.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

TALOYOAK - If only Sylvie Dickson had a dollar for every time someone said the new Boothia Inn transplants them outside their hometown.

"Any time they come in it's always like 'Ooh, it doesn't look like we're in Taloyaok anymore," said Dickson, the inn's new manager.

From left, Dennis Lyall, president of Aqsaqniq Ltd., holds the ribbon for Bessie Ashevak to cut at Boothia Inn's grand opening. Sister Dorcia and Annie Akoak look on. - photo courtesy of Sylvie Dickson

"It's very interesting to me that's what everybody says when they come in here," she added.

The old Boothia Inn, opened in 1991, was located on the other side of the 800-person town. Taloyoak, for those who don't know, is located on the Boothia Peninsula in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

"It had been open since 1991, so we were ready for a new one," said Kristine Lyall, one of 13 Boothia shareholders.

Dozens came out to celebrate the new inn's recent grand opening at the end of February, which was complete with a speech from the mayor and a blessing of the hotel and the eight rooms inside by Sister Dorica.

The CEO of the Atuqtuarvik Corporation - an Inuit-owned investment company which provides loans and equity investments to Inuit-owned businesses - was also on hand to present another shareholder, Dennis Lyall, with a carving.

The inn "is all so new and so nice. It's been a long time since there was a brand-new, nice building like this," said Dickson.

Construction on the new hotel began in June and was completed by Nunavut-based NCC Development Ltd., which employed "quite a few locals," according to Lyall.

The new hotel has 16 beds, and each of the eight rooms has its own phone, television, and most importantly, compared to the old hotel, its own bathroom. There is also a new restaurant, open to the public for coffee breaks in the morning and in the afternoon and otherwise reserved for guests.

Dickson said the hotel has been busy since it opened two weeks ago.

"Everybody was waiting, I think, for the new hotel to open to make their business trips," she said, adding guests at the hotel are largely government workers.

"They love the size of the rooms. They love the place," she added.

And so does Dickson, who was recruited back to Taloyoak from her hometown in New Brunswick to be Boothia's new manager. She is one of seven staff members the hotel employs. Three others work in housekeeping and three in the kitchen.

"I really have to admit I am enjoying the new challenge of being manager of a new building and the responsibility of it," said Dickson.

"I feel very honoured (the owners) have put me in this new position."