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Three personalities on one quiet bay — golden and nostalgic, blue and breezy, white and wide-open on the point. Each has its own fire pit, BBQ, Muskoka chairs and a fully equipped kitchen; the sandy beach is shared by all.
Stays run Sunday to Sunday — check in at 4:00 pm, check out the following Sunday by 11:00 am.
Every booking is one of these blocks: Sunday 4:00 pm through the following Sunday at 11:00 am — seven nights. Hover any week in the calendar below to see exactly which block it is.
| Week | Cottage 1 | Cottage 2 | Cottage 3 |
|---|
Skootamatta Lake, near Cloyne — Addington Highlands, Ontario
Open from mid-May through Thanksgiving, weather permitting.
Weeks run Sunday to Sunday — check in at 4:00 pm, check out the next Sunday by 11:00 am. Pick up to three preferred weeks in the form so we have options if one is taken. A deposit confirms your booking — we'll walk you through it by email.
Booking all three cottages for the same week? Group discounts are available for renters taking the whole bay — just mention it in your enquiry.
A few things guests often wonder about before a week on the bay. Once your dates are confirmed, we'll follow up with a warm arrival note — the exact address, simple directions for the access road, and everything you'll need for the day you arrive.
Our cottage season typically runs from mid-May through Thanksgiving, weather permitting. Opening and closing dates may vary slightly each year depending on lake and weather conditions.
A 25% deposit is required to reserve your cottage, with the remaining balance due 30 days before your arrival. A separate $350 refundable security deposit is also required and will be returned within 7 days of your departure, provided the cottage is left in good condition. We understand that plans can change. If you need to cancel more than four weeks before your stay, all payments will be refunded less a $350 administration fee. For cancellations made within four weeks of arrival, we'll make every effort to rebook your week — if we're successful, you'll receive a refund for the rebooked portion of your stay, less the administration fee. If we're unable to rebook the week, payments made are non-refundable.
We're on a quiet bay of Skootamatta Lake, just north of the village of Cloyne — roughly 3 hours from Toronto and 2 hours from Ottawa. Set your GPS for Cloyne, then it's a short drive onto Skootamatta Lake Road off Highway 41. Once your booking is confirmed we'll email you the exact address and easy, turn-by-turn directions for the last stretch of access road.
To make the most of your time at the lake, all rentals are offered on a Sunday-to-Sunday schedule. Check-in is from 4:00 pm on Sunday, with check-out by 11:00 a.m. the following Sunday. So that everything is spotless and ready for you, we do kindly ask that arrivals not be earlier than 4:00 pm.
Once you've unloaded, we ask that all vehicles be parked in the shaded common clearing at the entrance to the property. There's plenty of room, and it keeps traffic away from the cottages and the beach.
Bed linens are available upon request for a $30 fee. If you choose not to add the linen service, please bring your own fitted and flat sheets, pillowcases, and bath towels. For your comfort, we provide blankets, as well as hand and dish towels in each cottage. All mattresses and pillows are fitted with protective covers, and beds are a mix of queens and twins.
Yes — each cottage has heaters if you'd like them: a larger one for the main living space and smaller ones for the bedrooms. Spring and fall evenings on the lake can be crisp, so they're good to have.
Yes! Well-behaved pets are welcome for a $75 pet fee per stay. We simply ask that you clean up after your pet and help us keep the cottages and property enjoyable for all guests.
Each cottage has a fully stocked kitchen and its own BBQ with propane (spare tanks are by the small shed between the two beachfront cottages). You'll find the everyday basics on hand — hand and dish soap, cloths and scrubbers, foil and cling wrap, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, and coffee filters. The coffee makers are all drip: Harvest Moon and Out of the Blue take basket filters, Slowpoke takes a cone — all provided.
The taps run filtered lake water — perfectly fine for showering, washing up, brushing teeth and rinsing fruit and veg, but not for drinking. Each cottage has a water cooler, and we leave a full jug to get you started. After that, refills are easy to grab at the Shell or Esso in Cloyne, or the Foodland in Northbrook.
We can have a generous stack of dry firewood waiting for you for $45 — just let us know ahead of time and it'll be on site when you arrive. Please note that fire bans are taken seriously here and do happen: when one is in effect there's no daytime burning between 7 am and 7 pm (a small campfire for cooking or warmth aside), and it applies to fireworks too. You can check current conditions with North Frontenac Township. If you've pre-paid for firewood and a ban is on, we'll refund it in full.
Absolutely. The bay is calm and shallow near shore with a gradual sandy incline — lovely for swimming and paddling, and great for little ones. You're welcome to bring a canoe, kayak or small boat; if you'd like details on launching or where to tie up, just ask and we'll walk you through it.
Just one small ask: please choose cans over glass wherever you can (beer and drinks especially). Bare feet and sandy shallows don't mix well with broken glass, so it keeps everyone safe on the beach and in the water.
Guests look after their own waste, and the township is strict about sorting: general waste and compost in the clear bags provided, recyclables separated by type (glass; paper; metal and plastic together). It all goes to the Cloyne waste site, just before the property on Skootamatta Lake Road — we leave you bags, a couple of garbage tags and the township waste card to get started. The site is open Sundays and Mondays 9–1 & 1:30–4:30, and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings 9–1. Please don't leave any garbage, compostable or otherwise, in the firepits or on the grounds.
Yes. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available in all three cottages, making it easy to stay connected if needed. That said, many of our guests find it's the perfect place to unplug, slow down, and enjoy everything the bay has to offer. Please note that, as with many rural properties, internet speeds and reliability may vary from time to time.
The nearest town is Cloyne, just minutes away, with Milligan's — an excellent butcher — plus Finnegan's general store (worth it for the ice cream) and a Shell station with a Mr. Sub and coffee. A little further south, Northbrook has a Foodland, an LCBO, a BMO, the CodFather fish and chips, a couple of chip stands and a coffee shop. Most guests bring the bulk of their groceries and use Foodland for water and anything they've missed.
Kind words from guests on the bay — with more to come as the seasons roll on.
After outgrowing our annual cottage rental we booked all three Starcross Cottages as a group of four families for a week in the summer of 2025. We had the best time! The sandy beach and shallow, calm water in the bay mean that kids of all ages can play in the water for hours. The canoes and kayaks provided the perfect opportunities to explore the lake. The cottages are simple but full of thoughtful details and cute design choices that really enhance the idyllic Canadian summer vibe. Suffice to say we'll be back every year!
A shared working list — visitors never see this page. Press Enter to add the next item; everything autosaves.
Drag ⠿ to reorder — pull right to nest under the task above, left to un-nest; subtasks always travel with their parent. ▾ collapses a branch. ◇ cycles a label (goal → milestone). ＋ adds a subtask; Enter adds the next task; checking a parent completes its subtasks.
The master sheet. Set each week's price, mark weeks Open, Tentative or Booked, and record who rented, their contact, and what they paid. Everything autosaves. The public only ever sees Available / Tentative / Booked — never names, contacts, or prices.
| Week (Sun 4 pm → Sun 11 am) | Price $ | Status | Renter | Contact | Paid $ |
|---|
Every booking inquiry from the site, newest first — stored straight into your own database, no third-party form service. As you confirm one, mark its weeks Tentative or Booked in the Bookings sheet.
Saved wording to reply faster. Use {name}, {dates}, {cottage}, {total}, {pets} — they fill in automatically from each inquiry when you use its Copy / Open-in-email buttons. {total} includes the $75 pet fee when the guest brings a pet; {pets} becomes a friendly pet-welcome line (or nothing at all if there's no pet). Autosaves.
The campaign workroom — the strategy checklist for getting renters to the site, plus a place to keep keyword plans, dashboards and campaign links. Visitors never see this page.
What the season can earn vs what's booked so far, minus running costs. Cottage income comes from the prices in the Bookings sheet; drag the slider to see what filling the calendar does. This page is the working template for the real expense tracker.
| Cottage | Full-season potential | Booked so far | Winterize what-if (est. extra off-season income) |
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Categories follow the CRA T776 rental-income lines your accountant files against. Monthly items count ×12 unless you set the months (e.g. a seasonal cleaner: ×6). HST/GST has its own column — with an HST account it's recoverable as input tax credits, so it's tracked but not added to the expense total.
| Expense | Category | Frequency | Amount $ | HST/GST $ | Annual total |
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Shown when guests hover the photo, and under it in the full-screen gallery. Leave blank for no caption.