Our Story

The original Hotel Sidney built in 1891 by Captain Bissett stood at the corner of Beacon Ave.and First Street.
Many Cannery buildings were built on the waterfront side of the Hotel. The Canneries processed millions of tons of clams and local fruit including blackberries, pears and peaches.
The Hotel burnt to the ground in 1948 and was rebuilt in 1952.

In 1963 Roland Paquette purchased the new Hotel Sidney property which sat on five lots, it was the only Hotel in Sidney and it did not take very long for the whole family to be involved in the business.
Roselyn worked as a desk agent, waitress and cashier from 1966 till 1970.
Denis worked on the desk on the evening shift in 1966 until a job came available refueling at the airport.
Denis started working full time for the family in 1970, and his sister Roselyn returned to the family business a decade later. Brother Rick thought he might pursue a career change from teaching but the one year that he chose was not a great financial year for the Hotel and he returned to teaching. The Paquette siblings grew up in the hotel environment and have worked in every facet of the business.

In the early days, the hotel was known more for its 250-seat pub, 125-seat lounge, 100 seat dining room, banquet room and cabaret, than for its 17 rooms. It was almost like the wild Wild West.

1967 was B.C’s centennial year and the pub was renovated to reflect this special event. The Ladies and escorts partitions were taken down (in those days women were not allowed on the men’s side), new red velvet curtains were installed with matching red terry table cloths (to absorb the beer) .A colorful wool carpet was laid. ( wool does not burn when a cigarette is dropped on it).A feature rock wall by Fernando was flanked with a ‘ Centennial Tree’. Permission was granted to install the first coin operated pool tables allowed in a pub.

In 1969 three waterfront lots were purchased and the last of the old Cannery buildings (a seaweed processing plant) was demolished. That year was a provincial election year and bars had to close on Election Day.
The exterior wall on the cocktail lounge previously covered in Aviation drapery was opened up. Roland cut the 2x6 wall with a chain saw and partner Conrad built windows. When the bar opened that night at 8PM it had a spectacular view of the waterfront. When the liquor inspector came in his comment was ‘that was a good idea’. (Bars were previously not allowed to be visible.)
 In 1976, 28 new hotel rooms were built in a separate wing attached to the old building.

The cocktail bar and dining room were expanded and a swimming pool was built in 1978.The pool was used by the community as a public pool and finally in 1979 after too much public use it was drained , boarded over and turned into a cabaret, complimenting both the bar and dining room.

Roland had managed to purchase most of the lots on the block by 1980 and on Christmas Eve 1987 an offer was made and accepted to purchase the last key piece of property that would consolidate all the properties into one waterfront block.

Upgrades and changes to the entire hotel were made annually.
 The booze business was good (there were lineups to get into the bar every morning), room business was strong and the food business was excellent.
We had great staff, a great product and a great location, success was just a matter of continual hard work.

In 1980 Denis took on the task of turning the hotel into a waterfront oriented building. The registration desk was moved to the waterfront and the old lobby was turned into a coffee shop.
Sister Roselyn rejoined the family business and took over front end operations.

An opportunity presented itself in the form of Scuba Diving and the provincial government came on board promoting B.C. as a world class destination for scuba diving.
Denis took to the road and in 1981 landed his first scuba Diving charter. Twenty divers drove out from Red Deer Alberta and in the middle of winter were able to complete their open water diving certificate. They stayed for three nights. The dive packages included meals, tanks, weights and air, boats and accommodation.
The hotel registered over 2000 diver nights by 1990 during the quiet winter months. The hotel had its own bus and boat. There was a scuba shop on site and a locker for each diver and their gear.
Winter tourism was at its best.

In 1983 the pub was completely renovated into a marine theme with lots of brass and cedar. A super efficient heat pump system was installed and there was a 100% change of air in the pub every 10 minutes.
This was the beginning of the no smoking era.

By the mid 80’s the public was requesting outside seating and an application to the liquor branch was granted to allow a deck to be built in front of the cocktail lounge and next to the dining room deck. The one condition imposed by Don Anderson, the director of licensing was “don’t mess up because we are watching you”.
The expansion of a liquor license onto an outside deck next to a restaurant deck had not previously been allowed and this was a test.
Can you imagine, kids sitting within earshot of the drinking public.?
The outside deck was a huge success and staff scheduling was done conditional to weather. A sunny day guaranteed us to have a full house for lunch.

In the early 90’s the company made a decision to make the dining room 100% non smoking.
This was early in the non smoking movement and the change almost killed the restaurant business. However, slowly an appreciation for a clean air eating environment caught on.

The Town of Sidney owned a street that dissected the property on the south side and in the late 80’s the Town began negotiations with the family to build a waterfront walkway.
In 1970 Roland had built a seawall to retain the embankment in front of the waterfront parking lot. The seawall had been built without a permit (in the old days you just did things as they needed to be done) and at the end of the day the family gave up 25 feet in front of the parking lot and traded the road for another 25 feet of waterfront on the south side.
The waterfront walkway was born and the properties were now consolidated into one waterfront block.

Several sets of plans were drawn up and approved over the years but never got off the paper due to timing.
In 1995 the timing was right to build and sell waterfront condominiums. Plans were drawn and approved. Sales were hot. The location and product were dynamite. By 1996 the new condominiums were built and sold…. And then it rained!

The very first rain poured right into the new building, yogurt buckets were rounded up and placed on the window sills to catch the water coming into the suites. It took a while to figure out but the family finally learned that they were the developers of a leaky condo building.
The first year of maintenance was plugging the dike and getting sold a phony bill of goods to waterproof the building but by the third year it was obvious that the outside of the condo had to be torn off and re detailed. (it turned out that it had never been detailed to shed water)
Like so many condo buildings that were erected in the mid 90s, this one began to leak. Unlike so many developers, however, the Paquette family stood by their building and with their own resources fixed the leaky condos for the owners.
The family bellied up to the table, hired a new contractor, tore the face off the condo, took the windows out, replaced rotten wood, and detailed every joint. It rained and the wind blew very hard in the winter of ‘99 but not one drop came back into the condo. The condo owners
were now warm and dry.

Back to the drawing board and time to move on.
Phase two of the development was redesigned, presales were set in motion and the old hotel was torn down on May 10,1999.
This time sales were dead slow. No one wanted to buy a condo for fear of buying a ‘leaky condo’.
In October the family had a meeting, rethought the long range plan and pulled the plug on phase two.
The new direction was to try to get out of the build and sell business and to get back into the cash flow business.

The newest wing of rooms that did not get eaten by the excavator was sitting there neglected but still being rented. Denis and Roselyn took a hard look at these rooms and decided that there were only two options left, tear down and walk away or renovate.

Renovations started in 2002. Every room and bathroom was stripped. The staff repainted furniture, Roselyn redecorated, carpets, bedding and beds were all replaced. Returning guests were pleasantly surprised and the comments changed from nice view to nice room.

Three quarters of the way through the rooms refurbishing project a connection was made with a potential tenant.
The idea was that if tenants could be found then a building could be built on the vacant land in the ‘hole’ where the old hotel had stood.
One potential tenant had their architect and offered a proposal for a new restaurant and liquor store. Plans were drawn and changed and eventually scrapped due to irresolvable rent negotiations.
The architect (Soren Rasmusen) was then asked by the family to draw up what he thought would look good on the property.
The guide lines were simple; two story commercial with hotel rooms on the second floor.

When the new design came back Denis asked the architect if he knew what buildings had previously occupied the land.
The old buildings that used to occupy the property were in fact old Canneries.
The architect had been inspired by another seaside town that had a Cannery.
The proposed building was a ‘Cannery’ style building designed to look like four buildings had been added on over the years. It was a perfect fit.

The family found a bank that would lend money for commercial, restaurant and hotel rooms took out a loan and started over.

The new Cannery building was built in 2004 just when all the building materials started to skyrocket in cost. Added to this was a third floor that the architect drew in and had not been budgeted for.
Fortunately the contractor Karl was able to hold his trades to their word and was able to meet costs.
Potential tenants came and went during the one and one half year construction period.
Construction on the building started with no firm tenants in place and ended completely rented before final inspection.

The fall of 2004 brought the Paquette family finally back in business on the waterfront in Sidney, the best location on the Vancouver Island.

The Sidney Waterfront Inn & Spa now offers a total of 36 rooms, 10 of them being brand-new 450 sq. ft. suites. Many of the hotel’s guests return year after year to enjoy the quiet elegance of the hotel and the ocean beside it. The Cannery building adds to the atmosphere with boutique, family-owned shops on-site including;
Beacon Landing Restaurant and liquor store, Papyrus Cards and Gifts, Flush Bathroom Essentials, Fandango Antiques and Garden Supplies, SeaQuest Whale Watching and Ocean Palm Spa.

Today we are still fixing, renovating and upgrading.
We have a super staff team. Alice has been with us the longest, she started in 1967 and today is in charge of laundry.
Alice is 80 years young still putting in six to eight hours on her shift.
Roselyn looks after the front end, scheduling, hiring and decorating, Brenda works on marketing; Denis works on development and maintenance with a staff that concentrates on a ‘super clean’ motto.
Father Roland although retired, is still active with lots of advice gathered from years of experience.

The business now operates under the name ‘Sidney Waterfront Inn & Suites.
Forty five years later, the Paquette family proudly still owns and operates the property.