Our car is often filled with the sound of Taylor Swift’s music. Swift builds entire worlds within her songs and, in a playful way, we feel a kinship between the poetry of her songs and the architecture of our magical little hotel. It made us wonder: if the Hazelnut Inn were a Taylor Swift album, what would it sound like?

Whether you are a dedicated Swiftie or just someone who appreciates a well-placed metaphor (and a really deep bathtub), here is how your stay with us might feel like living inside a pop masterpiece.

Finding Your Soundtrack at the Hazelnut Inn

For our opening track, we’ve chosen Swift’s Enchanted. Our guests often tell us there is a sense of wonder that hits you the moment you pull up to our gates, and Enchanted really captures that feeling of an instant, sparkling connection.

The song’s themes of immediate captivation, and a hopeful — almost surreal — new beginning, mirrors the magic of stepping into your suite’s private garden. Our suites offer more than a place to stay; they are a physical vessel for the feelings of sanctuary, secrecy, and triumph that Taylor captures so beautifully in her music.

The Spirit of Sanctuary

Sometimes, the most romantic thing in the world isn’t a fairytale — it’s the feeling of finally being safe after a storm.

This sense of relief defines our second track: Taylor Swift’s cinematic The Fate of Ophelia. Swift reimagines Shakespeare’s tragedy as a story of survival, and the song’s oceanic melody perfectly reinforces that feeling of being saved from “drowning in the melancholy” and finding a love that spans the “land, the sea, and the sky.”

This sense of finding safe harbour after a turbulent voyage is also woven into the fabric of our whimsical adventurer’s paradise — the North Star Suite. Just as Taylor’s Ophelia floats and finds a new beginning, you may find our deep soaker tub for two is the perfect place to have a moment of blissful, luxurious reflection.

The Spirit of Seclusion

Our third track is Taylor Swift’s spellbinding Willow.

An intimate, folksy track, Willow evokes both nature and a deep, quiet magic. Swift herself describes the song as “casting a spell.” With its breathless chorus and earthy metaphors, it feels like it was written in a garden at twilight.

The witchy, organic nature of Taylor’s Willow pairs nicely with the hidden, subterranean charm of our Under Hill Suite. Staying in the Under Hill is a delightfully secluded experience, reflecting the song’s theme of following a partner into a private world. And, just like the song, it’s a little bit magical. Whether you are snuggled inside with the one you love, or outside listening to the trickling waterfalls in your secret garden, the Under Hill is where your “plans get wrecked” in the best possible way.

The Spirit of Triumph

Our fourth song, Taylor Swift’s majestic Long Live, celebrates the feeling of “all the kingdom lights” shining just for you. It is a grand, unapologetic, fairytale and serves as the perfect anthem for our Copper Crown Suite.

With its towering arches, regal heraldry, and history of dragon-riding aristocrats, the Copper Crown is perfect for celebrating your “Long Live” milestones — anniversaries, honeymoons, or just the Tuesday you decide you are a queen.

Finishing the Album

The final song on our imaginary “album” is Swift’s Love Story. It is a thematic mirror for our guests’ experience and ultimately, checking out feels like reaching the final notes of the song…

A soft melancholy sets in as the door to your themed sanctuary begins to close, yet it’s quickly replaced by a shimmering nostalgia for the memories made inside your sailing ship, woodland burrow, or castle tower. Like the song’s repeated plea, “I’ll be waiting,” the inn will remain a permanent fixture in your own romantic lore, leaving you with the quiet, certain hope that this wasn’t just a one-time escape, but a story you’ll return to again and again.

Are you ready to check into your favourite Era?

We’ve been called the “Shrek” hotel. Which is a bit confusing… because we aren’t.

I think I understand the reasoning though, because we are a kind of fairytale hotel. Not Shrek’s fairytale, or Bilbo Baggins’ fairytale, or even sleeping beauty’s fairytale — a fairytale of your own.

A little fantasy world you can literally step into.

And that’ll do…

Ten years ago, Hailey and I were lucky enough to travel to Europe for our honeymoon. We spent a little time in Italy and had the opportunity to stay in a beautifully restored tower in an old Roman villa.

It was a wonderful experience and it sparked a dream of building our own magical getaway.

This year we opened our first suite—the North Star—and we are now talking reservations for our second—the Under Hill.

However, our third offering—the Copper Crown—will be the suite that is most closely tied to that early dream. We’ll be starting on the Copper Crown’s interior very soon…

According to Google, one of the most common questions people ask about the Hazelnut Inn is “are we open?” And the answer is a resounding yes! We opened our first suite this year and we have opened our second suite for bookings starting in June of 2025.

Suite Number 1: The North Star

The North Star Suite evokes the romance of the sea — of pirates and of magic. Staying here is like stepping into the pages of Treasure Island. You even sleep in the Captain’s quarters, guarded by twin mermaids.

Suite Number 2: The Under Hill

The Under Hill Suite will be open in June of 2025. It is literally under a hill and if Beatrix Potter had written The Hobbit then Bilbo “the rabbit” Baggins would have lived in someplace very much like the Under Hill.

Yes, the Hazelnut Inn is open!

We hope you will come for a visit and stay in one of our amazing suites.

Photo Credit: Michael Cox

Like many people, as a teen, I spent a lot of time with my friends. We’d watch movies at my house or I’d visit their homes to play games or listen to music.

And of course, I got to know many of my friends parents; I liked most of them and there were a few I admired, but I always felt that I had the best parents.

Other parents were kind, or intelligent, or passionate but it seemed to me that my parents had these qualities in just the right measure. And importantly (from my perspective) they were interested in me and my dreams.

30 years later I still feel that way. When Hailey and I first started talking about a little hotel that adds an aura of magic to a special occasion, they were right there dreaming with us.

This year my parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. And we were so pleased to have them stay at our magical little hotel.

Happy Anniversary to my favourite parents!

When I was a child, my mother had a rather extensive collection of books.

But she didn’t always have a library — or even a bookshelf. In fact, as a young woman, she would buy used books and sell them back to the secondhand bookstore once she’d read them. The difficulty however, was that she read so many books she began to lose track of what she had or hadn’t read. She found herself buying books, taking them home; reading the first few pages only to realize she had already read them.

So she started keeping her books and her collection began to grow.

Now, my mother read science fiction and fantasy novels almost exclusively (and does so to this day). And she is such a prolific reader that by the time I was old enough to read the spines on the shelves we had more speculative fiction than any bookstore I’ve ever visited.

My mother taught me the joy, and the value, of reading and her library has left an indelible mark on my life.

Photo by @thecasualceltic

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island”

— Walt Disney