Need a southwestern Ontario getaway? Your overnight stay options are growing in Windsor-Essex

Windsor Morning8:41Want to spend the night in Essex County? Lodging options are multiplying

Want to spend the night in Essex County?

Go back in time a decade, and the only options for hotel stays in Windsor-Essex were in the city and in Leamington.

Recently, vacancy signs have been going up andlodging options have beenmultiplying.

In October, a six-suite boutique hotel is openingin Amherstburg adding to similar places that have opened in recent years in spots like Kingsville, Lakeshore and Colchester.

The head of the local tourism agency, Gordon Orr, said thatover the last three decadesor so, there's never been a better hotel, motel or boutique hotel product and market across the region.

"I think what it's really telling us is that overnight visitation is strong in the Windsor-Essex region," he said.

"It is helping fill the gaps. And what it is doing is it's offering accommodation options to our visiting public."

Orr said thatin the past, visitors would primarily stay in downtown Windsor.

"They would venture out to our tourism attractions within the county. Now, there's options available to them to also stay in the county."

The newest boutique hotel coming is in October in downtown Amherstburg. Thesix-suite property on Murray Street is called Hotel STRY.

President Lauri Brouyette believes the project fills a "terrible lack of inventory" for anyone to come and stay in the area.

"Visitors would come to the area and then they would pack up and leave for a night stay in Windsor," she said.

"We really don't want to see that happening. But in our case, we had these beautiful heritage buildings, a beautiful downtown area, and we wanted people to come and appreciate it."

Brouyette saidthe building is just under 150 years old and in good shape. It presented them with a beautiful canvas to design on.

"The architecture is amazing," she said.

"The bones of it are very, very strong. It was built originally as a bank and a mercantile. We removed the plaster in all of the old wallpaper and exposed the brick walls and then created unique spaces."

According to Brouyette, Amherstburg is an arts-oriented town.

She saidthey wanted the design of the building and the rooms to reflect that culture and make it a warming place for people to gather with a "Detroit vibe."

"It's a community space. We don't consider it ours, necessarily we consider it a big piece of the community that's been missing."

Before it opens next month, she said,a few "tweaks" still need to be made to the hotel's downstairs bar, and sandwich and breakfast area.

"As soon as we're done banging around down there, we want those doors to be wide open and we want to see people in there other than ourselves."

Jennifer Flynn is one of the owners of the Grove Hotel in Kingsville and the Grove Motel in Colchester.

She got into the boutique lodging game earlier than most in Windsor-Essex, with the hotel opening in 2016.

"We have such a deep tourism industry in our area with the wine route that there was definitely a shortfall," said Flynn.

"Kingsville seemed like a natural choice. And then we felt that the wineries still weren't supported out in the other areas, so we opened the Grove Motel and everything's been going wonderful with both properties."

Flynn saiboth lodcations arevirtual extensions of the existing wine routes and tourism events.

"It seemed to make sense that we could capture both at either end of the wine route and really support the tourism in that area."

According to Flynn, creating unique and memorable experiences has been front and centre for both the motel and hotel.

"Our motto is no beige walls here. Not one room is the same."

Who's staying over?

Flynn saidshe's seen a shift in their clientele over the past handful of years.

Before the pandemic, she said,people were primarily coming from Michigan.

Since then, it's become more of an "Ontario thing,' she added.

"Toronto ... and we do get a lot of Windsorites. And now we're now seeing Detroit or Michigan, Ohio. They're coming back."

Orr saidalthough boutique hotels don't necessarily add a lot in the way of inventory volume, they do give people a distinct option and directly help the districts and neighbourhoods or towns where they're located.

"They're usually bigger rooms, larger rooms, tastefully appointed and decorated. And then they offer that sort of escape, that relaxation, that short term getaway from the GTA area on down, we know a number of people come to the area just to get away from it all, to relax and unwind."

COVID-19, in a sort of ironic way, according to Orr, helped with local tourism as it forced people to stay closer to home and discover what's around them.

"They were sort of cocooning, but they were still getting out into their neighbourhoods and people recognizing what wonderful amenities we have in our own backyard."

He saidhotel occupancy is stronger in Windsor-Essex than some other parts of Ontario. That, paired with what he refers to asan "economic boom," has really helped the sector bounce back, says Orr.

"We're just about at pre-pandemic levels and a lot of people are looking for those short-term overnight stays and boutique hotels sort of offer you that different option is accommodate or to be able to stay, relax, unwind and enjoy your time here."