Two bedrooms, room for six

Two bedrooms, a queen bed in each. A living room with a sofa bed, a full kitchen — so you can actually cook, which matters because the café downstairs closes at 7. One bathroom. About 1,600 square feet altogether, which is several hotel rooms’ worth of space for one family. Air-conditioning, a TV, free Wi-Fi throughout. No smoking, no pets. Sleeps up to six.

Guests on Booking.com rate it 9.9 out of 10, the highest-rated place to stay in Canton on that site.

Check-out is at noon. Bring a photo ID and a credit card for check-in, same as anywhere.

Coffee at 7am, groceries till 7pm

You're above a grocery store and a café. That’s the point.

Nature's Café opens at 7am. Coffee, breakfast, and lunch without leaving the building. Avocado toast, protein bites, açaí bowls, grain bowls, panini. The store has fresh produce , eggs, dairy, bread, much of it from farms in the country and everything else you’d need to cook upstairs. Breakfast and dinner are sorted before you’ve found your car keys.

Both close at 7pm. Whatever you'll want after that, bring it up with you.

Half a mile from campus

Main Street is the village. The post office, the library and the park are two blocks away. Restaurants and bars are on the same street. If you're here for a campus event, you're walking, not driving.

• St. Lawrence University : about half a mile up Park Street, 10 to 15 minutes on foot, depending on the building.
• SUNY Canton: about a mile, across the river, a five-minute drive.
• SUNY Potsdam: 12 miles. Clarkson University: 11 miles.
• Ogdensburg International Airport: 16 miles. Massena: about 35.

The weekends Canton sells out

Canton has three hotels and a handful of rentals. That’s it, so a few weekends a year Canton fills up fast. If you need one of those, book early:

• SLU Laurentian Weekend (alumni and families): early October. The Skating Saints’ home openers land on the same weekend.
• SLU Commencement: mid-to-late May, Friday through Sunday.
• SUNY Canton Commencement: a Saturday in the second week of May, about 800 graduates.
• SUNY Canton Homecoming & Family Weekend: mid-September, Friday through Sunday.
• Move-in and move-out: late August, mid-May.

Dates for the current year are on SLU’s Laurentian Weekend and Commencement pages and on SUNY Canton’s commencement and family weekend pages. The University’s own advice to families is to book as early as possible. It isn’t being dramatic.

Staying a month or longer

Not every visit is a weekend. Furnished monthly rentals come up too, Call (315) 386-3740, or look for Nature’s Storehouse on Furnished Finder.

Four apartments, not one

The expansion into 19 Main Street next door, the same project that built Nature’s Cafe added apartments above the storefronts. There are four in the buildings now: 19A, 21A and 21B. All four are occupied at the moment. They come free between tenants, and that’s when short stays open up.

How to book

• A few nights: Booking.com listed as "Heart of downtown Canton," not under the store's name. Rates vary by season and length of stay; the calendar shows current pricing.
• A month or more: call the store, (315) 386-3740
• Questions first: naturesstorehouse@gmail.com, or ask at the counter

Frequently Asked Questions