Home Place Inn: A Homey Place to Stay on Prince Edward Island

When I arrived at the Home Place Inn, the owners, Greg and Angie Hitchcock, immediately made me feel at home. Before I had even walked into my room at this bed-and-breakfast on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, the Home Place Inn was already living up to its name as a homey place to stay.

Here’s the scoop:

A Warm Welcome at PEI’s Home Place Inn

It was evening when I arrived at this five-room bed-and-breakfast in the PEI town of Kensington, and Greg wanted to be sure I’d had my supper. When I said I hadn’t, he pulled out his phone to call the nearby Island Stone Pub to ensure that they had room for one more diner that day.

At his recommendation, after walking to this convivial spot in the former Kensington rail depot, I took a seat at the bar and dug into a seafood roll, a mix of crab, shrimp, and lobster salad, heaped onto a warm sandwich bun. My stay was off to a good start.

Guest Rooms and Amenities

Back at the Home Place Inn, I could have hung out with a book in the guest parlor, furnished with Victorian-era heritage pieces, but I opted instead to settle into my second-floor room.

I had booked “Daisy’s Room,” the smallest of the inn’s accommodations. In this well-designed space, the comfortable queen-size bed had an ornately carved headboard, there was an armoire where I could store my clothes, and the bathroom, while compact, was modern. A small refrigerator and a coffeemaker were tucked into the corner, beneath the wall-mounted flat-screen TV.

Each of the rooms at the Home Place Inn is furnished differently, but they all channel the Victorian era, while offering conveniences like air conditioning and speedy Wi-Fi.

Most of the rooms are on the inn’s second floor, though if you don’t want to climb the stairs, book “John Wilfred’s Room,” a king-bedded unit on the ground floor.

If you’re planning a romantic stay, consider “Anna’s Room,” also dubbed the honeymoon suite, with a king-sized four-poster bed plus a whirlpool soaker tub in the spacious bathroom. But all the rooms come with robes for two, each adorned with a flower.

Breakfast at the Home Place Inn

During my summer stay, Angie and Greg served breakfast on the enclosed porch, overlooking their backyard. One day, I enjoyed an omelet with home fries, toast, orange juice, and coffee, while the next morning, my pancakes were artfully decorated with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

What’s Nearby?

The Home Place Inn is located in the town of Kensington, in west-central Prince Edward Island, and on this relatively small island, nothing is very far away. You can drive to the provincial capital of Charlottetown in about 45 minutes, and it’s less than 20 minutes to the island’s second city, Summerside, worth a detour (among other reasons) for a scoop or two of Holman’s Ice Cream.

Kensington is also convenient to Cavendish, where legacy of the Anne of Green Gables novels, set on PEI, lives on at several sites, including the worthwhile Green Gables Heritage Place, which Parks Canada operates. The gorgeous dune-backed beaches of Prince Edward Island National start in Cavendish and continue east across the island’s north shore. If you’re walking the Island Walk, the 700-km (435-mi) route around the island, the inn is a short walk from the trail.

But wherever you roam across PEI, you’ll be warmly welcomed back at the Home Place Inn, a homey place to stay on Canada’s Prince Edward Island.

Rates

Double room rates at the Home Place Inn start at CAD$119 per night, including Wi-Fi, parking, and a full breakfast. You can compare rates and book your stay at Booking.com.

For other good-value accommodations elsewhere on PEI, consider The Arts Hotel in Charlottetown and ShantyStay in Souris on the island’s east end.

Hotel feature by Vancouver-based travel, food, and feature writer Carolyn B. Heller. Inn exterior photo courtesy of the Home Place Inn. Other photos © Carolyn B. Heller. I booked my own accommodations on Prince Edward Island, while doing research for several writing assignments.