Girl getaways at Resorts of Ontario

There’s no better time than now to book a girlfriends’ getaway at Resorts of Ontario. From November to mid- December, occupancy rates are lower and prices can’t be beat. Add fine wine, delicious food and a spa date to the mix and you can see why getting away with the girls at this time of year is so popular. Just look at Deerhurst Resort and the town of Huntsville in Muskoka. Their Girlfriends’ Getaway Weekend, November 13-15, 2009, has already sold out but I called the resort today and rooms are still available. Entertaining workshops include a Renovate my Wardrobe at Deerhurst and a Style by Jury fashion show in downtown Huntsville. There’s also Wine Tasting with Ann Martin, a Natural Beauty Show with wine and tapas served, and morning Vinyasa yoga classes. To book, call Deerhurst’s toll-free line at 1-800-461-4393.

Part of the spa at the Inn at Christie's Mill

But wait, there’s more….

"Boy-free" spa date at Brookstreet

Last winter, I had the pleasure of visiting Brookstreet in Ottawa. Owned by billionaire Sir Terry Matthews, this place has all the ingredients for a great urban getaway for girls – luxurious accommodation, a gorgeous spa, four-diamond cuisine and outstanding fitness facilities. And because Ottawa is Canada’s Capital, the Brookstreet getaway could be combined with visits to national treasures like the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. I checked Brookstreet’s website and found its Boy-Free package is available Monday through Saturday until December 20th. Priced from $215 per person, based on double occupancy, the one-night package includes deluxe accommodation, a Table d’Hote dinner in Perspectives, its four-diamond restaurant, a $90 spa credit, an in-room movie, breakfast, plus complimentary indoor parking.

A mom told me that she and her girlfriends love booking a spa date at Hockley Valley Resort while their kids take a ski lesson at the resort’s ski hill. The spa lounge overlooks the hill so the moms hang out in terry robes sipping hot tea while watching the kids ski. For a spa date without the kids, Hockley’s Spontaneous Spa getaway is a one night package priced per room at $433, double occupancy. Besides accommodation, each gal receives a $75 spa credit, three-course a la carte dinner, and a full breakfast. For the ultimate private spa party however, consider this: Hockley Valley will let you and a group of friends book its entire spa after hours for a three hour date. Minimum group size is required and a surcharge is applied. Contact the resort directly for details.

Ski hill at Hockley Valley Resort

The spa at Viamede

In the Kawartha Lakes region near Peterborough, Ontario, Viamede Resort is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The resort which is on Stony Lake, two hours from Toronto and three hours from Ottawa, has special anniversary deals that include a Girls Just Wanna Have Fun two-night weekend. For $250 per person, choose either a winterized cottage or deluxe room accommodation with fireplace and whirlpool bath, depending on the size of your group. Breakfast, a 1/2 hour aromatherapy massage and a further $75 spa credit are included. Elmhirst’s which we blogged about last week is another Peterborough-area resort. It has a  Wild Women’s Weekend planned for November 13-15, 2009. Four women can share a winterized cottage for $249 per person with meals included. Cottages include woodburning fireplaces and fully equipped kitchens. Spa services are available at the resort which has an indoor pool, sauna and hot tub.

Girlfriend getaways at the Inn at Christie’s Mill start at $197.50 per person (double occupancy) for one night of accommodation, dinner and breakfast, plus a $100 spa credit and beverage of your choice to enjoy with your spa treatment. This inn is on Gloucester Pool near Georgian Bay, just an hour and a half drive north of Toronto. It has a three-bedroom winterized cottage also available for larger groups. Travel writer Ken Bagnell recently wrote about his stay here for SUN Media.

More winter resorts with girlfriend getaway deals are found at Resorts of Ontario

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Rice Lake Ontario resort with airstrip, fishing and good steak

Elmhirst Resort's snow kite weekend will be held January 29-31, 2010.

I’ve had a fascination with Rice Lake since moving to Ontario. An hour and a half drive northeast from Toronto, it’s a big, shallow lake known for its fishing, historic resorts and cottage communities. The lake got its name for wild rice that once grew here. It was a major food source for local Ojibwa who harvested it every year. The Trent Severn Waterway, a one hundred year old system of locks stretching from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe, raised the water levels on the lake and what little remains of the wild rice today gets eaten by birds. Elmhirst’s Resort is on the north side of the Lake, 1/2 hour from the Ontario city of Peterborough.  Every time I’ve visited this resort, I’ve come away with a good story.

My first visit was years ago. I was with an Irish tv producer. He was scouting Ontario locations for a popular Irish travel show. I still remember the two of us strapping ourselves into the backseat of an Elmhirst float plane. The pilot started the plane’s engine and eventually shifted the joystick into full throttle. It was a windy day and we bounced across the waves and then suddenly we were airborne, flying just above the treetops. I remember having my elbow out the plane window just like in a car and counting all the osprey nests . The Irish tv producer and I were like two kids in a candy store. His one wish for Canada had been a ride in a float plane and here we were chasing his dream. It was fantastic fun. Just before beginning this post, I checked the Elmhirst blog and sure enough, float plane rides are as popular as ever. In winter, the floats are replaced with skis. Now, that would be something to try- taking off and landing in a plane fitted with skis.  Elmhirst also has a private airstrip that attracts pilots from all over, including Swiss pilot Hansreudi Aeschbach who flew in for his 68th visit this past summer.

Fishing off the dock

On another trip to Elmhirst’s Resort, I was with my husband. We arrived on a beautiful June evening. The late day sun had cast a golden glow over the shoreline and I remember seeing all this movement on the water’s surface in front of our cottage. I had no idea what could make such a commotion, so when we were later dining at the main lodge, I asked. They’re massive Carp I was told. And what’s more, they’re a popular catch with the UK sportfishing crowd. Many come with their families to try their luck at snagging a big one. But it’s not the only fish you’ll find in Rice Lake. Bass fishing is big here too, so is Walleye (pickerel) and check out this Muskie caught by an Elmhirst visitor just last week.

The million-dollar wine cellar

Last winter, I was back at Elmhirst with a food writer and an event planner from a big Canadian travel media association. I’d never been to the resort in winter and I was impressed with the amount of snow they had. It was a beautiful, crisp evening. The stars were out as we made our way from the main lodge to the resort’s million dollar all-Canadian wine cellar. There we enjoyed some great vintages paired with tasty hors d’oeuvres made by chef de cuisine, Michael Sterpin. They’re serious about their food here and as local as you can get. Much of the menu is produced at the Elmhirst farm on site, including fresh eggs, Elmhirst’s Own corn-finished Black Angus beef, turkey, vegetables and herbs. Preserving is big too. I noticed jars of preserves lining the wall of the dining room entrance as we went in for dinner. All eight of us couldn’t resist ordering the house specialty; steak and frites. And when it came to dessert most of us couldn’t pass up the chance to try the wild rice pudding first concocted by the Elmhirst family’s 91 year old matriarch.

Morning walk up to the farm at Elmhirst Resort

There’s also an intriguing story that ties the resort and the area to Lord Nelson. In 1818, long before Canada was a country, King George IV of England awarded 1000 acres on the north shore of Rice Lake to Phillip James Elmhirst. Elmhirst had been a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and had fought for Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Fast forward to 1906 when the grandfather of present owner, Peter Elmhirst, acquired the “Walker Farm”, a 340 acre parcel of land on the north shore with a mile of scenic shoreline. This is the present day site of  Elmhirst’s Resort.

There’s plenty to do here. Riding stables and trails are on site. In winter, old-fashioned sleigh rides are popular. Elmhirst also hosts an annual snow kite festival out on the frozen lake. Picture surfboards attached to massive kites skidding across the ice. There’s also cross country skiing and tobogganing and the resort hopes to offer icefishing this winter.  And to soothe tired muscles after a day of outdoor fun, there’s always the hot tub, sauna and indoor pool. Modern cottage accommodation ranges from one to five bedrooms and all the cottages have fully equipped kitchens, woodburning fireplaces, jacuzzi tubs, television, internet and VCRs.

The cottages are cozy in winter.

Watch for great winter deals here. A popular package with Elmhirst guests is the Couch Potato getaway . Priced at $399 per couple mid week, breakfasts and dinners are included. The weekend version has Saturday breakfast and dinner and Sunday Brunch and is $429 per couple. Taxes are not included with either rate.

Many of the more than one hundred Resorts of Ontario across the province are open all winter and offer seasonal mid week and weekend deals for couples, families and small groups of friends.

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History Room at The Briars

The Briars’ archivist Diana Rowney in action

The prospect of a “History Tour” at The Briars did not immediately fill me with anticipation. I was more interested in clambering around the rocky shores of Lake Simcoe taking pictures with the Nikon, or hanging out in the dining room with Carlos and Hylton, listening to their stories about “back home” in Jamaica.

Service at The Briars is excellent and very friendly

Diana Rowney

Don’t get me wrong, I like history, but there’s lots more to do here. Anyway… my mood improved when we rendezvoused with a gaggle of nurses in the foyer to start the tour. Then my mood improved considerably more when we were introduced to our tour guide, the incredibly engaging archivist Diana Rowney. She’s got a way about her that makes the stories come alive. And there are many stories too. Not just dusty, old grade school stuff. No sir. These stories are bawdy and raucous, as, I think, all good history should be. Here’s a link to some of the stories from the Briars’ history to whet your appetite.

It was all very civilized. After the tour we retired to the main veranda where the proprietor, Mrs. Sibbald, served us sherry. The conversation drifted between the modern resort industry in Ontario and the state of the nursing profession in that province.

Mrs. Sibbald entertaining guests on the veranda at The Briars

The resort is in Jackson’s Point on Lake Simcoe. It has been here for over 165 years. If the traffic is not bad, it’s about an hour north of Toronto.

Main entrance to The Briars Resort, Spa and Conference Centre

The accommodation is very comfortable and the service is fantastic.

The hallway just outside of our room at The Briars

Lake Simcoe shoreline

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Northern Ontario resort, business travelers, ice fishing and train buffs

Lobby at the Clarion Resort Pinewood Park, North Bay, Ontario

The first thing that struck us when we walked into the Clarion Pinewood Park Resort Hotel was its beautiful lobby. The stone walls and stone floor are fitting for a hotel that is in North Bay , the gateway to northern Ontario. This is Canadian Shield country, a rugged land of rock and water. North Bay (pop. 54.000) is at the strategic center of Ontario geographically  where Highway 11 and the TransCanada Highway meet. That makes it a major crossroad in Ontario and a place where business deals are struck. The city is also a big destination for outdoor enthusiasts, especially fishermen. That’s because it’s on Lake Nipissing which some refer to as the sixth Great Lake. The lake covers over 800 square kilometres and is relatively shallow so the fishing is excellent, even in winter.  Ice fishermen come every year from all over North America to fish for trophy-sized Pickerel (Walleye), Aurora trout and Brook trout.

Model trains at Pinewood Park

We arrived at the Clarion Pinewood on a week night when the place was busy with business travelers. Its standard rooms were all full so, we chose one of the hotel’s mini suites with in-room jacuzzi bath. Hardly mini though. The generous suite dwarfed our king size bed and the in-room jacuzzi easily accommodated the two of us. It was a nice treat after a long day of travel. We chose to eat dinner at the hotel and on our way to the restaurant,  discovered an amazing model train display. It’s the pride of the North Bay Model Railway Club and comes complete with Rocky Mountains, a prairie scene including a Farmers Cooperative grain elevator, railroad tunnels and bridges, and a roundhouse. Now, I don’t know my train sets but I am willing to bet this collection has some rare engines and cars. My favourite was a silver American Flyer that had a sleek art deco look to it. Other cars and engines included Lionel, Sante Fe, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Canadian Northern, and Ontario Northland.  North Bay has always been a railroad town and is the south terminus for the Ontario Northland Railway so it was a nice surprise to come across the display in the Clarion Parkwood.

Part of Lake Nipissing from the beach at North Bay

At Explore Your Senses,  I chose the grilled Northern Pickerel. This sweet-tasting fish is a northern Ontario delicacy. It was delicious. The next morning on a tour of the property, I learned that “Senses”is a common theme here. Not only can you explore your senses while you dine, you can “Revive Your Senses” at the hotel spa and the Executive Par 3 right behind the hotel is “Fore Your Senses”. Pinewood Park also packages with Osprey Links, an 18 hole, par 71, just five minutes away.

Downtown North Bay Ontario streetscape

Winter is truly celebrated in this part of Ontario where they get lots of snow. Cross country, downhill, snowtubing, snowmobile and blading packages are offered at Pinewood Park. All include accommodation, breakfast and dinner for two. Prices start at $199 per night, based on double occupancy.

We had a hot tub in our room at the Clarion Resort Pinewood Park

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