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New Year, New Look

The Importance of our Yearly Closure at Long Beach Lodge   


written by Mikey Nixon, November 2024

 




Ever wonder why we close down the lodge from late December to early January every year? Well, we caught up with our Maintenance Manager, Neil Lounsbury, to find out why our yearly closure is so important to our brand.

“We're redoing 12 lodge rooms this season: new carpet, new paint upgrades- that’s essentially what we're doing,” explains Neil. “We're also painting all the pet rooms and upgrading them with our new paint colour, so I think it'll actually be a total of 20 rooms with a fresh look.”

Make no mistake, it’s all business for Neil, his team and the staff from other departments who stick around to help out. And with so many tasks to accomplish in a short period of time, the whole process needs to be very organised.

“We’re also upgrading the fireplaces in 12 of our cottages to match the improvements we've made in the lodge over the past two years. Four of the cottages are getting brand new floors, carpets, kitchen cupboards, kitchen counters, and new paint. Basically, we're setting a new standard for the look of the direction we want to go.”

In other words, our award-winning reputation doesn’t come easily. We’re always striving to be better than we were the year before. And our closure is a huge part of that.

“The maintenance crew dives in a hundred percent. We’re all-hands-on-deck working with other staff members,” says Neil.

The Great Room is converted into a base of operations throughout the closure, with dry-erase boards mapping out tasks that need to be accomplished over the course of the month. And even though the lodge is closed to guests, our whole property’s still a hive of activity.

“We'll have half the cottages full on the one side of the road with tradespeople,” says Neil. “There's probably going to be 25 contractors working on various jobs: electrical upgrades, all our HVAC equipment on the roof, all our kitchen equipment. Everything is completely stripped, gone over, cleaned, retrofitted, upgraded, maintained. It's a once-a-year thing. All that stuff gets looked at. And it's all happening in a 30-day block.”

As we move into 2025, we need to make sure that we keep up with the evolution of our brand. We’re so grateful to Neil and his team for coordinating this massive effort. The lodge just wouldn’t be the same without the dedication of the people who make this place so special.

We will be closed between December 8th and January 7th. But we can’t wait to welcome guests back in the new year!

 




More Tofino 360 Stories



"As usual, we had an excellent stay."
2024-10-17
We thoroughly enjoyed our 2nd stay in one of the Lodge’s cabins. We brought a friend with us this time who had never been to Tofino and he loved the lodge and the area.
"Best spot to stay in Tofino"
2024-10-13
Really great experience, location is amazing staff is exceptional! Cottages are such a great family option with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. We also had the pintos oceanfront suite, which is hands-down, the best view in Tofino!
"One of the best “experience” hotels we’ve stayed in"
2024-10-29
We stayed here for 3 nights as part of a 14 day road-trip from Ireland and all I can say is that it was absolutely amazing. The staff were all so welcoming, friendly and attentive. We stayed in room 313 which was on the top floor overlooking the beach with a balcony. Truth be told, the hotel was so good we didn’t venture far over the 3 days, instead opting to just “relax” at the hotel walking the beach or sitting outside at the gas fires taking in the ambience and the surfers catching the waves. The food and service in the restaurant was amazing, I would even go so far to say it was the best food we’ve had in a long time at a hotel! If having food at the hotel, make sure you book a table at the restaurant before 6pm and maybe even arrive a little early. They will not reserve the window seats, but to get the best view of the sunset over the pacific - trust me, it’s where you want to be sitting. Cocktails were also very good. If getting a snack during the day you can get it at the Surf Club which is a few steps from the main building. After dinner we just retired to the bedroom with the gas fires going, patio doors open and enjoying a bottle of wine while listening to the waves crash on the beach. We didn’t do breakfast at the hotel any of the mornings as we wanted something “light” opting instead for the delights from the cafe & bakery Tofitian just a few minutes up the road. As an “experience”, it was hands down one of the best hotels I’ve visited in Canada/US. The team should be very proud.