Rose Manor Inn
The quaint community of Harbour
Grace, Newfoundland, is as charming as its name. There, the famed Rose Manor
Inn welcomes visitors from around the world. Recently we spoke with owner Erika
Pardy.
What is your own
ethnicity/heritage?
I was born in Happy Valley, Goose Bay, Labrador, from
Welsh/Irish/English parents. After the age of 9, I was raised on Fogo
Island and moved to Harbour Grace a few years ago, after taking a job as EDO
for the municipality.
What is the Inn's history
and mandate?
Rose Manor Inn was originally known as Bellevue Manor and was
built in 1878 by Justice Thomas R. Bennett at the cost of 85 pounds
sterling. Mr. Bennett (who later became the 11th speaker of the house in
the House of Commons) was the judge who presided over the infamous
"Harbour Grace Affray". During a march on St. Stephen’s day in 1883,
tensions between the Protestants and Catholics were elevated. The ensuing
altercation resulted in 5 deaths and 17 injuries. Nineteen people were
charged in connection with the incident. Unfortunately, because the people
charged were wearing veils and other "mummering" costumes, all
charges were dropped and the 19 suspects were acquitted. The wealthy Mr.
Bennett lost his fortune in the crash of 1890. In 1901, he died
penniless, leaving his wife a pauper. She sold the property in 1902 to a
wealthy merchant named Mr. James Cron, who maintained ownership until the
passing of his 2nd wife in 1935. The home was passed down and remained in the
family until the early 1980's when it was left abandoned and in disrepair,
suffering severe neglect over the coming years. It had a few owners
following that time. In 2002, the once beautiful home, was purchased by the
Haire's and lovingly restored to its former glory as the magnificent Inn that
you see today. Our mandate is to re-create history, to tell the story of its
'presence' and its past. The architecture is unique for this area and
tells the story of an English manor from the Victorian Era. Being
situated in the most historic part of Newfoundland, we are blessed to have a
library of stories to tell; including, but not withstanding, Peter Easton (the
richest pirate in history), Amelia Earhart's first solo transatlantic flight,
the bloody massacre on St. Stephan's Day, the SS KYLE, as well as the Great
Fires. We certainly cannot leave out Harbour Grace being the original capital
of Newfoundland, the Ridley Premises, the boat builders, as well as the Baccalieu
Trail and Admirals Coast. Our promise to future generations is to leave a
place that will remain a constant in the hearts of those seeking knowledge of
the past, while maintaining the luxuries and amenities of present day.
How has it evolved over
time?
Rose Manor became an Inn in 2002. The previous owners
were meticulous in the design and upkeep of this lovely property. In 2011,
it was voted as one of the top 5 romantic getaways in Canada. In 2013, it was
awarded one of the top ten teas in Canada. Since taking over in 201?, we have
made some important changes to continue improving the quality and experiences
that we offer, namely; we introduced a full time culinary expert and Chef.
The Inn is now fully licensed to offer a full fine dining menu to not only our
Inn guests but to outside guests as well. We offer a full gourmet hot breakfast
menu to our over-night guests. We have increased the quality of our High Tea
experience to include a variety of scones, sandwiches and desserts, as well as
Champagne. We are proud to serve these on our 100+ year fine bone china. We
also offer Tea tasting with over 80 flavours to choose from. All of our meals
offer organic, locally grown products. We introduced new experiences, such as Lobster Beach Boil ups,
Wild foraging for native plants and berries. We do guided pirate tours
along the coast as well as being well known for our Murder Mystery dinners. We
upgraded another of our rooms to a king sized suite so that we currently have 3
King suites and 2 Queen. We have increased our social media presence by posting
to Instagram, Twitter, as well as our Facebook page which presently has a
following of 9200 people. We have donated over 10 000 to local charities in
just under 2 years. We changed our artwork to display the works of local artists.
All of our jams and preserves are from local jam makers. Our focus is on our
guests and experiential tourism. We have chosen to move away from weddings and
events that do not allow us to interact with our guests. We are the story
tellers.
What are your roles and
responsibilities there?
I am the owner/operator as well as the hostess. I also
do the marketing and advertising. I am creative and a dreamer but I am
also the toilet bowl cleaner and bed maker. I also plan itineraries,
events and experiences. I am the point of contact for the business and
attend sessions, board meetings, networking and marketing events. My son is a part owner and my Chef as well as the back end
manager with regards to website design and online bookings and that sort of
thing. I tell him my ideas or we share ideas and he brings them to life
online.
What are the challenges of
the job?
This will sound cliché but I love my job and I don't find any
challenges in the guest department. I love every single one of the people that
come through our doors. I guess if I were to find something challenging it would be
the brevity of our tourist season. However, it allows us time to spend with our
locals. In the off season, our locals are our biggest supporters.
We host our Murder Mystery dinners from October until December. In
December, our Christmas dinners are sold out for the entire month by local
businesses and companies. Naturally when January rolls around, we enjoy a
break so that we can work on marketing for the upcoming season. February
is Valentine’s, March is St. Patrick , April is Easter and May, Mother's Day
where we offer themed High Teas.
What are the rewards?
The rewards are too numerous to list. My heart is full
for the people that visit us. The reviews we receive make my heart explode
with gratitude. Getting to meet people, having the opportunity to create a
wonderful, life long memory is a gift. Being etched in the memory of
someone's mind is truly a life altering experience. My job is to make it the
best memory possible, something to hold onto forever. Whether it's through
our fine dining or our rooms, our customer service or events, we promise our
very best.
What can visitors expect
to experience?
Hopefully the best customer service experience they have ever had;
tranquility, serenity, peace and quiet, great food, great fun.
How do you differ from the
competition?
I think we are different because of our location (50 mins
outside of St. John's and central to the Baccalieu Trail, Admirals Coast as
well as the Romantic Coast and we are right smack dab in the middle of the
Avalon. We are a day trip away from anything in eastern
Newfoundland. Our style and age of the building are another unique
feature to us. The events/experiences that we offer are also unique.
We impress upon the full service aspect of the industry. With that being
said, I don't think we really have competition, we strive for partnerships in
the industry. The goal in the hospitality industry is to ensure all our
guest enjoy their time here in NL. We all work together to make sure
people leave with a sense of joy and satisfaction. After all, if you tell
two people and they tell two people, then our place in the industry is
solidified and with that brings more people. We can never have too many
places to stay! We offer an English manor experience and our good friends
offer a rustic cottage experience. Both are great, it's really dependent
on what you are looking for.
How do you reach your
potential clients?
We are active through social media and we subscribe
to online booking agents. We do encourage people to contact us
directly however. We have a website and are members of a variety of
platforms. Tourism NL, Legendary Coasts, BBCANADA, We also take advantage
of marketing opportunities through different media outlets and digital or print
magazines.
What are your thoughts on
the current state of the NL tourism economy?
I tend to be a positive person, preferring to see the bright
side of things. To me, the economy couldn't be better. More people
are traveling for adventure rather than weather so the more rugged coastline
experiences are taking over from basking away on beaches. More people are
staying closer to home and as a result we are seeing a rise in Canadian
visitors. Since we have added additional flights to the UK and Europe, we
are seeing a rise in those visitors as well. Newfoundland and Labrador are
really in it's infancy with adventure tourism. We are growing in
popularity with the help of our tourism strategy and planning. Our
demographics are changing and experiential tourism is where the new surge is
coming from. If I speak from our personal experience, our booking are up
160% since we took over 2 years ago. The majority of our bookings are
multi night stays. It was only last year we decided we were not going to
offer wedding packages at the Inn any longer, opening us up for more quality
time with our guests.
How can that be improved?
Of course there is always room for improvement. A few
years ago, the Destination management organizations of NL created vision
20/20. This was an outlook at what NL needed to compete on the global
tourism market. We isolated things like better transportation, more
eating establishments serving local cuisine throughout NL, more accommodations,
more experiences and other important factors. Our goal at the end of the
day is to increase our tourism revenue by becoming a top destination
spot. Newfoundland and Labrador is a blank canvas waiting to be shaped
into a tourism masterpiece.
What are your future plans
for the business?
Our future plans are to continue to be the best we can
be. My personal aim is to be no.1. I would like the number one spot
in NL and eventually Canada. Number 1 for customer service, location,
style, relaxation and to encapsulate the entire Bed and Breakfast
experience. We will continue to offer our guests a true cultural
experience and will continue to offer itineraries that will give our guests the
best possible representation of our island.
