'World's most popular 3-star hotel': Where Will and Kate stayed in Yukon
Whitehorse's Coast High Country Inn was disdained by British press
The Whitehorse hotel where Will and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, stayed on Tuesday may have taken some ribbing from the British press, but nobody's complaining.
"We're really happy," said Philip Fitzgerald with Northern Vision Development, the company that owns the Coast High Country Inn.
"I think right now we're the world's most popular three-star hotel," he said, in reference to a British news story last week that scoffed at the royal couple's choice of "three-star lodgings" in Canada's "remote northwest."
The Daily Mail called the hotel "unremarkable," and a far cry from the royals' usual posh surroundings.
The royal couple stayed in room 414, which recently had new carpet and furniture installed.
"We saw an opportunity to upgrade the room, both for [the royals], and for future guests in the suite," Fitzgerald said.
"It was a great opportunity to also celebrate some of the art that's in the Yukon, and so we borrowed some pieces from the permanent collection for the event."
As for giving the room a name like "The Royal Suite," Fitzgerald is unsure. He says he believes there are some hoops to jump through to give it any sort of official royal name.
"But the suite will be available for anyone to use, just like any other room in the hotel."
He says the room has already had visitors since the Duke and Duchess.
The royal impact
The royal visit put the Coast High Country Inn in the spotlight, and it also brought attention to some other local businesses and craftspeople in Whitehorse.
Yukon jewelry designer Shelly Macdonald has been flooded with orders, since Kate wore a pair of earrings she designed during a visit to Carcross.
Meanwhile, a store in Whitehorse that commissioned special, limited edition Will and Kate Yukon-themed tea towels has sold out of them, with customers calling from near and far.
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"We were contacted by a few people from out of Canada, including someone who either has a tea towel museum or their museum features tea towels in the U.K.," said Jen Williams, co-owner of the Collective Good. "So yeah, all sorts of interesting requests."
She says there are already plans for a second run of the tea towels.
"It's kind of fun just to be part of that story and the lore, I guess, that their visit will become. So it's nice that we're selling things but also nice to be part of that cultural experience."
With files from Cheryl Kawaja