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The Caledon Manor and Country Inn is a bed and breakfast on a picturesque property in the heart of horse country. We recently spoke to owners Geoff and Lena Kushnir about their business venture, future plans and some wisdom learned along the way.
Tell us about your business.
Our business is a new Bed and Breakfast (BnB) in Caledon East which is conveniently located near several event and banquet facilities, and we’re just minutes from Caledon Equestrian Park (CEP) in Palgrave.
The BnB is in a large 7000 sq ft Georgian manor, with elegant and grand interiors. It’s nestled in a private 27-acre setting with a pool, tennis and pickleball courts, and picturesque grounds in the heart of horse country.
We try to offer a boutique BnB with an intimate atmosphere and styled accommodations in the King George period. The property boasts spectacular Western views, open meadows, mature woods, and endless trails that should leave guests wanting more rural living.
Tell us about you, why did you decide to open your home as a bed and breakfast?
My husband, Geoff, and I recently found ourselves in the early stages of empty nesting now that our children are off studying at university, so it made sense to open what is an enormous home for just 2 and offer some of the rooms to guests for accommodations.
We are both very social, easy-going people, and our home is the gathering place for family and friends – we have a knack for making people feel welcome!
We are also both very entrepreneurial, Geoff is a self-employed software developer, and I am a recently retired Professor of Psychology and director of educational technology at a nearby university; I also have a small practice in educational consulting.
I first got the idea for the BnB while attending one of my daughter’s equestrian competitions at Palgrave. I realized how little there was available for nearby accommodations for competitors and visitors to the equestrian park – and I remember thinking, how nice would it be for some of these folks to be able to be so close to the grounds and their horses during the show season.
So, we decided to first test our BnB business model in the Summer of 2019 for a few months and we learned VERY quickly that there is a tremendous need for accommodations in ALL of Caledon (and not just between our home and CEP). We shut it down for the Fall and Winter holidays that year, and then covid hit shortly after… so here we are after a three-year hiatus with our official opening, and we are excited to get back at it with the Town’s support.
Why is this a good opportunity in Caledon?
The academic in me collected lots and lots of data in our test pilot, and we learned that guests came from a variety of walks of life and all corners of the globe. Our decisions about how to market and who to market to are informed by this data; we found that approximately 1/3 of the clientele were from the horse world – mostly families horse showing in Palgrave (which is just 7 minutes from our home), approx. 1/3 were guests attending a wedding or other event at a nearby venue (there are several venues between 4 to 15 km from our home), and the remaining 1/3 were guests from around the GTA just looking for a special country getaway -- and with so much to do in Caledon, it's not too difficult to make a guest's stay extra special.
We expect to welcome similar proportions of clientele now that we are ready to start up again, but time will tell!
What is your favourite activity or hobby and how is it incorporated into your business?
We both have professional experience and hobbies and that align nicely with our new business. Geoff has developed new software and wearable technologies that we’ll be piloting in our BnB. These technologies will help promote local businesses and unique experiences for our guests that will help keep tourism dollars in Caledon.
Once the new business is in a good rhythm, I plan to incorporate my background in education to create even more unique experiences during guests’ stays; some ideas rolling around in our idea bucket – Halloween Haunts, Murder Mysteries, and Holiday Galas to bring families and friends together for a fun night or weekend.
Our hobbies will hopefully add to those experiences that guests enjoy when visiting, for example, I love to make Maple syrup each spring and plan to develop some educational curriculum around the history of sugaring in Canada, and the process of taking tree sap to bottled syrup. We look forward to inviting guests to a yearly Maple Sugar festival and engaging them in learning about this age-old tradition from the 17th century.
My husband is interested in Beekeeping and plans to do the same with the activities of beekeeping and the process of producing honey.
Our focus will be on creating unique and tailored experiences for guests so their stay at the Caledon Manor is more than just a place to lay their heads.
What is the best bit of wisdom you have learned while starting your own business?
Starting your own business is a LOT of work and you really must be committed and motivated to participate fully. There are many details to keep track of and lots of moving pieces --- you are the CEO, CFO, CMO, and CTO all in one. That said, every detail can’t possibly be ready at the start, and we’ve learned to prioritize the must-haves for the safety and comfort of our guests, all the way to the nice-to-have items, and those will come as we get into the high season of tourism in Caledon.
While it is a tremendous amount of work, we really enjoy what we’ve started and if you really enjoy what you do and are passionate about it, then you haven’t worked a day in your life.
The Caledon Manor and Country Inn is located at 16698 Centreville Creek Road | http://www.caledonmanor.com
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