In order to incentivize travel within Ontario for 2022 the provincial government has introduced the Ontario Staycation Tax Credit. This tax credit could translate to up to $200 per individual or $400 per family. Be sure to read more about eligibility and requirements here.
July 5th, 2019
We enjoyed a “Happy Canada Day Weekend” at Lakair Lodge. It was the first busy weekend of the summer and it was an enjoyable one, with lots of friends dropping by. Over the weekend we offered a number of specials, but one exceptional bargain was our ice; a 5 lb bag of ice was selling for a toonie. Since ice is such a strategic ingredient to enjoying the summer months we have decided to keep a reduced price for the balance of the season as a way of saying thanks to all our guests and visitors. A 5 lb bag of ice will sell for $3 for the rest of the summer and remember, if you need large quantities of ice let us know. Bulk sales are available.
Despite our efforts to get the word out people are surprised to learn that our new restaurant “The Barbless Hook” is open and operational. Despite that, we enjoyed a busy weekend with visitors enjoying the restaurant as well as the deck. Please drop by and enjoy the “Deck” as it is a great place to watch the sunset.
Finally, we are beginning to see water levels fall to the point where we should be able to set up our normal dock configuration. That will be a big relief for us, as well as our visitors arriving by water. It has been a difficult spring with the high water levels. We typically try and have someone on the dock to assist with guests arriving by boat. Our aim is to make your visit enjoyable and it begins with a welcome smile on the dock.
Fuel sales are available and yes prices are up this year. Remember we have additional taxes levied on fuel and despite what some believe we pay the same price for premium gas that you pay at the pump. Add in the labour and convenience of buying fuel on the water and you can appreciate why prices are a little higher.
As always we ask that boaters reduce their wake when passing by the Lodge. It makes refuelling boats a lot safer and ensures minimal damage to the waterfront.
We look forward to seeing you at the Lodge. Drop by and say help. Safe travels on the water!
June 22, 2019
Great food and wonderful views, just one of the many compliments we are receiving from guests enjoying their supper on the deck at Lakair Lodge. It’s been a real pleasure for Denise and I to see the many happy faces of guests stopping by for lunch and supper at The Barbless Hook restaurant. Nacho platers and wings seem to be a favourite alongside side a nice cold draft beer! “ Best burger I have ever had “ was another compliment. Our burgers are home made and are great by themselves or with cheese.
Our chef “Jesus” is from Mexico and has been cooking in the Toronto area for 15 years. Yes there is a Mexican influence in the food and guests love it. We are looking forward to our summer time friends to arrive and and enjoy our food and family friendly atmosphere. Our water levels remain quite high but have begun to drop. Our main dock is still below water but temporary docking is in place. Please approach from the west side of the docks. We look forward to seeing our boating friends.
Wake continues to be a problem. It is doing a lot of damage along the shoreline. Here’s a few tips on how to minimize your wake when you are passing the Lodge. When you approach the narrows pull the throttle back to neutral and allow the stern of the boat come to surface. Once the boat levels out increase your speed and the wake created will be minimal. If you simply pull your throttle back to 1/3 the stern remains in the water and maximum wake is created. We greatly appreciate your efforts to minimize wake. It helps everyone on the lake. Fishing seems to have picked up. We are getting reports of decent catches, jigs tipped with a minnow seem to be doing the trick . One of our dinner guests came home with a 7.5 pound walleye!
The clouds are breaking up and the sun is about to make an appearance, looks like the start to another beautiful weekend here on the West Arm. Hope to see you soon.
Tight lines, Dennis.
May 21, 2019
It has been a busy week at Lakair Lodge in preparation for opening weekend. New signs are up at the Lodge, work continues on the laundry house renovation, and a general clean up of the grounds is underway. Lake levels just keep on rising. Water is over the sill at the boathouse and flooding the floor. Many of the neighbours have had to move boats out of their boat houses to prevent them from being crushed against the ceilings. If you still have a dock it’s floating and while there are very few boats on the lake those that are need to minimize wake. At these water levels strong wakes can do a tremendous amount of damage to property, docks and nesting waterfowl. A large wake can easily push a floating dock off its’ cribbing so please slow down. Boaters should remember as well there is a lot of debris floating on the lake so keep an eye out as you travel the waterways. Let’s hope we get some relief in the week ahead.
While business at the Lodge has been slow there have been a lot of neighbours dropping by to check out the new restaurant “The Barbless Hook”. The restaurant is not open yet. We are still waiting for approval for our liquor licence and final touches are being applied to the interior. We are anxious to get the restaurant operational so stay tuned to our social media sites and we’ll let you know the opening date. It won’t be long!
However, the ice cream Schack is open and despite the cool wet weather we have had steady sales. Lots of positive comments on the old lodge sink. It looks great.
You can now hear the peeping of frogs in the evening along with the haunting and lonely call of the loon. Daffodils are up, pussy willows out and the cool weather has kept the bugs at bay. It’s a great time to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend
Tight lines, Dennis
May 14, 2019
Three days away from opening and flood waters remain a problem throughout the area including here at Lakair. The water is so high that in some cases our fixed docks are a foot below water. It is unlikely the water will recede before the weekend. Safe to say that boat access to the Lodge will not be available as of yet. That also means no fuel sales from the marina as well. If anything changes we’ll let you know. Let’s hope they open the dam on the French River soon.
Despite water levels Lakair Lodge’s cottages are open and available to rent. We’d love to see you. Spring is in the air and it is a good time to see a lot of flowers and wildlife whilst taking a hike through the park trails.
“The Barbless Hook” the Lodge restaurant at Lakair won’t be operational until a little later in the month. There are a few final touches to be done on the inside of the restaurant. Our new chef is scheduled to start on May 28th so look for an opening announcement sometime around June 1st. In the meantime if you do drop by the Lodge you are more then welcome to visit the new restaurant and get a look at what we’ve done. We think you’ll like it.
The ice cream shack will be open this weekend. All the usual ice cream flavours along with drinks and snacks will be available. The old Lodge sink has been refinished and installed in the ice cream shack. It looks great. A new Pepsi drink cooler has also been installed.
We’ll update you on any changes as we approach the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine this weekend.
We look forward to seeing you at Lakair!
May 8th Update
Well winter just doesn’t want to let go! We have had a couple of morning where ice has formed on the lake since my last report but it is usually melted by mid day.
Like the rest of the province, our water levels continue to rise and are expected to peak this weekend. Let’s hope so it’s now above our cribbed docks and up to the first step to the boathouse. If it stays like this for any length of time it will be a challenge getting our docks in place by opening on May 17th. We did have plans to raise the boathouse this spring but that’s been put off until the fall when we have lower water levels. We have switched our focus to expanding the laundry room. We need more space to keep the housekeeping staff happy. It’s been a little crowed the last couple of years.
We have switched our booking policy to 3 night stays in the off season (May 17th to June 28th) and 7 night stays in the high season (June 29th to August 31st). While under renovation we had an open booking policy but find with shorter stays on weekends we have had to turn guests away that were looking to stay the week. We have intended from the start to implement week long stays in the high season once renovations were complete. Keep in mind that if you book directly through the Lodge you get a 10% discount, and this combined with our already discounted weekly rate (7 nights for the cost of 5) you are actually only paying for 4.6 nights to stay the week. It is a competitive rate so think about extending your stay and enjoying the great outdoors at Lakair.
The ice cream building is getting a few small changes as well all in an effort to serve our customers better. We will now be carrying refreshing drinks, snacks and and with the addition of a new “old” sink that used to be in the main lodge kitchen we may be able to sell hot dogs as well. We will also be selling ice and if you need it in bulk for a weekend get together talk to us. Our pricing is very competitive.
When you arrive at our docks this year you will notice we have some new faces to greet you. Our summer staff are excited to see the season start and look forward to greeting the guests on the dock in the Lakair way.
All staff have been pitching in to start the spring clean up. It is always a big job after a long winter and this one seems to be setting a record. Many branches and a few small trees are down from the weight of the snow which fell in abundance this year and is no doubt the reason the water levels are so high.
Sure signs of spring this week. The crocuses are in bloom and a couple of our resident friends have appeared. Timmy the chipmunk who the kids love to feed is back looking for his handout of peanuts and our dock side mink is back , you usually see him down in the morning.
The moose have started to appear from their winter feeding grounds so be careful driving the highways if your up this way.
The sun is coming over the horizon so it’s time to go, see you next week with some exciting news from our restaurant.
Tight lines