Travel in Style
How To Get The Dorchester's chic boutique hotel look in your home
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
Travel in Style
How To Get The Dorchester's chic boutique hotel look in your home
Set in downtown Collingwood, Ontario, The Dorchester Hotel is brimming with luxurious style ideas you can copy at home.
What makes The Dorchester a boutique hotel?
Each of its 28 rooms is individually decorated in styles that incorporate everything from bright and carefree colours to dramatically dark hues. There’s lots of tactile interest, lively wallpaper and characterful accessories. It’s especially cool because it recasts a historic building as a contemporary design destination.
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
The History Of The Dorchester Hotel
It dates back to the 1890s and was the town’s original hotel for decades before it fell into disrepair. New owners Chris and Tammy Millsap have carefully restored it to pay homage to its rich heritage while amping things up a considerable style notch (Tammy is also the owner of At Home Interiors, a décor store beside the hotel and the source for its lighting, rugs and furniture). The grand reveal was in 2022.
You mentioned wallpaper—I love it but am always a little nervous about trying it in my place
It’s incorporated here in ways that inspire, especially if you’re a wallcovering novice. It’s applied to smaller areas, mostly in the bathrooms and kitchenettes (yes, the rooms are equipped for prepping food and drinks) so it layers in a sense of playfulness, isn’t overpowering and still maintains a sophisticated vibe. Used as an accent in utilitarian spots, such as above sinks or beside showers, wallpaper feels luxurious and adds expensive-looking designer oomph at budget-friendly prices.
Want to incorporate wallpaper in your home? We're loving these fun and trendy ideas.
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
Any other easy ideas to steal for an affordable designer-look effect?
A super easy one to copy would be adding crown moulding and panelling. They’re generally inexpensive to buy, especially if they’re MDF, and easy to install. The trick is lending a grand edge to them with a secret weapon: paint.
Take The Dorchester’s lead and focus on dark, inky tones, deep saturated colours or bright pastel shades (these colours will make your home look expensive). It’s fun to play with application too. You could just paint lower wainscotting a deep hue and leave the rest of the flat walls a light colour. Or, you could colour-drench the entire space and paint the walls, trim and even the ceiling the same rich colour for high-impact drama.
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
Colour is key in creating a luxurious effect
It is, especially with tiles. You’ll find some neutral-tone subway tiles at The Dorchester, but it’s the colourful ones, from glossy black and bright blue to earthy terracotta and cheerful green, that will have you rethinking your white tiles.
It's all about the accessories
This is where the hotel has fun and really factors in personality. Standouts include an over-the-top, tiger-shaped rug that is pure whimsy, cane-fronted cabinets that have a vintage presence and great seating—it’s amazing how an armchair or chaise lounge can transform a bedroom and lend a finished look.
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
Wow, I may never want to leave the hotel
Collingwood is an amazing town to explore—think downtown shops, restaurants and bars, as well as ski hills, spas, a pretty waterfront, historic architecture and so much more—but should you wish to stay put and relax, you’re in for a delicious treat.
Photography by Kayla Rocco, KR Studios
One of the town’s most innovative restaurants, The Tremont Café, is moving into The Dorchester as its restaurant in residence. It’s slated to open early summer and is not to be missed. The Tremont Café excels at contemporary fine dining in a fresh and unfussy way, from classic Steak Frites to vegetarian dishes like the best-selling Hen of the Woods, an umami-packed mushroom dish enlivened with sesame-peanut-nori crumble.
The perfect complement to fabulous design in a picture-postcard town.
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