(NB: The Rose Tavern wasn’t open for dinner yet when I was there.) The more upscale dining option, and also the place where breakfast is served, is the Rose Tavern, which does farm-to-table cuisine utilizing Finger Lakes ingredients. The aesthetic is of kind of a luxurious boathouse, with white-painted timbers and a large wooden canoe suspended upside-down above the tables. Local bands often play at night, and a high-decibel party vibe settles in as the evening winds on. That said, the guest rooms could be a little better realized from a design perspective their feng shui feels a little off, with closets you have to squeeze past the bed to access and bathrooms where the flow of space isn’t quite right.įood and drink: The Sand Bar, the casual, open-air restaurant and bar right on the edge of the lake, serves simple, well-executed Northeast comfort food-burgers, Caesar salads, fried fish, a very good lobster roll-and classic cocktails like the Singapore Sling along with several fruity, brightly colored concoctions that pack a powerful punch. The best feature of the lake-facing rooms is the deep balconies outfitted with Adirondack chairs where you could easily while away hours playing gin rummy and drinking a Finger Lakes Riesling, and where you should definitely enjoy at least one room service meal. The rooms: The guest rooms have a bit of a New England summertime resort flavor that wouldn't be out of place in Newport or Nantucket, with a palette dominated by white and taupe, lots of painted wood, and organic details like sculptural four-poster beds designed by Fitzhugh Karol. They in turn brought in fellow Brooklynites Post Company, which is known for similarly welcoming but design-forward hospitality projects around the state, including Scribner’s Catskills Lodge in Hunter and the Brentwood Hotel in Saratoga Springs (and the upcoming Inness in Accord). The project was overseen by Bill Caleo and Lyndsay Caleo Karol (who is married to Fitzhugh Karol), the children of Constellation executive vice president Richard Sands and co-founders of the Brooklyn Home Company, a design and development cooperative that primarily focuses on private residences in Brooklyn. In the 1980s, the family bought a former Sheraton Motor Lodge and began operating it as the first iteration of the Lake House at Canandaigua, before deciding in 2018 to embark upon a top-to-bottom rebuild on the site of the old property. The backstory: The new hotel is the brainchild of the family behind Constellation Brands-a beer, wine, and spirits empire whose portfolio includes most of the popular beer brands, including Corona, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico-which has roots in Canandaigua going back more than 75 years. The restaurant is a rebuild of a version that existed in the hotel’s previous incarnation, and remains popular with the locals (some of them refugees from New York who have settled into the upstate life), who intermingle with cool creative types from the cities of the Northeast at the lakeside pool and hot tub or around the fire pits which burn after dark each night (ask reception for a S’mores kit!).
The other is the Sand Bar, the casual eatery right on the water that blends indoors and outdoors. Set the scene: There are two primary fulcrums of activity: One is the spacious, high-ceilinged lobby and moody adjacent library, by New York-based Post Company (formerly Studio Tack), which features eye-catching details like a monolithic reception desk of reclaimed wood and a Miro-like chandelier by sculptor Fitzhugh Karol, while also prioritizing comfort-it’s so easy to plop down on the generous leather sofa or one of the easy chairs to read a book or enjoy the view of the lake through the French doors. Why book? The reborn Lake House is an expansive compound of newly built white gabled structures on the site of a former roadside motel that retains the old local flavor while also serving as a pilgrimage destination for weekenders from Toronto, New York, and beyond seeking a casually upscale way to enjoy the toniest of Upstate New York’s Finger Lakes and the region’s dynamic food scene.
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