Fogo Island Inn

Fogo Island Inn sits on an island, off an island, at one of the four corners of the Earth. Every one of our 29 one-of-a-kind guest rooms and suites has dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the wildest and most powerful ocean on the planet.

A stimulating relief from the numbing uniformity of modern times, the award-winning Inn is built on the principles of sustainability and respect for nature and culture. The Inn is a community asset, and 100% of operating surpluses are reinvested into the community to help secure a sustainable and resilient future for Fogo Island, Newfoundland.

Fogo Island Inn has an international reputation for exceptional, embodied, place-specific hospitality and bold, thoughtful, humanistic contemporary design.

Fogo Island Inn was designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect, Todd Saunders. The 43,000 square-foot Inn is perched on stilts and hugs the North Atlantic coastline, affording all 29 rooms with floor-to-ceiling views of sea and sky.

All rooms showcase the richness of their locality and clearly express a modern take on traditional Newfoundland outport design and décor. The Inn’s architecture is bold, optimistic, and distinctly of this place. Though radical in its design, the Inn still speaks to the traditional outport Newfoundland aesthetic.

Two floors of guest rooms sit atop the Inn’s stilts, a distinct nod to traditional outport fishing stages. These stilts, or “shores,” underpin many of the buildings on Fogo Island due to the rocky, undulating topography.

They support the Inn while also minimizing the overall building footprint and impact on the adjacent rocks, lichens, and berries. The Inn’s sharp angles and rough contours feel at home amidst Fogo Island’s jagged and uneven landscape.

The X-shaped structure features a two-storey west-to-east wing containing gathering spaces, and a four-storey south-west to north-east wing, parallel to the coast, containing all of the guest rooms. The first floor includes the contemporary Art Gallery curated by Fogo Island Arts, the Dining Room, Bar, Lounge, and Tea Room.

The second floor is home to a Heritage Library containing works of both fiction and non-fiction pertaining to Newfoundland, the Cinema, Meeting Room, Gym, and Reading Room, and the fourth floor roof deck houses wood-fired saunas and outdoor hot tubs.

Guest room sizes vary from 350 to 1 100 square feet, with rooms on the third and fourth floors all including wood-burning stoves. The ceilings of the rooms on the fourth floor follow the dramatic slope of the roof, resulting in the three most easterly rooms enjoying double volume spaces with the sleeping area located on the mezzanine.

Great care was taken to provide exceptional sound-proofing in order to ensure that guests hear only the sounds of nearby ocean waves. All of the Inn’s rooms were created using only natural materials such as wood, wool, cotton, and linen. The only plastic in the guest rooms is the telephone.

FLAT EARTH SUITE
The Captain’s Quarters: a sublime 1100 sq. ft. outport sanctuary and a world unto itself. The Flat Earth suite is oriented to the east and is a distinctive two-storey corner with commanding views to the north, east, and south.

It is a singular space within the Inn and is suited for up to three persons. This 1,100 square foot retreat features a lofted sleeping quarters and includes a walk-in shower, soaker tub, wood stove, and extra washroom.

FOGO ISLAND SUNSET SUITE
The 663 sq. ft. Fogo Island Sunset Suite accommodates up to two persons. This large corner suite is oriented to the west and offers direct views of Fogo Head and panoramic sunsets from your in-room soaker tub. This suite has a free-standing tub, walk-in shower, and wood stove.

FOGO ISLAND SUNRISE SUITE
The 764 sq. ft. Fogo Island Sunrise Suite accommodates up to two persons. This large corner suite is a cantilevered retreat, hovering over the two-storey stilts and oriented to the east; a perfect viewing spot for the fishing boats in and out of Joe Batt’s Arm.

FOGO ISLAND FAMILY SUITE
Our Fogo Island Family Suites are 600 – 619 sq. ft. and perfect for families of up to 4. Each suite is as spectacular and varied as Fogo Island itself. Suites with an adjoining feeling, generous and flexible spirits that can also be configured with a sitting room, a second bedroom, or a workspace. Both have a bath tub, walk-in shower, and wood stove. One has an extra washroom.

LABRADOR ROOM
Intimate nests of 343 sq. ft. for up to two persons; all with stunning views of the wildest and most powerful ocean on the planet. First floor rooms benefit from an intimate connection to the 400 million year-old rocks of the rugged and fierce Back Western Shore; a place to feel the echoes of time in the rocks and the timelessness of the sea, yet to be tangled up with “the now” through closeness to the public spaces and the social nature of outport life. All First Floor Labrador Rooms have walk-in showers.

FURNITURE & TEXTILES
Designers from away worked side-by-side with Fogo Island’s artisans and makers to create furnishings and furniture that weaved the new from the fabric of the old. By virtue of their centuries of geographic isolation, Fogo Islanders have become masters of making things by hand, recycling, and devising local solutions to all manner of challenges.

Since the beginning of European settlement in the late 1600s, Fogo Islanders have been building their own wooden boats, houses, tools, and furniture. In keeping with this handmade tradition, nearly all of the furniture and furnishings inside Fogo Island Inn were designed and created on Fogo Island specifically for use in the Inn.

The furniture of Fogo Island Inn is the result of an innovative collaborative process between artists and designers from away, and skilled rural artisans from Fogo Island and Change Islands.

Contemporary designers worked side-by-side with local craftspeople to create furniture and furnishings that embodied a “new outport aesthetic”—weaving the new from the fabric of the old.

The furniture within the Inn is primarily handcrafted and produced on Fogo Island, employing local artisans and makers contributing to the promotion of economic resilience for one of Canada’s oldest communities.

Materials are sourced mainly from Fogo Island and Newfoundland, followed by the rest of Canada, North America, and traditional trading partners such as Spain and Portugal. Each guest room is adorned with key furniture pieces such as Elaine Fortin’s boat-inspired punt chair, Donna Wilson’s plush Berta chair, or Ineke Hans’ cushioned rocking chair.

Every opportunity was seized to incorporate joy and colour anarchy into the guest rooms: whimsical touches such as custom-designed wallpaper, brightly-coloured hooked mats, and fantastical furniture pieces play off of traditional motifs, ultimately adding something new and exciting to the furnishings landscape of Fogo Island.

All guest rooms are equipped with quilts custom-made for Fogo Island Inn by local Island quilters. The Inn’s quilts use natural vintage fabrics in an assortment of colours and patterns, and were inspired by Fogo Island’s longstanding quilting tradition.

Though made new for the Inn, they mirror patterns familiar to the Island and breathe new life into the common strip quilt, crazy quilt, and heritage quilt styles. Thinner, breathable summer quilts are used in softer seasons, and are switched out with thick, heavier winter quilts during snow and ice seasons.

DINING
Our menu is an expression of our local foodways which are an integral part of the fabric of this place. Our dishes include berries that grow in barrens and bogs; edible plants plucked from our shorelines and woodlands; and vegetables and rhubarb fresh from the garden or overwintered in grass-topped root cellars. Of course, you’ll also dine on North Atlantic seafood fished from local waters chilled by the Labrador Current.

Our menus change across the seven seasons. As we’re a hard-scrabble place, we frequently use time as an ingredient, through bottling, pickling and fermentation techniques. We marry modern sensibilities with deep-rooted culinary traditions.

And as well as exciting your palate, our fare is nutrient-rich and healthful. Every dish tells a story of here, of the planters, fishers, hunters and foragers who share their bounty with us.

We aim for 80 percent of our ingredients to come from Fogo Island and the surrounding region, and we operate with regenerative practices and a zero-waste mission. As a Shorefast social business, we support local entrepreneurship and local suppliers.

We take pride in our culture and nature, and invest operating surpluses from our businesses in community development. By dining at the Inn, you are contributing to the economic, social, and cultural health of our community.

DINING ROOM
If the Inn is a ship, the Dining Room is its noble prow. One of the Inn’s most iconic spaces, the Dining Room features a dramatic vaulted ceiling and looks out over the ocean with views of the community of Barr’d Islands in the distance.

Depending on the season, guests seated in the Dining Room can watch icebergs bobbing in the waves, whales breaching offshore, or enjoy a front-row view of a savage North Atlantic gale. The dining room’s distinctive chandeliers were conceived by Dutch designer Frank Tjepkema and feature a wildflower motif.

BAR & LOUNGE
A lively space for gathering, celebrating, and unwinding, the Inn’s Bar and Lounge offer a laid-back spirit conducive to starting the day with a cappuccino or wrapping it up with a cocktail.

The Bar carries an endless array of wines, beers, and spirits, and the team consistently dreams up new and enticing beverage creations. Featuring ample comfortable seating, the Lounge and Bar are regularly visited by local musicians, and guests are welcome to pick up the Inn’s guitar for a quick strum themselves.

LIBRARY
Located on the second floor of the Inn, the Library features an extensive collection of fiction and non-fiction works pertaining to the history and culture of Newfoundland and Canada.

Many of the books in the Library originated from the private collection of the late Dr. Leslie Harris, former president of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Harris possessed a superb personal collection of Newfoundlandia, including a wonderful range of materials pertaining to rural Newfoundland life, the fisheries, wildlife, and the sea.

The Inn’s collection was further expanded when Harry and Doreen Cuff added to the Library by donating a copy of every book they published in their long history of publishing Newfoundland books through Harry Cuff Publications Limited.

The resulting Library is a rich and meaningful assemblage of works that can help orient guests to all that Fogo Island and Newfoundland have to offer.

ART GALLERY
Exhibitions at the Fogo Island Gallery feature new work by artists and curators who have participated in the Fogo Island Arts international residency program. Fogo Island Inn features a contemporary “white cube” art gallery on the first floor. In collaboration with Fogo Island Arts, the gallery showcases the works of selected artists who have completed residencies on Fogo Island through Fogo Island Arts.

The goal of the gallery is to provide diverse audiences – local and global – with opportunities to engage with contemporary artworks informed by the specificities of place.

Thus far, Fogo Island Gallery has presented solo exhibitions by Kate Newby (New Zealand), Zin Taylor (Canada), Silke Otto-Knapp (Vienna), Hannah Rickards (England), Edgar Leciejewski (Germany), Leander Schönweger (Italy), Wilfrid Almendra (France), Augustas Serapinas (Lithuania), Marlene Creates (Canada), Isa Melsheimer (Germany), Ieva Epnere (Latvia), Jumana Manna (US/PS), and Brenda Draney (Canada).

Exhibitions in the gallery are accompanied by a publication focusing on each artist’s work, produced by Fogo Island Arts and Berlin’s Sternberg Press.

CINEMA
The 37-seat Fogo Island Inn Cinema is a partnership with The National Film Board of Canada. Designed by Nick Herder, Fogo Island Inn’s 37-seat Cinema features a state-of-the-art digital projection and sound system. The idea to have a cinema in the Inn was precipitated by Fogo Island’s longstanding relationship with the National Film Board.

There were many great films in the NFB’s collection that dealt with Fogo Island, including the Fogo Process films, but no cinema on the Island until the opening of the Inn.

The Cinema was imagined by designer Nick Herder as a foreign space within the building: it is one of the few spaces without a reference point back to the island, besides the history of film itself. It was initially inspired by classic Art Deco-style movie houses but adapted to fit within the contemporary design of the Inn.

The “The Magic Picture Box” Cinema is an independent box that sits within the greater building, and is literally built as a black box sitting inside of the Inn’s generally white space. Inside, the painted white wood finishes of the surrounding building seep into the Cinema but fade to black in frames that wrap continuously around the room.

The softer black frames increase, expand, and completely envelope the room at the front of the space to finally frame the projection screen. A red staircase, seats, and curtain carry you through the space in “red carpet” style.

The Cinema doubles as a lecture theatre, and presents daily scheduled programming as well as impromptu special film showings and presentations. Regularly scheduled programming typically includes documentaries chronicling resettlement, rural life, craftsmanship, and culture.

The Inn’s collection includes classic NFB documentaries, films about Fogo Island, as well as a healthy collection of crowd-pleasing contemporary blockbusters and cult classics.

GATHERING SPACES
The meeting room is located on the second floor of the Inn and represents a rejection of all things routine and ordinary in the realm of meeting spaces.

The meeting room is multi-functional and has been employed for every type of event from concerts to corporate retreats. Offering similarly stunning ocean views to those of the Inn’s guest rooms, the meeting room is a great place for talking, thinking, collaborating, and celebrating.

Features of the room include an oversized wooden meeting table equipped with a conference telephone, in-ceiling projection screen with projector available for use, comfortable chairs, banquet seating overlooking the dining room, a grand piano, a wood-burning fireplace, and windows that open onto the shoreline.

Seating is more than suitable for a long day of work and there are plenty of spots with small tables to break away as smaller groups. There is also a cozier, more intimate heritage library located down the hall from the meeting room, behind the cinema. The library can be reconfigured for various purposes and features a large window which looks into the art gallery below.

SAUNA & HOT TUBS
The fourth floor rooftop deck houses the Inn’s wood-fired saunas and two outdoor hot tubs. Once the decision was made to build the sauna on the rooftop, there was no reason to reinvent a longstanding Northern European tradition.

We learned from the best and hired Sami Rintala and Dagur Eggertsson, two Northern European architects based in Norway, to design the saunas. Because sauna culture is new to Fogo Island, the design needed to feel intuitive.

We outlined the experience as a set of easy steps. Step one: you walk in, change into your swim attire and put on a robe. Step two: take a shower. Step three: take a sauna. Step four: cool off and maybe head outside to the hot tubs to watch the sea and stars.

The south-facing saunas receive direct sunlight into the cabinet with inland views of the rocks and churches. The sauna to the north has views of the sea and is a great way to take in the landscape or to stargaze.

Located at the end of the roof deck, the Inn’s two hot tubs afford both privacy and stunning views of the North Atlantic. Stargaze with uninterrupted views of the ocean over your shoulder and of the sky above you.

The Inn’s second floor gym includes treadmills, elliptical machines, and weight-training equipment. The gym also features floor space for yoga and pilates, fitness mats, and two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the coastline and, in the distance, the community of Barr’d Islands.

CELEBRATIONS
Birthday, Anniversary, Family Gathering, or Wedding. Landmark occasions will reach new heights, not only as you experience them, but remember them.

Forget the birthday candles: celebrate the day with a bonfire on the 420-million-year-old rocks on the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean. Toast an anniversary in the rooftop hot tubs as you gaze up at a billion stars. Create your own Newfoundland shed party.

Crave solitude? Find it hiking Fogo’s ancient footpaths or in the company of a good book by a wood stove. In a place where no one is a stranger, you will be sure to leave with unforgettable memories of laughter and love shared at one of the four corners of the Earth.

Getting married? This is a venue you truly deserve. Hold your ceremony on an island, off an island, with just the two of you, or with 70 of your closest friends and family.

New life partners can celebrate themselves at one of the four corners of the Earth. Fogo Island Inn is an architectural gem with stunning design elements — an extraordinary venue for every intimate celebratory gathering.

EVENTS
Fogo Island Inn offers special events and retreats, customizable packages, and seasonal programming. Book one of our one-of-a-kind offerings to celebrate social occasions or holidays, and to connect with accomplished practitioners who often include awe-inspiring artists, forward-thinking food experts, and perspective-shifting guides.

ACTIVITIES
A comprehensive look at everything to do on Fogo Island in each of our seven distinct seasons: warm Summers (July 1-August 31), snowy Winters (December 1-February 28), a spectacular Pack Ice Season (March 1-31), hopeful Spring (April 1-May 31), June’s Trap Berth Season (June 1-30), bountiful wild berry picking in autumn’s Berry Season (September 1-October 31), and a temperamental Late Fall (November 1-30). All provide different perspectives for getting to know Fogo Island, and perhaps yourself.

No need to let these seemingly boundless choices overwhelm you—we are at the ready to supply recommendations and customize your stay. Stays at Fogo Island Inn are inclusive of most land-based experiences guided by our Community Hosts.

WILDLIFE WATCHING
Fogo Island offers flora and fauna encounters made for curious and discerning explorers who wish to fully immerse themselves in nature. Guests at the Inn can experience the island’s flora and fauna through a range of outdoor hikes, foraging excursions, and adventurous exploration, and can also arrange for an excursion with a local naturalist and guide.

From March to April, when the ice is in, guests are entertained by seals scooching and sliding around, creatures that were vital to the survival of Fogo Islanders. Caribou can be spotted year round, but are most commonly seen in fall and winter snacking along roadsides and in open fields. During the warmer months, they typically hide inland.

Caribou are an iconic migratory species, but, on Fogo Island, the caribou are sedentary and do not make seasonal movements. You can learn about Fogo Island’s herd here. Between June and October, guests are left feeling positively giddy after glimpsing majestic whales play in the water, and from April to November, the island is a bird watchers paradise.

Visitors to Fogo Island can encounter wildlife on their own, or with local guides who are avid outdoors enthusiast and experts on Fogo Island’s flowers, wildlife paths, and nesting grounds.

STARGAZING
The delightful disorientation of stargazing excursions will reorient you to the natural world as you come to know Fogo Island’s place in the unknowable universe. Guided activities include dark sky hikes to lookout points, late evening strolls around the harbour, and daily sunrise and sunset hikes.

Independent stargazing from the Inn’s best vantage points with binoculars will bring the magic and marvels of the night sky into sharp focus, and private, self-guided dark sky viewing by the naked eye from the rooftop’s outdoor hot tubs is, of course, encouraged.

HIKING
The only way to truly know Fogo Island is to explore it by foot. Walk along ancient footpaths steeped in history, hike jagged cliffs to one of the four corners of the earth, and follow animal tracks into an untamed wilderness.

With over 200 km of paths, routes, and trails, our island is a mystical destination for hikers and walkers alike. Hikes can be self-guided, or taken with a knowledgeable local guide.

Every trail tells a story—those long winters spent walking to distant lumber woods or lookout points where loved ones eagerly awaited a ship to return from the sea. There is a soulfulness to our landscape because this is a place where nature and culture are bound together.

Abandoned communities where people once lived, such as Eastern Tickle and Lion’s Den, have gone back to the exclusive domain of nature… but the ghosts still linger.

Many visitors hike out to Joe Batt’s Point to visit the Great Auk, a bronze sculpture by artist Todd McGrain. It’s hard to resist giving the Auk a hug as you gaze north towards the Funks, where these birds, now tragically extinct, once called home.

Between the Labrador Current’s cold waters and our unsheltered coasts, the arctic comes to us. At a 49 degree latitude, Fogo Island’s sub-arctic landscape breeds bogs, barrens, and boreal forests.

Bounded by the craggy shores of the North Atlantic, it is not uncommon to spot caribou, foxes, whales, icebergs, and colonies of seabirds. And our 420-million-year-old geologic history is in evidence everywhere: spot stunning and fascinating contortions of rock formed by ice, fire, and sea.

BEACH WALKING
Here, a trip to the beach can be as relaxing or adventurous as your heart desires. Sandy Cove is a swath of lovely sand with a fresh water brook finding its way to sea nearby. Partake in ocean swimming followed by a fresh water dip.

Oliver’s Cove is a favourite place for visitors and Fogo Islanders alike, the lapping waves and pebbled beach mingle to create a soothing, musical sound that becomes a wild orchestra when a huge sea rolls in.

ICEBERG WATCHING
Every year, monoliths of ancient ice make their way down the Labrador Current to the shores of Fogo Island. Circumnavigate an iceberg an hour offshore or observe them out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of your room from the warmth and comfort of your bed. Located along “Iceberg Alley,” Fogo Island Inn is perfectly situated for taking in the ever-changing hues that highlight these behemoths of ancient ice.

Whether you are out hunting for ‘bergie bits aboard a seafaring vessel, scouting the waves for icebergs, migrating whales, and seabirds, or merely wondering in awe at the power and expanse of the wild North Atlantic, you will undoubtedly feel the remarkable might of these glacial giants.

Iceberg hunters wishing to track the movements of these migrating monoliths may visit icebergfinder.com for live iceberg updates. Icebergs grow larger each day, before moving on to face their ultimate fates in warmer waters. The iceberg’s fickle nature makes their timing hard to predict so, if you’re lucky, you’ll have a chance to witness this fantastic spectacle.

COD FISHING
As a vital necessity for seafaring nations, the humble codfish changed the world. It has played an instrumental role in Fogo Island’s economy and culture for centuries and continues to influence the Island’s traditions and way of life.

When recreational fishing is permitted during our Summer and Berry seasons, guests are able to participate in a fishing expedition and a cod-jigging lesson. Guests who wish to complement their fishing expedition with a traditional ocean-to-table outport boil-up, featuring the day’s catch, may reserve a Community Host.

The recreational food fishery runs on select dates during Summer and Berry Season. Please inquire with our reservations team. Additional costs apply to cod fishing expeditions and experiences.

Rooms: 29

Price: from 1.916 EUR per night

Source: www.fogoislandinn.ca