A new addition to Artisan Square that’s aiming to bring in more tourists into the quirky community hub will soon be open to the public.
Julie Cree, one of the owners of Artisan Eats, is opening up four hotel-like suites on the top floor of her restaurant. In 2015 Cree and her husband, Christophe Langlois, decided to buy the building that Artisan Eats is home to and started to renovate what used to be office space into hotel suites in the spring of 2017.
“We wanted to take full advantage of the stunning view and the fact that we were in this little commercial area, which makes a great spot for guests to come stay overnight,” Cree said.
”People have not only a stunning view to look out of but they also have café right below them to have access to and little shops and galleries and stores right in the vicinity to have a look at.”
Standing in Artisan Square, Cree felt the quirky community hub was missing a casual daytime restaurant for locals to grab a bite.
After running Tuscany restaurant for nine years, Cree and her husband sold it in 2012 to start up a new restaurant with French baker, Michael Lecourt. The trio has been running Artisan Eats since February of 2009.
Now Cree is adding these suites in the square with the idea in mind they will bring more business within the community.
“For all the business that are here, there’s basically an influx of how many people, every week, that are new to Artisan Square that are going to shop, browse around, rent kayaks, and rent mopeds,” she said.
Cree has designed the four suites to have a “hotel boutique” look with stylish and modern decor. The rooms are spacious with eco-friendly amenities, such as toiletries in large dispensaries instead of small disposable bottles, and other hotel-like features.
One of the rooms facing north looks into Artisan Square. The second room has a view of Mount Gardner, a patio overlooking the square and has a large side window with an ocean and mountain view. The rooms across the hall on the east side have full views of Cypress Mountain, Howe Sound and Lions Bay.
Cree says there’s huge demand for more tourist suites on Bowen and her hotel-like rentals will be some of the only accommodations of its kind in the area.
“I think that there is a need year-round, most certainly the high season is in much higher demand but I also think for our style of accommodation there’s a greater need,” she said.
“This is more for the people who don’t necessarily want to be sharing a house with somebody. Or have to go too far across the island without a vehicle, or be too remote of a location and some people just want a nice room with a stunning view.”
The suites are already ready to be booked for the May long weekend on Airbnb but a website dedicated for booking the suites will soon be up and running. Rates will average from $140 to $200 depending on the season.
