A Denare Beach institution has officially changed hands. Sandi Woods and Kirk Tait have bought and taken possession of Rockyview BnB and are seeking to turn it into something bigger than before.
The pair are remaking the now-former Rockyview into a new project, one the new owners call “The Ridge on Amisk Resort”, named after the rocky outcrop it is located on and Amisk Lake, which it overlooks - the name change is one of many changes and updates the new owners hope to do to the site, anticipating to reopen it this year.
The location had been up for sale for several years before Woods and Tait pulled the trigger, officially taking the place over earlier this winter.
Winter will prove to be a big part of the new plans for the site. Unlike the previous iteration of Rockyview, which was only open in summer and spring months, the new owners hope to have the project open year-round, going as far as to install heaters in the property’s private cabins and remodelling the main building’s main boiler for a new winter launch. The main building and restaurant is currently being aimed for a reopening in January, assuming everything goes right.
“Everything so far is going right on schedule,” said Woods.
“We’re just renovating, cleaning, painting, all the things.”
While Rockyview has in the past run during the winter months, it hasn’t done so regularly in almost two decades.
“We put brand new furnaces in all the little cabins, so they’re all good to go. They’ll be on-line for the whole winter now, which they’ve never been before. We’re reconditioning the boiler in the main building and that should be on-line soon as well,” Woods said.
Both Woods and Tait have run businesses in the area in the past - Woods had previously operated Slim’s Cabins, a family business, while Tait operated T&D Cabins, both in the same general area.
Woods said she first had her eye on buying and running the Rockyview property almost 20 years ago.
“I was originally drawn to this place the very first time it was for sale, like 20-some years ago. I was just a young-un back then, looking at going into business - I’d been in Alberta and lived and worked out there for a while and had been looking at going into business for myself,” she said.
When now-former owner Rod Gourlay put the building up for sale, Woods' old dream was rekindled. Woods and Tait sold off Slim’s last year after a lengthy sale process and have been in on-and-off talks since early 2021 to buy Rockyview.
“You have no idea - it is absolutely so exciting,” she said.
“I just want to bring more tourism to the region and all that, but I really want to be here to support our community, to have another place for people to go and eat, to be open all winter, for snowmobilers to come by and have a plate of french fries or a hot chocolate or coffee or whatever, it just feels phenomenal.”
In the long term, Woods said she hopes to upgrade the rooms within the main lodge building to have more of a boutique feel, seeking to remodel the existing property.
“We find that a lot of people staying with us want that,” she said.
“We’ve got lots of business travel these days and they want the same thing - they want that fantastic view.”
Along with that is a plan to add more on-site cabins and to gear the site toward hosting retreats and events, using the lodge’s existing meeting rooms and space to make that happen.
“In the new year, we hope to start upgrading the rooms one at a time. The cabin needs some attention and love as well - that will be the 2024 goal, to get all the cabins updated and all the rooms updated. Once we do that, we can focus on expansion, but we want to update what we have first,” she said.
Woods said she hopes the new business will be open soon and become an even bigger part of the community at large.
“We hope to be open shortly and we welcome all locals with open arms - this is why we’re doing this, for our community, to draw more tourists and to help serve our community,” she said.
