Easter weekend JT and I treated ourselves to a little R&R getaway up in cottage country. We received raving reviews for the JW Mariott in Rosseau from my friend/neighbour/boss, my best friend and my SIL so when we decided we wanted to go away, we thought “why not?”! So we booked a Thursday to a Saturday on the Easter weekend. This is the only time I will say this, but if you want a romantic get away, then don’t go on a long weekend, the place is packed with families and lots and lots of kids. Thursday and Friday were more couples but as soon as Saturday hit, mayhem!
The Rosseau Marriott is an easy 2 hour drive from our home, but we stopped for lunch in Barrie and a little shopping at an outlet mall so it took a bit longer than expected. We decided to take an extra day and go up on Thursday to beat the rush hour traffic. Winter has been dragging its ugly feet in these parts and as we drove north we could still see remnants of snow in places.
A real annoying thing is when a hotel (particularly one out in the middle of no where) charges $18 per day for in room WIFI — it drives me crazy. Fortunately, they offered free WIFI in the common areas, so we were able to keep in touch when we were in the gorgeous lobby. But then upon returning to our room we noticed that we hadn’t dropped the free WIFI, so if you don’t want to pay for WIFI in your room, ask for a room directly above the lobby, we were on the third floor and we had full WIFI power, FOR FREE!
The Mariott has a few restaurants and we ate at two of them; Teca was the high end dining, open for dinner only and Cottages the more casual eatery open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had a breakfast and a lunch at Cottages and the food was not overly impressive, although we met the loveliest server, Chris. The Mariott has a trading program that the allows employees to migrate to a location of choice for a short time, so Chris traveled from Barbados to Muskoka for the winter months (why, you might ask) and then in the summer he’ll head back to his regular job in Barbados! Chris truly made our experience so lovely.
As for amenities, this Mariott has several pools but only one was open for the winter; they also have a great gym which we made good use of.
Other than a slight hick-up (someone forgot their swimsuit — me) we had an amazing time. I would surely recommend this Mariott no matter what time of year, but particularly in winter for it’s gorgeous scenery and cosy fireplace rooms. I will caution you that the small store has a few swimsuits but they are not great nor are they cheap. We ended up heading into Bracebridge the closest large town and I picked up a bathing suit bottom (for $5) and used my workout top as my swimsuit top. Not perfect, but not bad either. I just didn’t want to spend money on something I already had several off.
Overall rating of The JW Marriott, Lake Rosseau (in my opinion): Decor 4.5/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 3/5, Noise: 2/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet) the noise was rated on Saturday night.
Disclaimer: We purchased our stay and meals for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
Just discovered your blog.
I like the way you write, the recipes and pictures 🙂
For sure I’ll visit again!
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Thank you Daniela, and welcome.
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Looks like a perfect place for a getaway, Eva…although I can’t believe you still have snow! I always take my pillow with me, too! 😉
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Hi Betsy, it’s hard to believe there was snow at Easter, but I’m sure by now it’s all gone. We’ve had a warm week and weekend and we’re even thinking of putting on the A/C at home.
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This looks like a wonderful getaway. It’s hard to believe Easter wasn’t that long ago and we had winter temps. Crazy! And I have to try snow shoeing sometime. I think that every winter but never end up making it.
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Hi Kristy, thank you it was quite lovely. Today is very warm and seeing the photos with snow makes it seem like a lifetime ago, but you’re right, it was really only a month ago. I am looking forward to summer for sure.
Yes, snow shoeing was more fun than I expected. I guess you can make it really challenging by going faster, but it was so hot in the sun, I didn’t want to break into an Eastern European Sweat! 😉
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Hi Eva, your second photos reminded me of a small stretch of road near the airport we fly to in the north of Sweden. Of course, I’m sure carved out rock roads aren’t uncommon anywhere, but it’s the first thing I thought of!
The hotel looks like a nice little place to get away from it all (as long as there’s not too many pesky ankle-biters, hehe). I love the fireplace in the room… how cosy is that? Must be lovely when it’s pouring with rain or snowing outside!
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Thank you for your comments Charles, yes that road does indeed resemble the road to the Muskokas. Our rock is known as the Canadian Shield and it needed to be carved out for the road throughout Ontario.
Yes, I am hoping to visit this hotel in the middle of winter so we can take advantage of the fire place. Sadly it was a little warm to have it on that weekend, but it was romantic to have one in the room.
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Reminds me of my trip to Stockholm in the winter. We had a private sauna in the room which was seriously awesome. Coming in from the freezing cold and sitting in 50 or 60 degree steaminess… so good. Warms you through to the very core!
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How cool is a private sauna! We had one in a condo we rented in Whistler BC the very first time we went out there to ski, and you’re so right about warming you to the core. Both JT and I caught colds that trip and the sauna was amazing for a stuffed up nose too.
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What a lovey looking hotel Eva — I think I could have hung out in the bathroom alone it’s so nice ;-). The decorations are very tasteful and I too love the idea of a cozy fireplace in the bedroom. What a perfect little getaway in nature.
But I have to ask about one thing… a small charcuterie dish was enough for dinner, breakfast and an hors d’oeuvres for you and JT?!? Good heavens, either you’re marvelously disciplined or I have a voracious appetite! :).
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Thank you kindly. I can easily graze on on of these dishes for an hour or more Kelly, but there must have been 600 – 800 grams of protein or more! And yet there was (some) restraint too, it was a lot of food. I even brought home a bit of cheese too (triple cream, but oh so good!). Great value. I’d order it again for sure.
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This sounds like a wonderful little getaway Eva. Thank you for the tip about WiFi. You are right some hotels charge unbelievable rates for that service
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Actually we had several immortal fire too in Indonesia…
btw, the wifi rates daily will pay a month internet access in my place,
nothing to said, JW Mariott is a fancy hotels…..
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Thanks for your comments Dedy; Internet monthly rates vary but a fairly basic monthly rate in Canada is about $40-$50. Sometimes you can get deals for $30!
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What a crazy deal on dinner…and nice and neat kitchen!
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Thanks SM, the large platter would have been enough for 6-8 as an appetizer!
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Wow, looks gorgeous!
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Thanks Amber, it was a lovely get-a-way.
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Oh, what a lovely get away. Did you ever dream of snow shoeing at Easter? Crazy weather.
If that is a small portion charcuterie what does the normal portion look like?
Remember the photo of you in a black-and-white outfit sitting in front of a black-and-white mural on the Highline? That building has been torn down. Major construction projects going on on both sides of the Highline.
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Hi Norma, the weather has been very wonky but I think it’s turned around finally.
I do remember that photo (I’m wearing that same dress today!) I can’t believe it was torn down! Sounds like it’s time for another trip to the Big Apple, but not sure when. We’re heading down to DC for our anniversary this year…and we’ll be meeting up with a blogger but I won’t spoil the surprise.
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Hi Eva, Drop me a note when you decide to visit the Big Apple again.
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I surely will.
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Firstly I love that you carry your pillow with you for road trips. I’m going to try that next time. And yes I’m with you on the wifi charges. We sometimes get charged $30 for it. Crazy! If they made it more reasonable people wouldn’t mind and would use it.
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Wow, $30 is an awful lot, I’ve not seen it that high in NA. We have been known to choose a hotel for offering Free WIFI in the rooms (as long as they tick of the other must haves!).
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How nice to be able to get away like that, Eva. I remember you saying that your Easter was cancelled. This was perfect! Funny. Just last night a friend and I were talking about WiFi charges when traveling. His job takes him all around the US and the number of hotels that still charge is unbelievable. I think it great that you found a way to outsmart them. I’ll keep it in mind the next time I need to book a room at a place that charges for WiFi. Internet charges aside, it’s something to see all that snow as late as Easter. Suddenly our weather doesn’t seem to bad. 🙂
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OK, I can’t spell.heels correctly after 9 PM
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🙂
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What a wonderful long weekend respite for you. We have a JR Mariott here in town, and the restaurant is wonderful. So we see you in snow shoes, but no heals??? A shoe is a shoe 😉
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You didn’t see the shoes/boots I took up Liz, they were quite inappropriate !
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I too hate it when the hotels charge extra for Wifi. The hotel looks lovely, and I love the coziness. Fireplace in the room in an added bonus. The views are beautiful. Perfect getaway!
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Thanks Minnie, it was a lovely getaway for sure, but I’m glad that spring is finally here.
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All that snow and you didn’t want a jacket? I’ve got the heater on, a sweatshirt and slippers. It’s not cold at all compared to what you have in winter. 🙂 A fireplace in the room? how romantic!
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Hi Maureen, it was actually rather warm that weekend with the sun shining, and we were moving quite a bit so it felt hotter than it was. Contrast to last weekend when we had snow and had a fire in the fireplace everyday.
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Looks like a wonderful little getaway Eva, though I’m with you on the charging extra for wifi. It’s 2013 for peet’s sake!! Looks like you got some good outdoor images with the i-phone too.
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Thanks Jed, in a four star it certainly feels like nickel and diming. It’s finally starting to get warm in these parts, but I’ve been watching DC and it looks like mid-summer weather — I’ll have to pack light!
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Looks so beautiful!
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thanks Julie, it was very nice indeed.
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Looks like you had a really special weekend away. I still am finding it hard to believe you have so much snow at this time of year. Where is summer? A swimsuit bottom for $5? What a bargain xx
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Hi Charlie, I just happened to come across a store that was closing on its last day, so it was just serendipity that they even had a bathing suite bottom! spring is a little later in these parts this year, usually the snow is long gone by then. Weather is starting to warm up now and hopefully it will stay warm.
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Lovely snowy photos my friend, seems like a definite treat of a holiday despite the pesky wifi issue!
Cheers
CCU
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Thanks CCU, it was quite nice indeed.
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Hi, Eva. It seems that you have had lovely short holidays. I also hate the hotels which make you pay for wifi. It’s as if they wanted to get the smallest penny out of every customer… I understand it in very cheap and small hotels, but frankly in four starred ones? It’s so clever of you to give the lower floors trick 😉 I must do it when one day I have no choice but go to a hotel with free wifi only in common areas. I like a lot the fact that on one hand you can have all the meals in restaurants, but if you wish, you can cook in your small kitchen. Such places with four stars are I think very rare in Europe (or maybe don’t exist?).
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Thanks for your comment Sissi; the kitchen was very well equipped and if you were so inclined you could actually cook something simple there. I usually like to have a couple of breakfasts in the room, usually of something simple and healthy; breakfasts in hotels are usually calorie laden and saving a few calories at breakfast was an easy way of mitigating. We did eat one breakfast out though, and we did share because serving sizes are enough for two in these places.
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You know, whenever I travel in France I take some thin Finnish crunchy bread with me 🙂 This way I know that since they always serve hard boiled eggs, I will at least have a nutritious but not fatty or high-calorie breakfast…
The only place where I would never miss my own kitchen was Japan: the hotel breakfast buffet was just extraordinary and they changed dishes every day! (I was the only non-Asian person who didn’t even look at the “Western” side of the buffet 😉 I didn’t do it on purpose: everything was so delicious and they changed dishes every day…).
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I totally agree with you Sissi, when in Rome…
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