Visit us in 2019: Special holiday promotion

It’s been a fabulous year at The Hideout. In honour of our one-year anniversary, and to celebrate the holiday season, we’re offering a special gift to you.

Book a weeklong stay at either the Hideout’s signature cottage or The Tryon Suite for 2019, and we’ll take 20% off our posted rates (either high season or off-peak rates). Offer valid for bookings made by December 31, 2018.

Need some help planning your trip? Check out some of our secrets from the South Shore region of the Island, or visit Tourism PEI for more. We look forward to welcoming you to our rustic hideaway. Be in touch with your questions and let us know how we can make your visit to the Island memorable!

Secrets of the South Shore: Food and drink

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The South Shore is a food lovers' paradise

We love the South Shore of the Island for its awesome beaches, gorgeous red cliffs, and rolling pastoral countryside. We soak up the opportunities to hike and bike some of the most wicked trails in the province. But—as chowhounds—we also love the burgeoning food and drink scene brewing all around us.

Folks who visit always ask us for local options for eating out, and our list is long. First off are our friends up the road in Augustine Cove at the By the Roadside Gallery and Café, one of the most eclectic dining spots on the Island. Cathy and Bill have created a café alongside their glorious art gallery. They serve up some of the best seafood chowder on PEI, great organic coffee, and our favourite brunch item, the famous Skillet. It’s a down home kind of place where you can eat like a local, browse for pottery and wood carvings from local artists, and set yourself up on Island time. 

Tasty treats are made fresh from scratch at By the Roadside Gallery & Cafe.

A few minutes away up the road in Albany is The Handpie Company, purveyors of fabulous savoury pies, both meat and vegetarian. Think Acadian tourtiere or steaming cheesy potato pies, with perfectly flaked crusts. The perfect road food. 

The Handpie Company serves up savoury, steaming pies...the perfect road food. 

Five minutes from The Hideout is the artsy village of Victoria-by-the-Sea. Step out for a night of theatre and an afternoon of browsing bookstores, artisan galleries, and hyper-local shops. While you’re at it, pop in to our friends at Island Chocolates, PEI’s oldest and best-loved chocolate shop. The Gilbert family are renowned far and wide for their innovative, ethically-sourced, handmade chocolates. For a full meal, grab a lobster roll and try one of the rotating tap of local microbrews at The Lobster Barn Pub, all while watching the fishermen haul in the day’s catch from the cozy patio.

Speaking of microbrews, Barnone Brewery is just up the road from us in scenic Rose Valley. Stop by to try their Sessions Ale—perfect for summer sipping—and check out growler night on Thursdays, when the brewery opens for free live entertainment, food truck wood-fired pizza, and bocce ball onsite. 

All this and more, within a ten-minute drive of The Hideout! If you’re visiting us this fall, be sure to check out PEI’s Fall Flavours festival. Think intimate food tastings, multi-course meals with celebrity chefs, local feasts—including the celebrated Savour Victoria event, right in our hood.

If you’re curious to visit wineries, cheese shops, oyster bars, and farmers’ markets further afield, let us be your guides to drinking and dining on the Island.

Bon appetit!

Celebrating Pride on PEI

A Primer for LGBTQ Travellers

Prince Edward Island has come a long way to championing and celebrating LGBTQ rights in the span of a few decades. The Island’s Pride Festival is celebrating its 24th year in 2018, and the Island is home to Canada’s only openly gay Premier. Like the rest of Canada, PEI has legally recognized same-sex marriage for well over a decade.

Moreover, the province has rolled out the welcome mat when it comes to making LGBTQ travellers feel at home. Supported in part by the provincial government, the PEI Gay Tourism Association commissioned a series of videos profiling real-life queer Island couples sharing their love of the Island.  The Association also works with local Island businesses and tourism establishments to help owners and hosts make their offerings friendly to LGBTQ travellers. 

Pride Week—held in 2018 from July 22-July 29—is now celebrated right across the Island, from events in cities like Summerside to beachside picnics. Festivities are hosted throughout the month of July, including BBQs, dance parties, drag shows, family events, and of course the Pride Parade in Charlottetown. 

Charlottetown's Pride Parade is held the last week of July. 

Closer to our little nest at The Hideout, the neighbouring village of Victoria-by-the-Sea will be hosting its second annual Pride parade on July 23. Locals and visitors alike will march up Main Street and celebrate with a reception. 

Outside of Pride week, LGBTQ visitors will find a number of queer-friendly and queer-specific events throughout the year. Check out Pride PEI listings for information on Pride dances, trivia nights, and other social events. Be sure to visit the PEI Gay Tourism Association for an up-to-date listing on LGTBQ-owned and LGBTQ-friendly establishments right across the Island. Be sure to get out of the cities and wander off the beaten track. PEI's the kind of place where you'll find queer families, couples and entrepreneurs spread right across the Island, running eclectic antique shops, thriving organic farms, fabulous inns and cottages, and a host of other hyper-local, fiercely proud Island establishments. 

Rainbow crosswalks at Charlottetown's main intersection. 

Most importantly, know that the Island will extend a warm welcome to you, your lovers, and your loved ones. We’ve been blessed to call the Island home. The Hideout itself has played a pioneering role in serving LGBTQ travellers to the Island. In a previous incarnation, our home was an LGBTQ-run bed and breakfast called Evening Primrose, offering a comfortable home-away- from-home for LGBTQ travellers from around the world. The beautiful roses are still with us!

Contact us for questions and more information about travelling to the Island, insider tips for LGBTQ travellers, and how to make The Hideout your personal home base for exploring all the glorious riches the Island has to offer. 

In the meantime, Happy Pride! 

The birth of a dream

Dream with us

Welcome to The Hideout. It’s a few days after summer solstice, so the light is long and gorgeous in the gardens. Around us, goldfinches and hummingbirds dart through the trees, and the bright purple lupins have burst into luscious colour. The time of year when the riches of the earth and the turn of the season remind us that we are part of something much larger and more profound than ourselves. 

Spring winds into summer, and many of us are planning our summer adventures. For us, this turn to summer marks the advent of a very special dream, one we are so pleased to share with each of you. For the past few years, we’ve been dreaming of opening a special hideaway, a rural retreat on Prince Edward Island that might serve as a home base for folks seeking a place to recharge, nourish, and enjoy the spectacular rhythms and special adventures of Island life. 

We found that magic in The Hideout.

It’s our getaway on the artsy, eclectic, up-and-coming south shore region of Prince Edward Island. Known as Red Sands Shore, the south shore is home to artists, organic farmers, scores of antique shops, the eclectic enclave of Victoria-by-the-Sea, and some of the best kayaking, cycling, and hiking trails on PEI. It’s a hidden secret just beginning to take its well-deserved turn in the Island spotlight. 

It’s hard to travel anywhere on Prince Edward Island without coming face to face with gorgeous seaside views, tasty local cafes and restaurants, and bustling artisan shops. But there’s something particularly special about the south shore, with its red shore beaches and rolling hills. It's a place that’s just slightly off the beaten track, a refuge for those who value privacy and tranquility, but close enough to everything to make it home base for your Island adventures.

The floating bridge over Lord's Pond, part of the watershed trail system..

Our many commitments mean we spend part of the year in Toronto, so retreating to The Hideout offers us a place to charge the batteries, dream big, and stimulate the part of ourselves where the creativity and dreaming lie. We love the wild native gardens, taking our coffee on the dock of Lord’s Pond, wandering the nature trails of the protected Tryon River watershed, and simply sitting on the patio watching the sunset, communing with the cows across the field, or listening to the birds and the frogs.

We want this place to feel like home for you, too. Whether you’re a writer or artist seeking a place to retreat, a solo adventure traveller, a couple looking for a romantic getaway, or a frequent visitor to the Island looking for a high-quality, budget-friendly home base, we welcome you to our home. May it provide you with inspiration, revelation, nourishment. We are proud to offer you two options for your stay: our signature Hideout Cottage, and The Tryon Suite. Both are available for short-term rental from late spring to early fall. Visit our reservations page to find out more. 

Spectacular big sky sunsets from The Hideout's back patio.

To keep up to date with our special offers, insider tips for your Island adventure, and longer term retreat options, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, sign up for our seasonal newsletter, and check back often as we post more stories from here.