Katchawanooka Resort

A great location at a great value not too far from the city where you can go to disconnect and relax. The reason for the low rating is a combination of the accommodation quality and the host's hospitality.Context: we organized a large group of family friends and rented out all of the cottages at the resort for a whole week. We had both very young kids as well as a few seniors and figured we would not disrupt any other visitors since everyone knew each other.Even though the location was great, the level of hospitality was quite low. Throughout our stay, it felt as though we should be grateful for being given the opportunity to stay at the cottage as opposed to being treated as paying customers looking to enjoy their vacation.Quite time" starts at 10pm but none of us anticipated that meant to stay inside and not make any noise. Sitting outside by the campfire and just chatting is disallowed after 10pm which was a bummer. After our first night

While the location is beautiful and the lake was great, there was a few problems with this place that prevented it from getting a higher rating from me.First and foremost the cabins were old. There was no ac in any of them, the bathroom and beds were small and the water was relatively cold. This was not a big deal though, as we did not spend much time inside anyway. Another problem was the owner. We were all very excited for this vacation (this being family and friends) and when we got here we learnt that there are no outdoor activities past 10 pm. (Not even campfire) The owner also came up to us numerous times and disturbed us over the smallest things. (For example playing music at 9PM.)Overall, I would not recommend this place to anyone looking for any more than a peaceful family getaway, or prepare to be yelled at and threatened to be kicked out.

If you are planning to book this resort be ready- To follow very strict and unreasonable rules.- To go to bed at 10pm as no activity is allowed at nighttime, no campfire or stargazing.- To not have parties as louder music is not allowed. We tried to enjoy a pretty quiet birthday party, but the owner kept coming and disturbing us every 5 minutes as she was annoyed by the music at like 7pm. It wasn’t about other campers being disturbed as we booked all 11 cabins. So, the party was ruined.If you try to argue the owner will yell at you: go home, it’s my property, you came to occupy it.She lives at the resort and will watch your every step.The cabins are small, dirty and smelly, no ac or fans. The shower is tiny, unsanitary and the water is cold.Bring everything with you as there is no dish soap in the kitchen or even a sponge.Everything in the cabins is falling apart and outdated, and can break easily. Also, our TV did not work whatsoever.The location is good though and the weather was excellent most of the time.Overall I would not recommend anyone this resort and will not ever go back there. The owner’s attitude caused us a lot of unnecessary stress.

Location: great, plenty of space, clean water. Boat traffic was moderate. The resort even has a very small 'sand beach' ( about 10 ft wide ).Cabins: outdated, smelly, very poorly maintained. I guess they were built 40-50 years ago and had never been upgraded. Rooms are tiny, no AC/Fan, TV wasn't working. Forget about the dishwasher - they didn't even provide sponge/soap for the dishes. I'd compare the cabins to the slightly upgraded camping tents, definitely not a 3 stars hotel as advertised.If that was everything I could say - I'd probably give them 2.5-3 stars, the place has great potential, just needs some investment/work to do...*However* the greatest problem was the resort manager. I could never imagine a business owner can be so rude and offensive. First of all, we were not allowed to stay outside (!) after 10 pm. We were not aware of this restriction at the time we rented the place. The manager claimed she cannot sleep since we're walking and talking outside. The next day we planned a birthday party - played some music, not that loud music, at about 5 pm. She came out of her house to us, screaming, that the music is too loud since she can hear it in her bedroom. My feeling was her only desire after we paid for the entire week, was to force us to leave. Huge disappointment - will never book again, at least until the owner/manager is replaced.

The location and property itself was great! The cabins were a bit outdated and the bedrooms were pretty small. We had to keep our luggage and belongings in the living room as the bedroom only had space for the bed. The trip would have been great if it weren’t for the constant harassment from the owners. We were not allowed to spend any time outside after 10pm, and weren’t allowed to play music during the day without being told to turn it off. When one of us tried to complain about mold in the shower or a broken window we were told to take our deposits and go home. Probably will not be returning to this resort due to the poor customer service.

The place is beautiful but cabins are outdated , small and smelly.When we booked this place we were not told that everybody has to go to sleep at 10 PM. This rule was made evident just 2 days before our arrival and not at the time of booking.We said fine and agreed to the owner's rules and scheduled a Birthday party around 5PM. at 7PM we were told to stop this party. I would expect to have reasonable enjoyment of the vacation that we paid for.It was as though the owner was watching out the window and waiting to call us out for something wrong.I would not recommend this place; don't ruin your well deserved vacation!

I don't usually write negative reviews, but this time I felt, I wanted to warn folks coming to this resort. As a woman of the age of 40 plus, being told what time to go to my room, not play my music and being watched all the time, I find it totally lacking any boundaries. I was really looking forward to this week off with my children and friends whom I haven't seen since the COVID pandemic. I work in health care, and it was a VERY challenging year for all of us.The first day after our arrival, we were told to go home because we were outside and moving between cabins after 10 pm. The noise was an issue for the owner, whose house is right in the middle of the property.  Just to clarify the noise was not an issue, as we rented the entire resort and had families with small children.The following day, being outside in the gorgeous weather and playing music, we were approached multiple times and asked to turn the music down, as it was too loud. Eventually, it turned into a conflict. Nevertheless, to say, the party was ruined, and we were told to go home.The location is great, and the cabins are old but ok. We came for the together-time and not a luxury. The owner lives on the property and patrols everyone. If she were a nice person, none of us would mind it.First, I thought it might be town's rules, but there were daily fireworks at 11pm on a close by property.If you decide to visit this place,  please know all the 'rules' you are to follow as you are not only paying for the stay, you and your family are taking well deserve vacation away from work.

Inessa said it best. Our experience is similar. We (a group of 20 plus golfers - many retired) have come to these cottages for 30 years. The behavior of current the owner is bizarre to say the least. The last 2 years the majority of the group have decided not to return. The few that did stay here this year probably won't next year. We dropped off one of our friends there and the owner was already out of her house telling us to leave...no visitors allowed. We barely had time to unload his clubs. The guys in one cottage were instructed not to flush any toilet paper down into the septic tank - all used toilet paper be placed into the wastebasket. And no going to another cottage to play cards. The last night a handful of men were sitting around outside enjoying the warm fall evening and she came out with a pail of water and doused the campfire.So much for the quiet enjoyment of your rental cabin. .

Last week our family and friends spent 7 days at the resort. The place is nice, there is a tiny beach, platform on the lake for swimming and pedal boats. Cabins are old, not really clean, but ok. 3.5 out of 5.Kitchen is equipped good enough with pans and pots.The main problem is the owners who live in the center of resort. They created this place as their place of relaxation, so no guests can disturb it. People can be outside only till 10, fire is allowed till 10, after 10 conversations outside are not permitted. Not even stargazing and whispering is allowed, opening the doors is to much of a disturbance for her. These doors are old and do not close or open easily.The host behaviour is absolutely not respectful for guests. The host knocked at my door at 8am, with requirements to be at her office in 15 minutes. And request to leave the resort in 2 hours. When my family member explained that I was asleep, she stated she did not care for her sleep was not good.She complained about normal level music at 8 o’clock and ruined a birthday celebration of one of our friends.She was sitting beside us when we sang songs at fire pit without any questions, is it ok or not. Non stop supervision, and at 9:58 told us to shut it off.If you want to sit inside the cabin during your summer vacation this resort is for you. Otherwise, we don’t recommend.

Read before booking:Location 4/5: There was direct waterfront access with several docks for fishing and relaxing. The “sandy beach” was unfortunately underwhelming as it was about the size of a sandbox. Not a huge problem, but definitely not the “beach” that’s advertised on the website.Accommodation and Amenities 2/5: The cabins are fairly old and small. The old stove made the entire cabin smell like gas, even when it was turned off. The weather was nice during our stay so we only spent time inside the cabins at night. There were canoes and peddle boats available for use, which were great. There was wifi but it was extremely slow and we had to use our data most of the time.Customer service 1/5: It felt as though we had a babysitter for the entirety of the trip. The owner forced everyone to be inside after 10pm! You weren’t even allowed to have a quiet fire or sit outside by the water. We hosted a small birthday party during the day and played music at around 6pm, during which the owner yelled at us to turn the music off. A common phrase that we were all told throughout the week by the owner was “take your deposit, and go home”. Some individuals from our group complained about mold in the shower and the owner told us to go back home instead of taking care of the problem. After finally being allowed to make a fire at around 8pm, the owner felt compelled to closely supervise everyone for 40min. It would have been nice to know that the owner lives right in the middle of the resort and does not tolerate any noise above 5 decibels!Definetely will not book again unless the resort is bought out by different owners!