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Water world: Inn on the Cove & Spa

By Gina Pepper

Book into a room with a view that seems to belong only to you

With ocean views, fresh seafood and marine-based spa treatments, Inn on the Cove & Spa is all about the deep blue sea. The 1907 Italianate mansion is nestled on the Bay of Fundy, home to the world's highest tides and a 10-minute drive from downtown Saint John. Guest room balconies make you feel suspended over the water with views that seems to belong only to you.

Once owned by Alexander Graham Bell’s landscaper, this inn is now run by Ross and Willa Mavis, whose true passion lies in the kitchen. Onetime hosts of local TV cooking show Tide’s Table and co-authors of two cookbooks, the culinary couple has crafted a menu that spotlights seasonal maritime cooking. Guests tuck into scrumptious steamed Bay of Fundy lobster with butter and lemon or pan-seared maple-glazed Atlantic salmon in the airy oceanfront dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Luxury is the freedom to do absolutely nothing, but for those wishing for a bit more action the hiking paths in neighboring Irving Nature Park link to beaches, mud flats and a salt marsh that attracts hundreds of species of migratory birds. The perfect capper? Slip into the spa and let the great outdoors come to you with a sea mineral body scrub, detoxifying mud wrap or hot stone massage – nature never felt so luxuriant.

Getting here

Inn on the Cove & Spa, 1371 Sand Cove Road, Saint John, New Brunswick, 506-672-7799, 1-877-257-8080, www.innonthecove.com
Tourism Saint John, 1-866-GO FUNDY (1-866-463-8639), www.tourismsaintjohn.com
Tourism New Brunswick, 1-800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca

Montréal-based Gina Pepper has been covering the hotel and travel beat for nearly 10 years, for publications in North America, France and Australia.