| OUR RATING |
POSITIVES |
NEGATIVES |
|
3.6/5
|
- Friendly and accommodating owner;
- comparatively inexpensive;
- lot's of free onsite activities (canoes, kayaks, paddleboats, etc.);
- close proximity to Algonquin Park;
- Oxtongue Lake.
|
- Basic cottages;
- cottages are clustered on a small plot of land.
|
| YEAR REVIEWED |
| 2010 |
Inquiries:
You can visit the hotel's website at: lakewoods-resort.net.
Location:
The resort is located about 15 minutes (about 10km) outside of the west gate entrance to Algonquin Provincial Park, or less than 5 minutes drive from Ragged Falls Provincial Park, which can also be reached by canoe across Oxtongue Lake. Specifically, Lakewoods Resort is off Highway 60 on Oxtongue Lake, less than 3 hours from Toronto. We like the location because it's one of the closest places to stay outside of Algonquin Park's west gate. The resort itself is located across a semi-dirt road from Oxtongue Lake which is a very nice and peaceful lake. Unfortunately, the cottages are clustered on a somewhat open and small piece of land.
Room Comfort:
The cottages at the resort are basic, but sufficient. They each have a living room with a gas fireplace, kitchen, bathroom, porch, picnic table, barbeque and at least one bedroom. We stayed in two of the nine cottages, on separate occasions, years apart, and found them fairly similar in terms of comfort and appeal. The bedrooms in the cottages are small, but large enough to fit a bed and a night table. It seems like the bathrooms in the cottages were recently upgraded, but are sill basic in terms of appeal and comfort. The cottages have good water pressure and hot water. Each cottage also has a small antenna television set, but it only receives one channel. Since we didn't come here to stay inside the cottage, the cottage was sufficient for our needs. If you are looking for a place to stay indoors, we recommend you find another place. If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive place to explore the surrounding area from, this place is sufficient.
Cleanliness:
The cottages are fairly clean. Given the location of the place, you will find spiders inside your cottage, but that's about it.
Service:
The owner is friendly, accommodating and does her best to maintain the cottages. On both occasions that we stayed at this "resort" we ended up booking at the last minute and checking out well after the posted check-out time. If the cottages aren't rented the following day, the owner lets us stay as late as we want on the day we are checking out. Since we usually end up hiking the day we are checking out, it's nice to come back anytime and still be able to shower and pack up without feeling the pressure of having to check-out by a certain time.
Food:
This is a self-catering place, so the food is only as good as you make it. Make sure you pick-up your groceries in a larger town on the way here, as the options in Dwight, Ontario are very limited.
Overall Value:
As we stated earlier, this place makes for a sufficient base to explore Algonquin Park and Oxtongue Lake. The resort has a small beach, kayaks, paddle boats, canoes, volleyball court, beach chairs, "Muskoka Chairs" and more to use free of charge to their guests. There are several other resorts and cottages for rent around Oxtongue Lake, but they are usually booked well in advance and at a higher cost, so we prefer staying here when we book at the last minute. Even though the cottages are fairly basic, they are good enough for the price and location. We've stayed here on two separate occasions and will probably stay here again.
Other Notes:
The resort is ideally located to watch one of the most beautiful sunrises that we have seen on earth. The sun rises across Oxtongue Lake and, on an early September or October morning, you can see the steam rise from the lake as the sun is rising.
Photos:
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