Get to know: Heather Ford, Owner and Inn-Keeper at Green Acres Inn 

Tell us about your business.

This property has been in my family and has been our passion project for over 60 years. Our mission is to provide our guests with an exceptional stay that exceeds expectations. 

My family has always felt that Kingston is an awesome place, being on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. It’s in a beautiful location surrounded by historic buildings. We love to feature for our guests the great dining options downtown as well as the exceptional shops and fantastic, world-class attractions. 

It certainly has been a time throughout the pandemic for all of us to pull together – especially small businesses. We have done so in featuring local producers by creating spa, restaurant, brewery, and charcuterie packages for our guests to enjoy. It’s really our passion to share all that Kingston has to offer with Kingstonians as well as people from away.

Our 32 guest rooms, signature suites, and two-bedroom apartments are situated on 7.5-acres of green space. We encourage our guests to experience and support Kingston’s world-class local restaurants, unique stops, and fabulous attractions.  

What are your favourite parts of Kingston?

I’m a big foodie. That’s part of the reason we started Kingston Food Tours in 2016 – our sister product – to highlight outstanding downtown restaurants owned by some really creative, inclusive people. It is a walking tour of downtown Kingston that features all the amazing restaurants we have to offer as well as the beautiful, beautiful architecture, and historic stories of downtown. Sadly, the tour has been on hiatus since March 2019. However, we hope to bring it back in April 2022. 

Why Kingston?

Kingston has so much to offer and it’s so very walkable. Our guests tell us all the time how much they enjoy being able to walk downtown. We have amazing transit now, so getting downtown is a 10-minute event from the west end. We have a great food scene and so many lively, hip, interesting activities, events, and festivals. We can’t wait to really get at that again. 

Favourite part of your business?

I love being able to greet guests and share with them all that Kingston has to offer whether it’s hiking Frontenac Park, canoeing our beautiful shoreline, a walking tour, or boat tour. 

Last winter, when we were all home and couldn’t really travel, it helped us refocus on what the Kingson area has to offer, particularly in the winter. We have a variety of hiking and snowshoeing packages – we’ll even lend you snowshoes to give it a try if you don’t have your own. Enjoy skating on our beautiful rink behind City Hall and even just eating and drinking and walking around and sitting at an outside fire at a downtown restaurant.