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Innsights
Inside the new Hotel Floriel, Shawinigan, Que.
Hotel Floriel is a new high-end hotel in the Village of Sainte-Flore, Quebec, roughly halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.
Since opening in 2023 and co-owned by Audrey Boisvert and Gabriel Wasilko, the upscale 7‑room micro-hotel provides unique stays for guests in upscale brands and design concepts.
Each room of Hotel Floriel has a unique theme based on design personality archetypes, with names including Heart in Bloom, Snowflake White, Legends and Fables, Wind in the Fields, Mist on the Lake, Hymn to Spring and The Soul of the Forest.
More than a boutique hotel, Boisvert and Wasilko’s business model is grounded in partnerships formed with companies whose products reflect the region’s abundant forests and rivers.
Hotel Floriel is a showroom of works of art, furniture, decorative accessories, artisanal products, and more of primarily local and regional manufacturers, retailers, artists, and craftsmen. Hotel Floriel’s curated amenities can be purchased by guests for their own homes through privileged relationships established between the hotel’s owners and the artisans and manufacturers. Built within the gutted walls of a former Presbytery, the owners designed the spaces of the hotel. They immersed themselves in every aspect of the process, including tiling, framing, and building concrete floors.
Beyond construction, the business plan developed for Hotel Floriel was very instinctual. In a post-COVID world where city dwellers have increasingly moved to the countryside, the couple saw a market for their product developing within the region’s growing concentration of wealth.
“We realized that there was nothing to offer in the region in terms of upscale hotel experiences,” says Audrey Boisvert. “We saw that as an opportunity to introduce a product where luxury boutique services combine with the autonomy and ownership of an Airbnb experience to provide guests with the best of both worlds.”
The unique concept of Hotel Floriel extends to its warm and friendly ambiance, where Gabriel Wasilko and Audrey Boisvert operate the hotel themselves, insisting on a very human-scale offering. The duo leveraged mutual experience in the hospitality industry to develop their approach, including drawing upon Audrey’s studies in hotel management and training as a sommelier. The latter experience was applied to stocking a selection of exquisite wines for Hotel Floriel.
Strategically located between two main entrances to Mauricie National Park, Hotel Floriel is a gateway to one of the region’s natural treasures. Accordingly, it was important for Wasilko and Boisvert to build something that would complement other regional businesses. In embracing that notion, a decision was made not to include a restaurant in Hotel Floriel, and to instead refer guests to some of the many fine cuisine options in the community.
Already several months into operations, Hotel Floriel remains a perpetual work in progress as the creative couple continues to beautify and add to their pampered service offering. Part of that process includes a new initiative to provide guests with postcards detailing the colours, amenities, and design selection of their rooms.
Hotel Floriel can accommodate full buyouts for corporate or private events, which is a segment the owners are focused on developing. In addition to the hotel’s guest rooms, its flexible common spaces, including a bar area with seating for up to 24 people, a lounge area, and a large outdoor patio space, can be configured to accommodate a variety of business and personal events.
