The day had started very well: a hearty and healthy breakfast at the Lunenburg Inn was an excellent preparation for a full day of discovery. On a bright, sunny morning I headed out and took a walking tour of Lunenburg, a quaint and scenic town on Nova Scotia’s south coast whose unique architectural heritage has earned it the coveted UNESCO World Heritage designation. I capped off my local explorations with a visit to the famous Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, a renowned museum that celebrates Nova Scotia’s maritime heritage.

I had big plans for today: a scenic drive on the Lighthouse Trail through quaint communities like Mahone Bay and Peggy’s Cove to my final destination for today: Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. But before saying goodbye to this charming town, I wanted to know a little more about the hospitality entrepreneurs who run the Lunenburg Inn. I’m always interested in the people behind destinations, because people really are the key factor in any hospitality experience.

So, with my suitcase packed and safely stowed in the car, I sat down with Don and Gail Wallace, owners of the Lunenburg Inn, to learn more about their personal story. Don began by telling me that he had spent 33 years at a Toronto-based company in the warehousing and transportation business, and that he was holding the title of vice president toward the end of his term. He felt it was time to make a significant change in his life, so he and Gail sat down to discuss what options they might have. They talked about downsizing their house and looking for a second career they could start together. They also wanted to move away from the Toronto area and find a place where they could retire. So they started looking further afield.

One day in February 1995 they noticed an ad in the Financial Post for a place called “Lunenburg Inn”. This struck a chord because they had both been dreaming of retiring near the ocean. So Don picked up the phone and contacted the real estate broker. One Sunday morning in February he flew to Halifax and fell in love with the south shore of Nova Scotia. Don adds that Lunenburg wasn’t as pretty as it is today, but even then he recognized the potential of this town. He really liked the property very much, although he would need a lot of work. He then called Gail to share positive impressions of him and suggested that they both travel to Lunenburg the following weekend to see the inn. All the necessary professional contacts were made: the bank’s mortgage agent, the building inspector, the real estate agent and the lawyer who would handle the transaction. Don and his wife discussed the idea with their adult children. The following Sunday afternoon there was a meeting with the building inspector, after which Don prepared the offer. The mortgage was approved Monday morning, and shortly after lunch Don presented the realtor with a check as a down payment on his retirement plan, the Lunenburg Inn. Shortly after his return to Toronto, he received a call from his realtor that they would now be the proud owners of an inn as of May 1, 1995.

Ironically, the day this real estate transaction was completed, Don had to go on a business trip to Vancouver, and he and his colleague went out after work and celebrated with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t until months later that his coworker discovered that Don had a real reason to celebrate that very day: the start of his second race.

Back in Toronto, Don wrote a resignation letter to the president of his company, who was very surprised since he and most of the people in the company had assumed that Don was a “perpetual”, meaning that he would spend the rest of his life. of his working life in this company. Don gave 6 months notice and would be leaving his position as Vice President at the end of August. This gave the couple enough time to organize yard sales to get rid of the unwanted furniture in Toronto. On April 28, his van left at 5 am, packed up his goods, and arrived in Lunenburg on April 30. Don had booked a two-week vacation and his son accompanied him to spend the summer in Lunenburg, a perfect arrangement since Don still had to wrap up his last few months with his company in Toronto.

So, beginning in May, Gail and her son Drew began operating the bed and breakfast. Her daughter came to join them in July, she had just finished her senior year of high school and was beginning a degree at Wilfred Laurier University in September. Don was able to leave his position early as he had hired a replacement by the end of July. So on August 1 the whole family gathered in Lunenburg.

The Lunenburg Inn was furnished when Don and Gail bought it, but the owners had taken personal items that had been used in the inn. The living room was very sparse and some rooms were missing chairs and tables. So, for the first few weeks, Gail and her son Drew embarked on a nightly furniture-moving routine: they needed to fill out the rented rooms for the night with the rest of the furniture decorating the living room that night. That meant furniture had to be continually moved from room to room. They had decided to leave their Toronto-area home furnished while Don still lived there and increase the chances of selling it. It was only sold at the end of July (with a closing in mid-August) and Don had the mover pack everything up in the last week of July. The furniture arrived in Lunenburg in mid-August and after their arrival they finally had a fully furnished living room without the nightly moving of furniture.

The Lunenburg Inn had been an abandoned building, so it needed a lot of work. From 1924 to 1979 it had been the “Hillside Hotel”, a 13-room hotel (with a bathroom!) next to the city’s train station. Meanwhile, the train service to Lunenburg has been discontinued for many years. The property sat vacant for several weeks just before the previous owners purchased it in 1988. When Don and Gail purchased the property in 1995, the building was very old and in need of a complete redecoration and upgrade, including furnishings, to bring up to a 4 1/2 star property.

During her first winter of 1995, Gail removed all the furniture and diligently restored it. All the sofas and armchairs were reupholstered. Don himself learned how to repair plaster in this historic building, and in the dining room the couple removed nine layers of wallpaper and four layers of paint, all accumulated over the years since the building’s construction in 1893. The rugs were ripped out. and replaced, the floors were renewed. In the past 11 years, every room has been redecorated at least three times. Don firmly believes that a bed and breakfast should never look tired. His goal was to make the Lunenburg Inn a warm and comfortable place with unique features.

Now the Lunenburg Inn is in its 12th season and is still holding up well. Meanwhile, Don and Gail are ready to start their real retirement. Don informed me that about 40% of B&B owners don’t reopen after the third season, another 40% of B&B owners go out of business after 6 years. Only 5% of B&B owners make it to the 10 year mark. Don adds that managing the Lunenburg Inn was “his second and last run of his” from him, and he and Gail had committed to 10 years. Now, 11 years later, they are ready to move on to a well-deserved retirement.

But this industrious couple wasn’t just B&B owners: from 1997 until late 2002, they also owned an M&M Meat Shop franchise, which meant Gail managed the retail operation while Don, along with a few contract employees, He ran the bed and breakfast. Gail would be in the shop every day from 9 am to 6 pm and Don would take care of the butcher’s orders and bookkeeping in addition to his duties at the inn.

Today, the couple is focusing only on the Lunenburg Inn. Your day begins at 6am when freshly baked muffins are baked for up to 19 breakfast diners. Guests can come for breakfast whenever it suits them. Don and Gail put a lot of effort into preparing a healthy, hearty and attractive breakfast that always includes plenty of fresh fruit. They work on a 7-day rotation for breakfast so none of the diners gets bored of being served the same dishes twice in a row.

Breakfast takes place from 8 to 9:30 am and an assistant in the kitchen is in charge of the arrangement of the dishes, the coffee and the toasts. Two housekeepers help with housekeeping and housekeeping, and all inn linen is handled in-house. The Lunenburg Inn is open from the beginning of May until the end of October. Don and Gail have made a commitment that one of them will always sleep in the house when the B&B is in operation. Guests can always have potential needs, and it is important to have a competent contact person on site.

Don and Gail are proud of the fact that the Lunenburg Inn was the first 4.5 star property in Lunenburg, a property that combines “warmth of home” with Victorian charm. 75% of their business comes from repeat customers and referrals, evidence of their commitment to an exceptional hospitality experience.

Personally, they live in a separate private apartment on the lower level of the inn, and during the winter season they like to spend time with their children and go to South Carolina for a couple of weeks. There are always things to do at the inn, and winter is the perfect time to redecorate or upgrade. Don also likes to curl about four or five mornings a week during the winter.

The Lunenburg Inn is currently for sale. Neither Don nor Gail are in a hurry to sell the property, realizing that it will take a special buyer who is interested in running this inn. Sometimes it can take three to five years to sell a property like this. Don and Gail indicated that once the inn is sold, they will stay in Lunenburg and buy a simple family home. They enjoy the weather here: summers are less hot and humid than in Ontario, and there is less snow and rain. Gail adds that for her first four years at Lunenburg she didn’t even need winter boots. And the falls are just beautiful in this fifth community.

I realized that here was a couple who had made some very strategic and well thought out retirement decisions. They knew exactly where they were going and what their next step was going to be. Few of us are lucky enough to have such a clear idea of ​​where life is going to take us. With these thoughts in mind, I thanked Don and Gail for their warm hospitality and set off to continue my journey along the Lighthouse Trail to Halifax.