My partner and I became engaged this past summer, but with my fiancé working in the U.S., we didn’t get a real chance to celebrate. Between time zones, FaceTime calls and two conflicting calendars, the champagne toast kept getting pushed to “next time.”
So, when he came home this October, I wanted to plan something that felt like an occasion, minus the Pearson airport pick-up. We booked a staycation in Elora, Ont., a small (and surprisingly busy) town about 90 minutes from Toronto.
The drive alone set the tone. It was one of those perfect fall days, with farmland stretched out on both sides of the road, and horses and cows dotting the fields. By the time we pulled into town, I was in vacation mode.
Our home for the next 24 hours: the Kat Florence Hotel.
Your girls’ weekend emergency kit.
Who is Kat Florence?
Kat Florence is a recognizable name ing the jewellery world. Locals know her as Kristy Hillis, a sixth-generation Elora native who grew up exploring the town’s trails and watching movies at the little stone cinema attached to her now hotel.
Before she designed jewellery, she taught grade school. After nine years in the classroom, she made the switch to jewellery making full time in 2012, and two years later she launched her first collection. Today, she’s a seven-time world record-breaking rare gemstone artist, setting the stones her husband, gem hunter Don Kogen, sources from around the globe.
Her gemstones are displayed throughout the hotel’s original limestone walls, including a flawless 424.8-carat Royal Velvet Blue tanzanite, the largest ever offered at auction. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself staring into a glass case on your way to the patisserie – guilty as charged.
When Hillis and Kogen heard Elora’s historic Commercial Hotel was at risk of being redeveloped, they bought it in 2020.
From 1848 landmark to boutique hotel
The building itself is a piece of Elora history. The Commercial Hotel was built in 1848 and served as a gathering place for the community for generations. By the time Hillis took it over, much of it had sat empty for decades.
Rather than gutting it, the team did something I’d never heard of: they removed the original limestone, numbered every single stone and put it all back exactly as it was. The restoration took about four years, and the hotel officially opened in December 2024.
The result is a building that feels old in all the right ways and new in all the right places. Original stone walls, soft lighting, warm woods, plush fabrics and natural materials are layered on top of one another, and everything feels curated. The textures are intentional, and together they create an incredibly calming presence. It’s the kind of space that makes you exhale the second you walk in.
And it really is an oasis. Elora on a fall Saturday is buzzing with day-trippers, shoppers and leaf-peepers, but step inside and the noise of Mill Street simply disappears.
Road tripping with your dog? Here’s how to keep them safe
The warm welcome from the Kat Florence hotel
The experience actually started before we left home. Ahead of our stay, the hotel called to confirm our itinerary, and then asked about our music preferences. I didn’t think much of it at the time. (Spoiler: The hotel had a plan.)
We pulled up on a busy Saturday afternoon and were greeted before we even had a chance to grab our bags. The staff took our luggage, ushered us inside, and we left our car with valet.
One of the first things they told us: the hotel doors stay locked at all times. It’s not about keeping you in; it’s about keeping the busy town out. Only guests and staff can get through the door, which gives the whole place the feeling of a private home rather than a hotel.
Instead of a front desk, we entered the “living room.” Housed with a stunning bar stocked with Veuve Clicquot and other bottles to make martinis. Pastries sat on the counter under glass domes. This is the Infinity Patisserie, and yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like: unlimited pastries for guests, all day and all night.
Everything is made fresh daily by Chef Marc Collyer, who spent 14 years at The Manor House, a two Michelin star hotel in England’s Cotswolds. The selection of pastries changes daily, so there’s always an excuse to go back for “just one more.”
Did we try a sliver of everything with a latte? Obviously. It would have been rude not to.
The travel essentials our editors swear by.
Our suite – and congratulations on ice
Once we’d had our brief fill of pastries, a hotel staff member walked us up to our room, and the second the door opened, I heard it: Leon Bridges, the exact music I’d mentioned on the phone, already playing. It’s such a small detail, but it made the room feel like it had been waiting for us.
The suite seemed less like a hotel room and more like a chic apartment, the kind you start mentally moving into within five minutes. There was a bottle of Veuve on ice, along with a plate of dessert that read “Congratulations” in sauce, and a card from the hotel. It was a thoughtful touch, and it made the whole stay feel personal. We decided to save the bubbles for later.
The details here are worth noting. The sheets are by a Canadian company, Au Lit Fine Linens. The bath towels are plush and soft. And the bedroom windows feature blackout curtains, which explains why it was so hard to get out bed the next morning. And when I mentioned how much I loved the kitchen towels they had, they told me it came from LemonTree + Co., an interiors shop right in town – a nice nod to how much Kat keeps things local.
Our host gave us a quick lesson in how everything works. The room and every door leading outside to the Nordic spa are keypad-activated, so you can come and go as you please, 24 hours a day.
My advice: Pack a bathing suit for the spa and something nice for dinner. And leave plenty of room in your belly for pastries. You’ll want these things.
No liquids on board: How to zip through airport security with a makeup bag
Unwinding at the Nordic spa
Tucked into a hidden garden behind the hotel, the spa has a cedar sauna, a hot tub, a cold plunge and a fireplace, with cozy blankets and canned water waiting so you never have to go looking for anything.
We spent the afternoon going between hot and cold, then curling up by the fire, doing absolutely nothing. It was exactly what we needed.
We also met another couple who were celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary. There’s something sweet about toasting a brand-new engagement next to two people who are a decade into their marriage. Consider it a preview of what we’re working toward.
Back in the room, the champagne was perfectly chilled. We popped the bottle and got ready for dinner.
Motivation Or obligation: Should you exercise while on vacation?
Dinner at Tony’s
Dinner is included every night of your stay, cooked by one of Hillis’s rotating star chefs, and you don’t find out who until that evening. For us, that meant a short walk a few doors down to Tony’s Sourdough Pizzeria.
The story behind it is half the fun. Chef Tony Bish was born in Thailand, trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok, has cooked for royal families and ran a pizzeria there, where Hillis and Kogen were regulars. They loved his food so much they helped him and his family move to Elora. By day, Tony’s is a sourdough pizza spot. The dough is made with his grandmother’s starter recipe. By night, it’s a private dining experience with a tasting menu for hotel guests.
He’s in good company. The chef rotation also includes Chef Marc from the patisserie and Chef Neill Anthony, a private chef who has cooked for King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales. An unexpected lineup for a small Ontario town.
Here’s what we ate:
- Langoustine taco
- Short rib larb
- Bluefin tuna and truffle, topped with caviar
- Pizza tonda romana
- Five-spice duck
- Apple tarte tatin to share
Every course had us looking at each other like, “Are you tasting this?” And splitting a tarte tatin to finish felt like the perfect sweet ending to a celebration.
Best spots to eat, get fit & shop in Calgary, Vancouver & Toronto
Wait, they have houses too?
At dinner, we got chatting with a woman from Toronto who was staying in one of the Kat Florence houses. I had no idea those existed.
She had originally booked a room at the hotel but was upgraded to a house, along with her friends who were having a wedding the next day at the Elora Mill. The houses have three or more bedrooms and their own private hot tubs, and guests still get full access to the living room, the patisserie and the Nordic spa.
The most exclusive option is Imperial Jade Manor, a restored 1870s limestone estate Hillis once lived in herself. It has a 60-foot pool, a custom stone hot bath under the stars and its own private chef: Dale Mackay, Canada’s first Top Chef winner.
Planning a girls’ trip, a family milestone or a wedding weekend? This is the move.
Girls’ weekend snacks—taste-tested, editor-approved,
Martinis in the living room
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and closed the night clinking martinis in the living room, joined by the woman we’d met at Tony’s. Turns out, we had a lot in common. Her place in Toronto is just around the corner from the apartment I keep in the city for work, so we spent a good chunk of the night swapping our favourite restaurants and coffee shops in that part of the city.
The hotel lobby turned into a house party, as guests trickled into the living room, and we all mingled over drinks. We caught up with our anniversary couple from the spa, who had just come back from dinner at The Library, the hotel’s guests-only space overlooking the Grand River. They’d been to Tony’s the night before, and they told us the food at The Library was amazing.
How to travel with just a carry-on
Breakfast at the door and La Mer massages
The next morning, we had in-suite breakfast, and it was a spread: an assortment of croissants with butter and jams, two cappuccinos, a yogurt parfait with chia seeds, mixed berries, fresh orange and grapefruit juice, a buttery biscuit and a kakaós csiga, a Hungarian cocoa swirl I now think about often.
We also booked hour-long massages, which are included for both guests in the room. They’re done with La Mer massage oil. If you know anything about La Mer, you know that’s a very big deal. I walked out feeling like a brand-new person.
Should you get a lymphatic drainage massage?
What to do in Elora
If you have time before or after your stay, Elora makes it easy to fill a day.
Shop the Kat Florence market. The Elora Christmas Market, presented by Kat Florence, returns November 14 and runs through Christmas Day, with little wooden chalets tucked along the laneways behind Mill Street. This is a true family affair: Hillis’s family is very involved in the town, and we were told her father waters all of the plants around the hotel and the market every single day. Once you know that, you start noticing how lush everything is.
Walk the Elora Gorge. The Elora Gorge Conservation Area is just minutes from downtown, and the trails are especially beautiful when the leaves are turning.
Sip something local. Elora Distilling Company is a grain-to-glass distillery that sources everything within 15 kilometres. Grab a tasting flight, but maybe not right before your massage.
Browse the boutiques. Pop into LemonTree + Co. on Metcalfe Street (you can buy the kitchen towel I love) and wander the stone storefronts along Mill and Metcalfe streets.
Grab lunch or a coffee. Lost + Found Café is practically next door to the hotel and an easy stop before the drive home.
Montreal guide: The best (& healthiest) places to work out, chill, eat & more
Is the Kat Florence Hotel worth it?
Yes, but let’s address the elephant in the room: the Kat Florence Hotel isn’t exactly cheap. Prices depend on the suite or house you’re staying in, with rooms starting around $1,300 a night and the Imperial Jade Manor going for $5,000. But once you add up everything that’s included, the math starts mathing.
Every stay includes:
- A bottle of Veuve Clicquot waiting in your room
- A 60-minute La Mer massage (1 per guest)
- 24-hour access to the Nordic spa
- Unlimited visits to the Infinity Patisserie, day and night
- A chef tasting dinner every night of your stay
- Breakfast delivered to your door
- Valet parking and chauffeured rides around town in the hotel’s Rolls-Royce or Bentley
Some guests also get an invitation to the Kat Florence Reserve, a private 100-acre nature sanctuary along the Grand River, for guided forest walks and riverside picnics, one couple at a time.
We didn’t get to experience it ourselves, but the anniversary couple we met at the spa did.
We consider it another reason to book it again.
My take: If you have something special to celebrate, whether it’s an engagement, an anniversary or a milestone birthday, it’s worth saving up for. I would absolutely go again.
It was the perfect 24 hours in Elora, and the best way to finally celebrate us.