In 1926, the late Mr. Frederick C. Mason-Hurley came to Shawnigan Lake with his family, on his retirement from forty years with the British Civil Service in China. The Hurleys bought the DeSalis place on the west side of the lake. To gain lake access they also bought the Neville Armstrong house on the shore.
Friends of theirs from China came and camped on the beach. The spot was a lovely one and people wanted to stay, and before long the Bullen family, who were the first guests, were followed by others who were accommodated in the Armstrong house with Mrs. K. Bloomquist (sister of Mrs. Kingsley of the former Shawnigan Lake Hotel) as manageress and Sam, a Chinese cook, in the kitchen.
This was the beginning of the Forest Inn, as it was first called. The summer hotel grew in popularity and became well known for the quality of service and entertainment it gave to its clients.
In 1939, the name was changed to the Shawnigan Beach Hotel, and in 1945, Mr. Dennis Mason-Hurley took over the management of his father’s business and further developed it as a “family hotel,” adding more outdoor games and evening entertainment. Additions were made over the years that increased the accommodation of the hotel from the original four rooms to fifty.
Extra living units on the grounds allowed the hotel to register up to one hundred and fifty guests. The two-generation connection of the Hurley family with the hotel was broken, however, in 1966 with the sale of the c establishment to Mr. K. G. Watt, of Vancouver. The Shawnigan Inn, as was the called, was open year round.
It was sold and redeveloped in the early 1990s as the Shawnigan Resort.