A small collection of lovingly restored heritage cottages in Joe Batt's Arm, Orange House, Oliver's Place, Annie's Place, each with full kitchen, ocean view, wood-burning stove, and locally-made furnishings. The most fully realised self-catering alternative to the Fogo Island Inn.
"The Fogo Island stay for travellers who want a full kitchen, a wood-stove, an Atlantic view from every window, and the freedom to keep their own counsel for the week."
The Cottages on Fogo Island, listed by the operator as Fogo Island Accommodations, is a small portfolio of lovingly restored heritage dwellings in the community of Joe Batt's Arm, the same village that holds the Fogo Island Inn. The portfolio is the work of a single owning family who began restoring family-line cottages on Pickett's Lane and the surrounding Joe Batt's Arm roads more than a decade ago, with the explicit intention of providing a self-catering luxury alternative for travellers who want to be on Fogo Island without staying in the Inn. The cottages have appeared in Conde Nast Traveler's annual Hot List of self-catering Canadian accommodations and are the most consistently booked private rentals on the island outside of the Shorefast portfolio.
There are presently three properties in the collection. The Orange House is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage on a small rise above Joe Batt's Arm harbour, a double-occupancy stay with a full kitchen, living and dining room, a wood-burning stove, and views of the harbour from the front and the Atlantic from the side. Oliver's Place is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage with a full kitchen, living and dining room, and a private back deck looking at the harbour and the Atlantic; the master bedroom has Atlantic views, the second bedroom has the harbour. Annie's Place is a two-storey, one-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage with a full living room and kitchen, within walking distance of the local store and the harbour wharf, and with spectacular views from every window. All three cottages have been restored with locally-made furniture, hand-pieced quilts, locally-woven textiles, and the practical fittings (high-speed WiFi, in-cottage laundry, modern bathrooms) that make a week-long stay practicable.
The self-catering proposition is what distinguishes the Cottages from the Inn. Each property is stocked at arrival with the basics, coffee, salt and pepper, oil, sugar, tea, and the owners can arrange a starter-grocery delivery on request. The on-island grocery is in the village of Fogo (a fifteen-minute drive); the Bonavista North Co-op grocery in Joe Batt's Arm carries a smaller selection. Fish off the wharves are sold direct off the boats most summer mornings. The cottages function with the Fogo Island Inn's dining programme, three of the cottages can pre-book dinners-only at the Inn restaurant on a non-resident basis, and with the small handful of village restaurants (Nicole's Cafe in Joe Batt's Arm is the obvious lunch and casual-dinner choice). Owners are local Fogo Islanders, available throughout the stay, and can arrange punt charters, guided hikes, and iceberg-season private tours through the local skippers.
For families travelling Fogo Island with children, for couples who want a week with full kitchen autonomy, and for travellers whose Fogo Island stay extends past four or five nights (the Inn's value proposition diminishes for longer stays, the Cottages' improves), this is the booking that delivers the most considered alternative to the Inn. The cottages run roughly 60, 75% of the equivalent Inn night and you give up the all-inclusive dining and the rooftop sauna; you gain a full kitchen, a wood-stove, a separate living room, and the autonomy of self-catering hours. For a five-to-seven-night summer stay it is the most considered booking on the island.
For families with one to three children, the two-bedroom Oliver's Place is the Fogo Island stay, full kitchen for snack management, a living room for late-evening downtime that the Inn's hotel-room footprint does not provide, a wood-burning stove for the cool May and October evenings, and a deck that opens to a quiet road. Days run to the Brimstone Head hike, the punt charter, the Lion's Den walk, and an early dinner at Nicole's Cafe. Two of the cottages can be booked together for a multi-generation family trip without anyone losing their own kitchen.
For couples whose honeymoon brief favours the wood-stove-and-kitchen end of the spectrum over the tasting-menu-and-spa end, the Orange House is the booking. Five nights, the Atlantic out of the side window, a small fire in the evening, a pre-booked dinner at the Fogo Island Inn restaurant on one night (the splurge), and the rest of the week kept self-paced. The autonomy is the luxury.
A solo week in Annie's Place is one of the most considered solo retreats in Atlantic Canada, a two-storey heritage cottage to yourself, walking distance to the village wharf and store, the same panoramic Atlantic views the Inn paid an architect to engineer, and the practical autonomy to set the rhythm of your own day. The owner-on-call structure means the solo traveller has a single point of contact for charters, hikes, and dinner reservations without ever having to manage a concierge.
Joe Batt's Arm
Fogo Island, NL A0G 2X0
Canada
Three cottages within walking distance of the Joe Batt's Arm harbour and the Fogo Island Inn; 25 km drive from the Tilting heritage village
3 cottages: Orange House, Oliver's Place, Annie's Place
Orange House (1BR) from CAD 285/night
Oliver's Place (2BR) from CAD 395/night
Annie's Place (1BR, two-storey) from CAD 315/night
Three-night minimum stay
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Restored by local owners; carbon-conscious heating; locally-woven textiles throughout
Full kitchens with starter supplies
Wood-burning stoves (each cottage)
In-cottage laundry
Free high-speed WiFi
Locally-made furniture & quilts
Owner-arranged charters & tours
Walking distance to harbour, wharf
From CAD 285/night. Three-night minimum. Iceberg-season weeks (mid-May through late-June) and the berry harvest (September) book six months in advance.
Book This Hotel →Todd Saunders' stilted modernist inn at Joe Batt's Arm, 29 suites, all-inclusive, owned by Shorefast.
A four-room saltbox in the National Historic Site of Tilting on the island's east end.
A six-bedroom B&B on Main Street in Fogo with harbour views and homemade jams.