Hotel Intel: Le Pleasant is a fine stop at the center of Sutton

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Nathalie Legault and Samuel Lemay recently became innkeepers in Sutton, and they have a lot to live up to.

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Their new acquisition, Le Pleasant Hôtel & Café, earned a 2021 Most Wanted Award from hotels.com, and was listed among TripAdvisor’s top 25 hotels in Canada every year from 2016 to 2019.

Le Pleasant is a darling, 10-room inn that has it all: a great location on a quiet corner just off the main street, a venerable history expressed in fine architectural details, and an attractive interior redecorated to modern standards.

The cheery café serves breakfast with a twist and later turns into a gathering place, serving local microbrews, signature cocktails with Quebec spirits and products from the Eastern Townships’ Wine Route, as well as private imports.

The building is a Victorian vision that dates back 120 years. It has elaborate woodwork and towering ceilings, and its solid construction means you won’t hear noises from other guests or rumblings from outdoors.

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Legault, now retired, knew since she was a child that someday she wanted to run a small manor house. “It’s a joy greeting people who are on vacation and are so happy to be in this beautiful village.“

She is a woman of taste who wants her guests to have the best of everything.

Le Pleasant features B&B and more Bs: bed, breakfast, brunch and beverages at its bar, plus packages with Balnea Spa and Réserve Thermale — a deluxe, lakefront Nordic spa in nearby Bromont — and with Mont Sutton, for ski-and-stay getaways .

Lodging: Le Pleasant is elegant but relaxed. The interior is a mix of modern and art deco-inspired, adding a welcome brightness to the Victorian manse. The lounge beckons with white leather and gray velvet club chairs, contemporary lighting and a fireplace.

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The guest rooms are painted dove grey, pearl white and charcoal, with ivory linen drapes and sheers cascading from three-metre-high walls. This hotel has thought of everything: full-length mirrors, coffee machines, blackout shades, good lighting, flat-screens and toiletries by Oneka Elements from nearby Frelighsburg. White piqué bathrobes are the latest perk.

food: The duo behind the scenes are the hotel’s director and sommelier, Marie-Ève ​​Laplante, and her husband, chef Laurent Fauvel.

Fauvel has a solid background in gastronomy, having worked at Laurie Raphaël in Quebec City as well as places in Belgium and Brazil. At Le Pleasant, open only for breakfast for now, he prepares his own baked goods and jams, and counts on local suppliers for eggs, flour and cheese, plus specialty coffee from Montreal’s Café Barista.

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The menu changes, but mornings often start with a pastry du jour or a fruit salad such as grapefruit seasoned with basil, ginger and rose petals. The main course is quaintly served in a glass jar. One option is filled with baked apples, sheep’s yogurt, pecans, orange zest and spiced strawberry caramel. The French toast blends espresso cream, wild blueberries, cashews and lime. Weekend brunch, a more elaborate spread, features mocktails or mimosas and main courses of spinach blinis, waffles or duck eggs.

Dining-out: Newbies include Mollies, where the creatives behind Marconi in Montreal’s Little Italy have replaced main street’s Le Cafetier. À l’Abordage Taproom & Buvette, which specializes in wine and beer tasting, is a new-ish branch next door to the established Abordage Microbrasserie, popular for its craft brews and burgers.

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spring snowtime: Mont Sutton’s rockin’ après-ski hangout Bar Le Tucker has reopened. On mountain, skiing and riding are tops, but alpine touring (an uphill climb) is the hot new trend, and the mountain has equipment rentals as well as a full line of gear at Boutique Expérience Sutton.

New slide-sport adventures include the yooner (a sled with a seat, which you can reserve online) and two learning programs that feature rentals for snowscoot (a downhill scooter on skis) and telemark (a downhill skiing variation with deep knee bends and turns) ).

You can show off your new skills in Sutton’s photo contest. A post on social media with the hashtag #PurementSUTTON might just win you two daytime ski tickets. There will be a winner every week.

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if you go

Le Pleasant Hotel & Cafe: 888-538-6188, 450-538-6188, lepleasant.com; 1 Pleasant St., Sutton. Café offers breakfast/brunch and drinks: open for guests Mon.-Sun.; for the public, all day Saturday and Sunday for brunch.

Price: Sun.-Fri., rooms $174-$239 per night, for two, including breakfast, in-room Keurig coffee; suites $220-$250. Add $20 per room for Saturday nights. With Mont Sutton: Ski-Dodo-Ski starts at $136 per person for one night, breakfast and 1 1/2 days of skiing or snowboarding.

What to do: Mount Sutton, 866-538-2545, 450-538-2545, montsutton.com. Balnea Spa and Reserve Thermale, 866-734-2110, balnea.ca.

Tourism: Sutton, 800-565-8455, 450-538-8455, suttontourism.ca. Eastern Townships, 800-355-5755, easterntownships.org.