Voyageur Quest Algonquin

Be very careful about renting a cottage from this company! This was our 2nd year in a row renting their Nippissing cottage. The first year was great but what happened this year was absolutely shocking. This issue with this cottage is that they have neighbours that are quite close. The cottage sleeps 12 to 15 people and we had a group of 7 the first night while we were waiting for 3 others to arrive the next day. We paid $2800 and a $750 security deposit for a 3 night stay. We were in our cottage cooking dinner around 10pm when an employee came into our cottage to tell us we were being too loud and that the neighbours had complained. We said okay no worries we will tone it down a bit and we made sure not to play any music the rest of the night. Later on around 11pm we were sitting around the fire when all of a sudden the neighbour from next door started yelling at us from the bushes very rudely telling us to shutup and knock it off and that they were going to take our $750 security deposit. Our group began to become a little upset about what was happening so far as we were very excited for our once a year cottage weekend with friends who we don't get to see very often. Essentially it felt like we had to whisper or just go to bed otherwise the neighbours we're going to be upset. We didn't even have any music playing at all. We were just simply talking around the fire. This wasn't an issue for us the year before because the neighbours weren't here last year. Most of us ended up going to bed around 2am. The next morning we were awoken at 8:30am by extremely loud banging on our door. I answered the door and was handed an eviction notice from an employee who said we needed to be out by 11am! She said the neighbour complained multiple times and that our contract states if we get noise complaints we will be evicted. We completely understand that all rentals have this type of thing in their lease because they don't want huge parties going on but I've never expected to actually get evicted since i've rented many cottages in the past and never had this issue. We kind of shrugged this off and figured that once we went and talked to the owner of the company at the outpost that we would be able to apologize and try to be even quieter on our 2nd night but that isn't what happened. The owner John didn't want to give us any 2nd chance. We thought we deserved atleast a warning after the first night and that now we would know we have to be super quiet the 2nd night. This wasn't the case at all. He said we need to be out by 11am and that they are keeping all $2800 for the full 3 night price we paid and that our $750 security deposit is going to the neighbour! So here we are, after 1 out of our 3 nights, being told to leave after we spent all this money on the stay, bought 3 days worth of food, drove 4 hours to get here and 3 people in our group hadn't even arrived yet. We went over to the neighbour and tried to apologize and said if you want us in bed by 10pm we will do that but please don't make us leave. We were basically begging them to allow us to stay and they said no. The fact that the neighbours are incentivized to file noise complaints because they know they get the groups $750 security deposit is absurd. The employee that came over at 10pm to tell us the neighbour was complaining, even said that this has been an ongoing issue with this cottage and these neighbours. Of course they are going to file a noise complaint if they get $750 out of it. I would complain everytime too if I was them and just make a quick and easy $750 every weekend. We are not a super rowdy group with loud music blasting and the way we were treated had us all in complete shock. To think that there's people out there that would do something like this to other people had us all in disbelief. Going forward I am going to be extremely cautious about renting anything in fear that this could possibly happen to us again. We plan on looking into taking legal action against this company as what they are doing isn't right and can't be legal.

We booked the Couples Retreat with VQ after being blown away by pictures of a beautiful rustic cabin in the wilderness with a panoramic view of the surrounding forest. It was the perfect way to spend our mini-honeymoon away from the busy city life. Our guide Malcolm was so friendly and accommodating though we arrived quite late to check in. His knowledge of the lake and its surroundings helped us plan some excursions - too bad the weather didn’t always cooperate! Although we couldn’t get out on the lake until the 3rd day, we were still able to enjoy beautiful sunrises and sunsets among the gorgeous fall foliage. The cabin is well-decorated and obviously well-loved and equipped with everything we could need. The wood stove kept us warm during the cool October nights and the smell and sound of crackling firewood were so soothing. We spent 3 nights in absolute comfort and relaxation, unplugged completely from civilization. I would recommend VQ to anyone who loves the outdoors and is looking for a quiet getaway.

Went with a group of friends and rented a cottage from this company, by 7 pm a staff member comes upto us and told us we were being to loud and to turn the music off, after that music was not played at all, there were 6-7 people outside playing football and the manager then comes and told us we are being evicted because of too many noise complaints. I don’t understand how someone gets evicted by 8 pm when your “policy” states no noise after 10 pm. We tried to reason with the manager but he would not change his mind and told us we had to leave. So despite that we began packing and had to find a different place to spend the night. While we were packing around 12 at night we hear other cottages singing and creating ruckus, so I do not understand how we got evicted at 8pm but the neighbours singing and creating ruckus at 12 was fine somehow. Definitely will not be going back to this place not worth it all, if you want to be homeless in the middle of the night then I would recommend this place.

Booked this cottage for a weekend getaway with some of my friends. We had been planning this trip for months now and were very excited, but little did we know that we would become subjected to racism. After hours of unpacking, we were finally sitting by the dock and enjoying ourselves. Only a few hours in, we had a lady come and tell us that we had received multiple warnings for being loud, when in reality we had received NONE. At this point, we only had our pocket speaker on which we then decided to turn off just out of respect. Meanwhile, all our neighbors were having a great time with their music and laughing. Following that, another individual came and said that we were being too loud, when this time there was no music or anything. He threatened us to leave immediately, however we had all had a few beers by this point and we were not able to drive. He finally agreed to us staying the night and leaving 6am the next day. We spent the night repacking all our belongings, and we were exhausted when we left early the next morning. Since it is summer time and peak cottage season, we were unable to find anything else last minute and our trip was unfortunately cut short. This was the worst experience I’ve had by far. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL AND RACIST. If you’re looking to have a good time and relax, this is NOT the place! If you want to give it a shot anyways, have a back up in mind .

We had an excellent 3-day canoe trip with MA & Taylor from Voyager Quest. They were both very knowledgeable about nature and local first nation culture and showed us the best spots during the tour. And we didn't expect such a culinary treat - amazing what they could prepare on a campfire. Highly recommended!

This was a return trip to VoyageurQuest. We had been there in the summer of 2013, and spent a great deal of time on the lake and in the sauna (simultaneously). The kids were 5 years older (16 and 18), and were hesitant about missing the warm Australian summer holiday to spend with their parents in a cold Canadian winter. What an amazing time. After our initial consternation about driving in Canadian winter conditions and problems finding the place - we thought we knew where we were going again - Emily from VQ tracked our vehicle down from the sound of it on the road, and then invited us back to our "shack" with a warm fire, and hot drinks - before quickly giving us time to put on the skis and snowshoes she had set out, for a trek across the lake (Kawawaywog). Next day we again donned the skis and snowshoes to enjoy the snow at our own pace, and in unforgettable winter conditions. Emily generously dipped into one of her Christmas presents to fortify our coffee before going out in the afternoon, and then had cheese, pickles and charcuterie, and cocktails on our return. After which we proceeded to the sauna, and did what only comes natural by rotating between jumping in the snow, and running back into the heat. The next day involved dog-sledding, and I keep thinking that I thought I was in shape, until I spent the day doing that, followed by another sauna. It was another unforgettable experience which we were grateful to have been able to do. As we left on the final day, the comments from the backseat of the car I recall included: "This place keeps exceeding my expectations." and "Somehow, I think I'll be back here." Thanks to Emily, John and the team for their hospitality.

Algonquin We had planned for weeks and were looking forward to a pleasant retreat. Instead we were a victim to a racially motivated eviction. After unpacking and organizing our supplies we gathered by the dock to enjoy the sun around the lake. We were greeted by an employee and were told that our music from our pocket speaker was loud. We immediately turned it off and went indoors. We were then visited by a second employee (Sam) (6 PM) who echoed that our first noise complaint warranted an eviction. We weren’t being loud nor did we have any music while indoors. We were simply preparing lunch. We checked in at 2 PM and were asked to leave by 6 PM. As it came to us as a surprise we quickly felt the unjust eviction was racially motivated. We expressed that we all had few beers and are unable to drive. After few minutes of convincing we were told to leave by 6am with a THREAT. We are all young professionals. Our conduct was very respectful and polite through the experience. We were still presented with a threat! As the night progressed, our neighbours were enjoying their stay with significantly louder music and noises. This only strengthened our belief that our eviction was racially motivated. What sought out to be a retreat turned to a nightmare as we all struggled to repack and leave early in the morning. We wasted our time value of money, we wasted our vacation days, we wasted our time and $$ planning and buying resources for the weekend. All the above are monetary and can be forgiven. However, a racially motivated and an unjust eviction has created a permanent emotional scar adding to our insecurities as visible minorities. Thank you Voyageur Quest for reminding us that we have a lot of work to do as a community to understand differences and acceptance.

We spent 3 nights in the Manitou house. It was awesome. Lots of room for our family of five. What a beautiful, quiet space to unplug and unwind. Incredibly clean and cozy. The kitchen is great,plenty of tools. The solar power is incredibly efficient. The staff were fantastic. If you want the camping experience but with the comforts of home and far less work this is the perfect mix! You should check I out!