Together with their top destinations, TripAdvisor also published their top 100 places to stay. Canada has three entries in the top luxury hotels:
17: Fairmont YVR airport hotel
27. Hotel Dominion 1912, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
95. Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

I would have rated the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver or Chateau Lake Louise higher - I wouldn’t don’t see an airport hotel as a wonderful place to stay, no matter how luxurious.

The rest of the top 10 luxury hotels in Canada:
4. Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City, Quebec
5. Loews Hotel Vogue, Montreal, Quebec
6. Hotel Nelligan, Montreal, Quebec
7. Four Seasons Resort Whistler, Whistler, British Columbia
8. Hotel Gault, Montreal, Quebec
9. Le Place d’Armes Hotel & Suites, Montreal, Quebec
10. Sofitel Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

Some interesting hotels among their top 10 hidden gems in Canada:

1. Harbour House Hotel, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
4. Alpine Village - Jasper, Jasper National Park, Alberta
6. Mt. Engadine Lodge, Canmore, Alberta  <- keep an eye out for this lodge. Up and coming.
8. Patricia Lake Bungalows, Jasper National Park, Alberta
9. Chateau Beauvallon Mont Tremblant, Mont Tremblant, Quebec
10. Artisan Inn, Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador <- another property to keep an eye out for. Very cool place.

More and more people are looking for authentic experiences, wanting to get a real feel for the places they visit. But for some even that is not enough - they really want to become part of the communities they visit.

An innovative new experience in Newfoundland lets you do just that: you get the key to three houses in small outports, a rental car and a custom-written guidebook. In the book you’ll find the contact information for locals who can help you get to know the community. Before long, you’ll be out fishing, and hosting kitchen parties! Read the full article in the Globe about Cape Race Adventures.

People thinking of visiting Canada are looking beyond the Rockies, Niagara, and mounties, and are searching for new, exotic destinations. Undoubtedly, the hottest of these “new” destinations is Newfoundland. Of course, the Rock has been around for millions of years, but only in the past few years has it become an ” in” destination. We posted a couple of great essays on Newfoundland recently.

Canada’s New-found land

On The Rock, authenticity is all about the people

Icebergs hit new ground.

Yesterday the first two guides arrived: New Brunswick and Newfoundland. I was happily surprised about the speed: one week.

Good: Newfoundland came with an excellent map. Bad: New Brunswick didn’t. So I will have a harder time figuring out where to go in new Brunswick I wasn’t able to select a map for New Brunswick, so no surprise there was no map.

Excellent: the format of the Newfoundland guide. Small, booklet style, thick. It looks like a travel guide more than a traditional vacation guide. Some ads, but tastefully hidden among the editorial and listings. The format surprised me the minute I picked it up. Better yet: the contents: some ideas what to do in 5 days - itineraries, experiences. And very nicely laid out.

Not as good: the New Brunswick guide has all the info, but laid out as a traditional vacation guide with lots of ads. Harder to separate the editorial from the ads.

Good: Today PEI sent me an e-newsletter. Nice touch, useful content. Let’s hope the vacation guide follows soon.