalt’s scenic ocean stroll, was Canada’s first in-house brewpub of the modern era, opening in 1984. Since then, Spinnakers has continued to pave the way for BC’s modern craft breweries and brewpubs, with serious seasonal brews, committed local relationships and a locally-centric gastro-brewpub, before people even knew the term.
Their Heritage House was originally constructed in 1884, 100 years before the opening of Spinnakers Brewpub. After Spinnakers founder Paul Hadfield purchased the neighboring property to the brewpub, he painstakingly transformed the elegant home over a year-long process, converting the house into five Victorian period guest rooms. Today, guests now can enjoy private patios, fireplaces, flatscreen TVs, 9-foot ceilings, restored fir floors and double-jetted soaker tubs or steamer showers.
Your hidden B&B getaway also includes locally roasted Fernwood Coffee, and tea from Victoria’s exemplary Silk Road Tea, as well as complimentary brewhouse-made artisan truffles plus a craft beer tasting. As with any highly hospitable host, breakfast is included in your stay, a relentlessly local meal in the waterfront dining room. Don’t miss the baked goods—Spinnakers has a fantastic on-site bakery and pastry department, and often utilizes their beer in the day’s fresh selections. And if you want to pack a little picnic lunch for your 10 minute walk along Westbay waterfront to downtown Victoria, the Provisions Store is crammed with the kitchen’s artisan breads, pastries, savories, vinegars and spreads, local cheeses and the aforementioned (deadly) chocolates. Oh—plus a hearty lineup of core and seasonal beers, of course.
Come for a pitcher and local repast, sleep on a cushy bed in a quiet period house and awaken to fresh pastries and coffee? Go ahead and feel free to enjoy yourself a little too much. Your hosts welcome you.
Spinnakers Guesthouse || 308 Catherine Street, Victoria, BC || spinnakers.com
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