A presumably once-lovely resort, the Chippawa Cottage Resort in Barry's Bay is now suffering from neglect and an unpleasant owner.
We visited in August 2011, and rented one of the "new cottages" - higher-end properties which are somewhat isolated from the rest of the resort. Our cottage was nice if unfinished - exposed wires in uncapped outlets, basement lacking baseboards, trim, and closet doors. The beach was very beautiful and the water lovely for swimming and boating. However, it was not what we expected - we wanted a private cottage and the internet ad (http://www.atthecottage.com/forrent4/kamaniskeg01/index.html) was pretty misleading on this front. There was no private water access (although we were told it was "private", it is shared), no beachfront, and all watercraft had to be picked up and returned to a launch area that was a 10 min walk from the cottage.
The owner was awful to us from the moment we arrived. First, she literally chased us down on our way to the beach, and accused us of fudging the reservation by bringing more people than we said we would. This was untrue, and the owner was able to confirm this from the email trail, but apparently she did not feel the need to apologize for falsely accusing her guests of lying. She also read us the riot act about "wear and tear" on the cottage, this despite the fact that items that others had already broken (i.e. toilet paper holder, screen door, even a dangerous broken chair!) had not been repaired, replaced, or even removed. And to top it all off, she then gave us a hard time about our dog. We had wanted a dog-friendly place, and had disclosed that the dog is large and furry. On arrival, we were told that the dog was not welcome on any part of the resort except our own cottage and the hiking trails. So, no swimming at the beach for our dog, and lots of being kept indoors. Boo. This cast almost as much of a pall on our vacation as the fact that she surprised us yet again by "forgetting" to tell us when we booked that there would be tax on the cottage price, which we discovered after we got there. Ouch.
The main part of the resort is in really bad shape. Garbage spills out of an abandoned potting shed. An old trailer with flat tires blocks the entrance to a hiking trail. Several large trees, dead and dying, are in danger of falling. One tennis court is mostly playable although the fencing is in desperate need of replacement; the second court is covered in weeds and the net has fallen and cannot get up. The playground equipment is beyond help - ancient, flaking, rusty, bent, and missing some parts. This is some serious neglect, to the point of danger.
We would never come back to this resort. read more