What are the coolest accommodations in Newfoundland and Labrador?

So you want somewhere that gives you a story before you've even unpacked. Newfoundland and Labrador is loaded with such places. You can book Wavey's House, the seaside saltbox that novelist Annie Proulx restored. Or the Fogo Island Inn, architect Todd Saunders's 29-room stunner overlooking the Atlantic. Prefer town? St. John's has the Monastery Spa in a former monastery. There’s so much here in addition to the province’s raw natural beauty, shaped by the sea and remote outport communities. There's a stay here for every kind of traveler, and you  can even take a scenic drive to see four of Canada’s UNESCO sites, all located in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Quick facts

Wavey's House

• Location: Near L'Anse aux Meadows, Great Northern Peninsula
• Vibe: Cozy and literary
• Highlights: Saltbox cottage renovated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx, with iceberg and whale views

Fogo Island Inn

• Location: Joe Batt's Arm, Fogo Island
• Vibe: Architectural and avant-garde
• Highlights: Award-winning 29-room inn on the Atlantic shore with rooftop wood-fired hot tubs and artist studios

Quirpon Lighthouse Inn

• Location: Quirpon Island, northern tip
• Vibe: Historic and wild
• Highlights: 10-room heritage inn in an active lighthouse overlooking Iceberg Alley, with the chance to see 22 whale species

CapeRace Adventures

• Location: Various — Bonavista, Avalon, St. John's & beyond
• Vibe: Local and immersive
• Highlights: Private historic homes in which locals knock on your door to arrange fishing, kitchen parties and more

Fisher's Loft B&B

• Location: Port Rexton, East Coast
• Vibe: Charming and scenic
• Highlights: Cheerful B&B near the Skerwink Trail with a kitchen garden and homespun fare

Torngat Mountains Base Camp

• Location: Saglek Fjord, Labrador
• Vibe: Remote and adventurous
• Highlights: Solar-powered tent camp hosting just 12 guests alongside researchers and Inuit elders in roadless wilderness

Monastery Spa and Suites / Leaside Manor

• Location: St. John's
• Vibe: Urban and eclectic
• Highlights: Former monastery turned spa-hotel, or a 1920s Arts and Crafts merchant home with canopy beds

Cupids Cathedral House

• Location: Cupids, one hour from St. John's
• Vibe: Quaint and historic
• Highlights: Restored colonial-era church with homespun quilts, a Jacuzzi honeymoon suite and a tea room

Can I stay in a comfy cottage on Viking land? 

Get cozy at a 100-year-old Newfoundland saltbox home by the seaside at Wavey's House. The home was restored by E. Annie Proulx, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Shipping News, and is located near L'Anse aux Meadows, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Site on the Great Northern Peninsula. L’Anse aux Meadows is the only confirmed Norse and earliest European settlement in the Americas from more than 1,000 years ago. Now, it's a famed Norse archeological site.

The cottage features two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen/dining/living area and a patio facing the ocean. Right on the cove, Wavey's is the perfect spot to get cozy, with views of passing icebergs and whales from the patio.

Where should I stay to experience the wilderness and rough seas in Canada?

Journey to Fogo Island Inn, a "hotel at the end of the Earth," designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-bred architect Todd Saunders. It’s a community revitalization project supporting creatives of all types in their work. Live at this contemporary 29-room inn and public space that sits calmly against the rough Atlantic Ocean, with its plush amenities and rooftop wood-fired saunas. 

Sitting on the wind-battered shore of Joe Batt’s Arm, near one of the four contemporary Fogo Island Arts art studios across the island, rightly dubbed the Fogo Island Inn a Condé Nast Traveler "adventure masterpiece." 

Where can I stay to whale watch in a lighthouse?

Catching sight of spouting whales and 10,000-year-old icebergs from your room is a thrill. Newfoundland and Labrador offers the most spectacular whale watching locations on Earth, with the world’s largest population of humpback whales returning each year between May and September.

It feels even more surreal when you're staying in a historic lighthouse on a nearly deserted isle. Quirpon Island overlooks "Iceberg Alley" at Newfoundland's northern tip, and its white and red 1884 lighthouse keeps watch over 22 whale species that swim in the waters, including humpbacks and minke, the smallest baleen whale. 

You can stay a night at the 10-room heritage Quirpon Lighthouse Inn at the base of the still-active beacon, then hike the cliffs and explore by kayak, boat or guided Zodiac. You might even see the northern lights!

Where can I stay to immerse myself in a close-knit community?

Sometimes the people are what make the place. Since 2005, Cape Race has invited travelers to settle into private residential and historic homes. From there, you shape your experience: tell your host what you like, from whale watching to a classic kitchen party, and the locals will make it happen!

Stay at the Bonavista Peninsula, where you can catch a glimpse of 10,000-year-old icebergs from the top of the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site on the Avalon Peninsula. Just a few miles outside the 500-year-old historic capital city of St. John's, one of the oldest European-settled locations in North America,  visit the Cape Spear Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site. 

Or play golf and hike in Heart's Delight. If you want local connection, this is where you’ll find it. 

Where can I stay in Port Village to hike and taste craft brew? 

Stay at rural Port Rexton, with its colorful houses and quaint cove near Trinity. 

Start with seasonal and experimental craft brew at Port Rexton Brewing Co.—try the Sweater Weather Double IPA and The One With The Citra American Pale Ale. At one of 12 picturesque outports dotted along the rugged coastline, get a room at the 4.5-star Fishers Loft Inn, which boasts a collection of structures and architecture that reflect Trinity Bay between 1850 and 1900. 

Take a walk during your stay along the three-mile coastal, woodland Skerwink Trail at its doorstep. The trail was mentioned by Travel + Leisure in its list of top 25 most stunning Canadian destinations thanks to its impressive views of cliffs near the sea and rocks jutting out of the water. This place definitely leaves an impression.

Can I stay at a research station and learn more about the Inuit?

Head to the Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station on Saglek Fjord and Labrador's untamed coast to join researchers and Inuit in a base camp. Open July and August, it's a solar-powered tent camp and lab outside Torngat Mountains National Park. A rare wilderness experience of ancient geology awaits, where bears and caribou roam amid some of Earth’s oldest rocks. 

Hosting 12 guests at a time, the camp gives you the opportunity to stay with scientific researchers and meet Nunatsiavut and Nunavik elders and youth. Go on tough hiking and scouting expeditions via the crew's Zodiacs as well as helicopter rides with a skilled Inuit polar bear guard keeping watch. 

Torngat is Inuktitut for "place of the spirits." Maybe in this subarctic Inuit homeland, you’ll witness something magical.

Where can I stay in St. John’s? 

Lively port town and capital city St. John's is one of North America's oldest and most easterly cities. National Geographic named it one of the top 10 oceanside cities in the world. There are rows of saltbox houses here, and live music on George Street.

If you want to relax, head to Atlantic Canada’s largest Aveda Concept Spa at Monastery Spa and Suites, a former sanctuary for Irish Christian brothers, dating back to 1931. Enjoy the modern design, coupled with artsy stained glass windows, and then try a wellness treatment, or book a spacious suite with a jacuzzi and king-sized bed.

Or stay at Leaside Manor, a 1920s merchant family home that is now an Arts and Crafts-style den with a fireplace, hardwood floors and unique touches—even the rooms are named after local favorites!

Where can I stay in an old church?

Cupids, a one-hour drive from St. John's, was Canada's first continuously settled English colony, established in 1610. Stay in historic Cupids Cathedral House in the restored St. Augustine's church, made comfy inside while preserving the Gothic exterior. Reserve the Whale Room for a canopy queen bed beneath vaulted ceilings and Gothic windows, a cozy fireplace and a pull out sofa for extra guests. Start every day with a home-cooked breakfast in the tea room. 

The property is settled right next to the Burnt Head walking trail, offering a secluded and tranquil setting for your next off-the-beaten-path adventure.

If the church is full, stay at the 1889 restored Skipper Ben’s, with a harbor view and tasty eats, namely pan-fried cod and seafood chowder.

While you're there, be sure to sample the best of the burgeoning craft beer scene in rowdy St. John’s and in other communities across the province! Come to this beautiful place for a trip you’ll never forget.

Find more local gems at the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism website.

FAQ

What's the coolest place to stay in Newfoundland and Labrador?

Depends on what you're chasing. Want architecture and art? Fogo Island Inn, hands down, where all 29 rooms stare down the North Atlantic. Looking for icebergs and whale views from bed? Quirpon Lighthouse Inn, right on Iceberg Alley. Craving something literary and quiet? Wavey's House, the saltbox author E. Annie Proulx fixed up near L'Anse aux Meadows. There's no single winner here. That's kind of the point.

Can you really stay in a lighthouse in Newfoundland?

You can, and it's a working one. Quirpon Lighthouse Inn is a 10-room heritage inn on Quirpon Island, tucked at the base of an active beacon at the province's northern tip. You get the cliffs, the kayaking, whale sightings from the deck, and if you're lucky, the northern lights. Getting there involves a boat. Worth it.

When is the best time to see whales and icebergs in Newfoundland?

Whales show up May through September, with humpbacks peaking in July and August when the capelin rolls in. Newfoundland hosts the world's largest population of feeding humpbacks, so your odds are good. Icebergs drift down "Iceberg Alley" earlier, roughly late spring into early summer. Visit in June if you want the best chance of seeing both. 

How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in Newfoundland and Labrador?

Four: L'Anse aux Meadows (the only confirmed Norse settlement in North America), Gros Morne National Park, Red Bay's Basque whaling station and the Mistaken Point fossils. You can road-trip between them, which is a rare thing to be able to say about UNESCO sites anywhere.

Where should you stay to visit L'Anse aux Meadows?

Wavey's House is about as close as cozy gets. It's a 60-year-old seaside saltbox on the Great Northern Peninsula, restored by E. Annie Proulx of The Shipping News fame, with two bedrooms and a patio right on the cove. Icebergs and whales drift past while you drink your coffee. The Viking site is a short hop away.

Is Fogo Island Inn worth the trip?

For a lot of people, yes. Todd Saunders designed it as a community project, not just a hotel, and it shows in the artist studios scattered across the rock and the profits are reinvested in the community. Rooftop wood-fired saunas, floor-to-ceiling Atlantic views, a real kitchen. It's remote and it's a splurge. Go in knowing that.

What's the most remote place you can stay in Labrador?

Torngat Mountains Base Camp on Saglek Fjord, no contest. It's a solar-powered tent camp open late July into August, hosting just 12 guests at a time alongside researchers and Nunatsiavut and Nunavik elders. No roads in. You explore by Zodiac and helicopter, with an Inuit polar bear guard keeping watch. This one's for serious adventurers.

Sources

Newfoundland's coolest accommodations — Destination Canada (original): https://travel.destinationcanada.com/en-ca/things-to-do/newfoundlands-coolest-accommodations
NL UNESCO Sites — Destination Canada: https://travel.destinationcanada.com/en-us/things-to-do/newfoundland-labrador-unesco-sites
Canadian Sites on the World Heritage List — Parks Canada: https://parks.canada.ca/culture/spm-whs/sites-canada
Annie Proulx — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Proulx
Fogo Island Inn — Saunders Architecture: https://www.saunders.no/fogo-island-inn
Fogo Island Inn — official: https://fogoislandinn.ca/
Quirpon Lighthouse Inn — NL Tourism: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/accommodations/212681
A Lighthouse Inn, Whales & Bergs — Linkum Tours: https://linkumtours.com/tours/sightseeing-tours/a-lighthouse-inn-whales-bergs/
Whale Watching — NL Tourism: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/things-to-do/whale-watching
CapeRace — Private Homes: https://www.caperace.com/private-homes
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse — NL Tourism: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/attractions/210574
Fishers' Loft Inn — official: https://fishersloft.com/
Port Rexton Brewing — official: https://www.portrextonbrewing.com/
Skerwink Trail — NL Tourism: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/attractions/11146293
Torngat Mountains Base Camp — official: https://thetorngats.com/
Torngat Mountains National Park — Destination Canada: https://travel.destinationcanada.com/en-us/things-to-do/bucket-list-guide-torngat-mountains-national-park
St. John's top oceanfront cities — The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/national-geographic-picks-st-johns-among-top-10-oceanfront-cities/article22779564/
Monastery Spa Hotel — official: https://monasteryspa.com/
Cupids, Canada's First English Settlement — Canadian Encyclopedia: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadas-first-english-settlement-feature
Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/