If you run a business, any kind of business, you know you have to keep improving.  A Lodge – or any business- is like a plant; if it doesn’t grow, it fades and dies.  So in our nearly 30 years here at Hay Lake Lodge and Cottages, we have constantly striven to improve our cottages, provide better options, and in general make the place better.  One of the best ways to do this is listen to guest suggestions.

One guest thought  I should maximize the space we have here and put a series of condos along the shore.

Another guest thought more activity would be a good idea, and recommended I turn the common room into a video arcade.

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And one of the most distinctive ideas  was for color.  A woman staying in Cabin #4 liked our place well enough, but thought the brown exteriors a little nondescript and thought we could set ourselves apart if we painted our cabins lavender.

Now before I go any further I want to be clear that I truly value guest input.  It can be a small detail, like the furniture arrangement in Cabin #1 and a book for the library, or something more substantial such as the decks in front of the cabins.

But in the end, a business reflects the personality and values of the owners.  We like a quiet place, close to nature, with a cabin completely equipped, comfortable and traditional, for a chance to truly relax.  We hope you do too.

"Our Start at Hay Lake"

I’ve told a lot of guests how Phil and I came to Hay Lake Lodge and Cottages, when Doug was 6 months old.  I have some great stories – how there was no hydro (electricity) when we came, only a generator, how we had to build the business back up from nothing because it had been closed, how I became the cook – and it’s all true!  Sometimes looking back there is a bit of a “Little House in the Big Woods” feeling when I describe my daughter Laura’s cradle by the fire to keep warm in the winter, or how I kept Doug in his carrier on my back while I served dinner, because he was ill and that was the only way he would sleep.  The winter Phil worked away, I had to turn off the generator at night and as it faded into silence, there was just a kerosene lamp in the window against the dark trees.  I love to tell my “pioneer stories” – but today I want to introduce you to the real pioneers – Gordon and Clover Palbiski, who built Hay Lake Lodge and Cottages and ran it from 1953 to 1974.

This is Clover. Clover’s an Avery, the family  who runs Opeongo Outfitters, the oldest outfitters in Algonquin Park.  Clover is the best baker and cook in the world, and still supplies Hay Lake with butter tarts and pies.   She has enough energy for 10 people and makes you feel at home immediately.

Then there is Gordon.  Gordon has just published his memoirs, so you’ll have to read the whole story for yourself, but they broke the mold when they made Gordon.  His first job  was hauling an ice sleigh with a team of horses, and he became a bush pilot when he ran the Lodge.  Gordon’s story has it all.

Gordon and Clover were the real pioneers. They cleared the bush, cut the logs, built the cabins and the lodge, raised a family and made lifelong friends with guests who came to fish and hunt, and stayed for the warm hospitality.   We learned the lodge business from them.  Today we are lucky; they are our neighbours and our friends.  Be sure to stop over at Clover’s for a pie or home made bread when you are here – and listen to Gordon’s outrageous stories.  You’ll see a part of what has made Hay Lake so special.

It occurred to me that I have mentioned the wonderful quiet serenity at Hay Lake so much that you might think, if you haven’t been here before, that this is a haven for monks and hermits.  Monks and hermits are certainly welcome, but Hay Lake is a family business, and we enjoy hosting families.  Sometimes the families are small – a couple from Japan and their 18-month old son – and sometimes a family stays in 2,3 even all 6 of our cottages for a couple of days, or a week.  My own family has gathered here twice, and we’re getting ready to do it again in August, so I know from personal experience that we have the perfect combination of common area and privacy.  You can spend the day together, then go back to your cabins at night for a breather!