Royal Hotel reopens

The Royal celebrates its official opening date

The community was invited to the Royal Hotel on Monday afternoon to celebrate its official opening. It has been in full operation for several months, but owner Greg Sorbara wanted to have a symbolic “birth” date. “Like every creature on Earth, the Royal needed a birth date; it needed a day when it was officially opened and all the hard work had been completed and we’re ready to take on the world, and that date is today, May 16th, 2022,” he said. Sorbara purchased the Royal Hotel in 2013, to prevent it from suffering the same fate as the Episcopal Methodist Church that was willfully demolished several years earlier in 2010. “We wanted to re-imagine, rebuild and restore a 140-year-old historic building that has always been part of Picton and Prince Edward County,” he said. At the time, the building was boarded up and in an advanced state of decay due to neglect. Sorbara brought on Sol Korngold to manage the renewal of the Royal Hotel, and a building permit was issued in 2016. At that time the projected reopening was 2017. Setbacks and discovery work along the way meant that the only thing that survived was the front façade, and great effort was expended to keep the heritage look of the exterior. The interior is of a modern design, but with enough classic touches to maintain a link to the past. The foyer entrance evokes the look of a grand hotel, with a bar and comfortable seating areas. Sorbara thanked Korngold for his leadership on the restoration project, as well as praising the architects and builders for bringing their vision to reality. He specifically thanked all of the workers—plumbers, electricians, plasterers, carpenters— who actually carried out the work. “They are the unsung heroes of the Royal Hotel,” said Sorbara, who added that he is very proud of the staff currently working at the hotel.

The Royal Hotel actually reopened in December 2021, and has been fully operational for several months, but Sorbara wanted to have an official opening date. Because the project had received a high level of support from the municipality, he invited Mayor Steve Ferguson to symbolically declare the opening of the hotel. Mayor Ferguson thanked the Sorbara family for preserving the historic hotel, as well as for their support of the local economy. “They’ve rejuvenated this building in a stunning way. They gave new life to a structure that was quite literally falling down. This was not a project for the faint of heart,” said Ferguson as he officially declared the hotel open.

An essential component of the hotel is its restaurant, and there are actually several different settings at the Royal. The counter bar at the front can provide things like breakfast or lunch, or maybe just coffee and dessert. An outdoor patio is scheduled to open soon, but the jewel is a full-service restaurant with a kitchen run by Chef Albert Ponzo. He was actually hired by Sorbara over four years ago when it looked like the hotel opening was imminent, and Sorbara thanked him for his patience. Chef Ponzo brings in cuisine with an Italian backbone and touches of French flair to complement that. He and his team is focused of fresh seasonal food, using produce from local farms, and aims to provide a convivial dining experience of sharing food and breaking bread together. “Our focus here is food which is farm-to-table, food that is seasonal, and allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves. The dishes are clearly defined and I want to highlight the beautiful ingredients that we have here in the County.”

(L-R): Director of Operations Niall McCotter, Royal Hotel owner Greg Sorbara, Mayor Steve Ferguson, General Manager Sol Korngold and Executive Chef Albert Ponzo at the grand reopening of the Royal Hotel.