Building on a legacy.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: CONFERENCE & CONVENTION - Sunset Inn & Suites - Entrepreneurs effective role

For Suzanne Favot, the Sunset Inn & Suites will always be inked to the entrepreneurial spirit of her late father, Dick Davidson.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The general manager of the Sioux Lookout hotel said her father never did anything small and his appetite for growing his businesses was never satiated. He passed away last year but he left a rich legacy among his five children.

"He was an entrepreneur like nobody I've ever known," said Favot.

Located just off Highway 72, the 130-room Sunset Inn & Suites is the premier hotel and meeting spot in Sioux Lookout.

"We are full-service," said Favot. "We can feed you, house you and help train you with our facilities."

The hotel is the preferred accommodations for Ministry of Natural Resources fire crews, railway track gangs, and patients from outlying communities referred to the local hospital.

The Davidson's settled in Sioux Lookout after Dick left the Royal Canadian Air Force in the late 1970s.

The picturesque town was his favourite posting while stationed at the local NORAD radar base.

"When he retired from the armed forces he moved the family here and bought the Sioux Hotel," now the Centennial Centre, said Favot.

In 1978, her father had just finalized the acquisition of the property when a kitchen fire destroyed the building. Davidson rebuilt and invited local firefighters to the ribbon-cutting.

He later designed and built the Sunset Inn in 1988, beginning with 60 rooms.

Always on top of trends in the hotel industry, the Sunset went through renovations and expansion, including added a third floor, a new restaurant, an indoor water park and the upscale suites hotel.

His business interests spread to comprise two restaurants, including Beaux Daddy's Canajun Bar & Grill in Thunder Bay.

The prime time for meetings at the Sunset is September through November with bookings by First Nation health authorities, mineral prospector groups...