Pros:
- Great location, just a kilometre from the gorgeous Rushing River park. A sandy beach on-site is awesome for young kids. Easy drive into Kenora for supplies.
- Well-appointed cottage – the kitchen has everything you need. The kayaks are fun, the deck has tons of space to relax and hang out, plus the fire pit is a good evening perk.
- Friendly neighbours – they treated our kids great and were cool to chat with. To view the lake, you sorta need to walk onto their property. They didn’t seem to mind when we did so for pictures.
Cons:
- Unwelcoming host – Helena seems very distrustful. Both she and the very nearby (but friendly) cottage neighbours separately confirmed that they have a tense relationship because the cottage is mostly used as a rental. We felt caught in the middle of their spat. And when we had a simple misunderstanding with Helena about overnight visitors (still below the cottage’s occupancy), she scolded us as untransparent, sent extra fees and threatened to evict our family. We were after a stress-free week away, and the ordeal was bizarrely filled with friction.
- Air conditioning – We booked thinking there’d be air-conditioned rooms for our young kids, because the cottage is advertised as air conditioned. But there’s only one window unit in the living room. The bedrooms became hot on July nights.
We've had many kind hosts over the years. It sucked to be treated as a necessary evil to secure a weekly rental fee, rather than guests to be welcomed.