Media

Quilchena Hotel has hosted a variety of reporters, photojournalists and novellists over the years. Below is a selection of recent media coverage. Happy Reading.

Quilchena Ranch – 1882 to 2001 read more…
By Tammy Thielman, Fall 2001

Quilchena Hotel turns 100
Similkameen Spotlight, March 27, 2008

The Nicola Valley’s historic gem, the Quilchena Hotel, turns 100 this year. On April 24th the Quilchena Hotel will open its doors for its centennial season. The Rose/Guichon family, owners of the hotel since its grand beginnings in 1908, plan to mark the birthday with a gala event, April 26th….

Quilchena Hotel: 100 years of stories; Grand three-storey landmark has seen good times and bad
By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, April 26, 2008

Guy Rose, the owner of the 100-year-old Quilchena Hotel, is explaining the history of three bullet holes in the wooden panelling of the hotel’s saloon. A couple of drunk cowboys from the nearby Douglas Lake Ranch were cut off by the bartender. Angry, one of them drew his pistol and fired three shots at the bar, putting holes in a barrel of liquor. “The lady cook came out from the back and disarmed the cowboy,” Rose explains. “He was ordered to pay damages, which was $4 and came out of his pay. This was in 1910, so it was a pretty sizable amount off his monthly wages.”

The grande dame celebrates; The historic Quilchena Hotel has housed everyone from cowboys and Indians to crusty B.C. broadcaster Jack Webster and Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson. Now, if we could just get her walls to talk.
By Michele Young, Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, April 26, 2008

She stands three storeys proud just metres off Highway 5A, white posts and spindles on the front porch welcoming all who pass by. The Quilchena Hotel marks one century this year; 100 years of the area’s past contained within the solid, wood-frame structure that has stood by the side of the highway within view of Nicola Lake. Proprietor Guy Rose can still rattle off sentences in an old-style French patois, his Guichon family roots evident despite his Anglo-Saxon last name…..

100 and still going strong
Heather Thomson, Merritt Herald, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

This weekend the Quilchena Hotel joined the century club. Together with friends and neighbours, the Rose family celebrated the grand old hotel’s 100th anniversary on Saturday night. The event was the second of its kind, as the previous weekend was reserved for members of the family and close associates to mark the occasion together.

The Quilchena Hotel – A Century in the Making
By Jonathan Niven, Inn Focus Magazine, Summer 2008

A 20-minute drive from Merritt, in the heart of the Nicola Valley, stands one of BC’s oldest family operated hotels, the Quilchena. Built in 1908 by Joseph Guichon, the grandfather of Guy Rose, the current owner, the hotel stands as a window to the past and the colourful history of the region. The hotel was built in anticipation of an east-west railway that was proposed to run along what is now Highway 5A. While the railway never did get as far as Quilchena, it became popular as a stopover for stagecoaches in the early years.

Let’s go shoot a few rounds at the Quilchena
By Bob Collins, Country Life in BC, June 2008

Well, it was quite a party. There were more than 250 well-wishers in attendance and the birthday girl wore her hundred years lightly indeed. As covered in the May issue of Country Life in BC, 2008 marks the hundredth birthday of the venerable Quilchena Hotel. Owners Guy and Hilde Rose are planning a summer-long series of events to mark the milestone. The festivities kicked off on April 26th with the official birthday party.

Where have all the cowboys gone? read more…
Danielle Egan, BC Business Magazine, July 2008

Gold drew them, but they thrived off the land read more…
By Jim Hume, Victoria Times-Colonist, October 26, 2008

A taste of the new CedarCreek – B.C. winery continues with its consistent performance read more…
By Tim Pawsey, Special To North Shore News, March 22, 2009

Great Canadian Train Trek – Travels through the Thompson Okanagan read more…
Photos by Gary Cralle, Olymus Visionary/Facebook, Summer 2010