Northernaire Houseboats On Rainy Lake — Attraction in Fort Frances

We LOVE National Parks and the outdoors... this was a FANTASTIC way to experience Voyageurs - unique and the most relaxed vacation we have been on. Our kids don't complain too much as we explore parks through hiking... but they welcomed the idea that this wouldn't be a hiking trip; simply ride and relax, fish, build bonfires and enjoy their surroundings.

I spoke to a few rental outfits - both were informative, but there was just something about my initial conversation with Vonnette that made me seek more information with what they could offer. Vonnette was great to work with and patient with a 'newbie Houseboat renter'. She and I were able to easily converse through phone call or email - many times laughing or sharing life stories that brought them to the point of running this business. Through those conversations I knew we would be well cared for.

Our experience upon arrival and loading was great. We were the first voyage for the Aurora this season. We had 4 of our 7 kids with us... so 6 total people. We could've done another boat, but I wanted 2 bathrooms, Queen size beds and the ability to steer the ship from upper deck. This boat provided a great space for us. There are other companies with newer boats, but the Aurora was well maintained and ran well for us. Blane was great with instruction and steered us out and then stayed a bit while we took over the 'driving'. We were off on our adventure - after bestowing my husband his Captain's hat! ;)

Voyageur's provided breathtaking views, sounds of nature and also quiet. I love vacations where we are disconnected from the world... this certainly provided that!

I will say, having our older boys along was very helpful for docking and leaving each houseboat site. I'm sure if others needed to do those tasks we could have, but having their strength was certainly a blessing.

Would I go again... YES. There are other parts to discover. This was a great introduction to the park... houseboating... and a great company and personnel to work with. Please note, when it's a busier time of boats going out and coming in, remember to be patient with the process. You may have to wait as other boats are tended to. This is just part of the vacation, so plan your days of arriving and departing accordingly.

Northernaire Houseboats gets 5 stars from us... and I tend to be pretty picky. Well done...

We just returned from a week long trip to rainy lake. We rented a houseboat from Northernaire houseboats. If possible I would give a zero star review. The workers were helpful, but the owner was a complete and total jerk. The boat that we rented had a big hole in the floor of the middle bedroom, that flooded that bedroom and the hallway, so we had to deal with soaked carpets for almost half of the trip. The weather stripping under the bow door was broken and half gone, so the carpet in the front room got soaked as well. Then we had many, many, motor problems. The motors were wired wrong, so the solar charging system didn't work. We tired twice to start the motors, and both times the batteries were dead. Thankfully we had cell phone coverage because the shipboard radio didn't work because of the dead batteries. Then there were the problems with one of the refrigerators. It wouldn't start initially, and after the first visit from the mechanic to work on the motors he got the refrigerator working, but it died again after a few hours. After the second visit from the mechanic to work on the motors, we decided to cut our vacation short by a day rather than risk being stranded the last morning and being charged for an extra night. After all of these problems the owner refused to do anything to compensate us for our problems. In fact, after being informed by my girlfriend of how upset I was, he threatened to call the police if I came in to complain. Overall, a horrible experience dealing with Northernaire houseboats. I would never, ever, do business with them again. I will be telling everyone I know to never do business with them as well. This is in response to the reply from the owner and his lies. There were eight people on the boat, four of whom were children. We were never told not to travel. When we were traveling there were only three people sitting in the bow room. We never left lights on at night after we went to bed. In fact, while using the room on the bow at night we used a lantern that we had brought with us because the lights were to dim to see. The only power used at night was the twelve volt power point to charge a cell phone. If that's enough to drain a battery, his equipment is even worse than I had thought. This guy is a snake and a liar. Avoid this business...

Short and sweet: This was our first experience with a houseboat and it was fantastic. Vonette was always quick to respond and polite about some of my dumber questions. Both Vonette and Kevin were super low key and made the whole process stress-free especially training us in on everything. Our boat and motors were well maintained and we had no issues. Just a side note: VNP does an excellent job with the houseboat sites. We stopped at 7 and were not disappointed even once.

If you are a first timer: A couple of tips-- ask questions--Vonette and Kevin don't make you feel stupid and they have a ton of experience. Plus we learned a lot of things we didn't otherwise know about the area and the boat. the people complaining about mosquitoes is hilarious--you are in VNP so yes, there are mosquitoes everywhere and unless you can teleport into the cabin, the door has to open at some point letting in about 50 mosquitoes at a time. We just prepared with each of us holding the swatters they provide and took 5 minutes to kill them all. As you sleep, you'll see hundreds of them clinging to the screen on the outside. They. Are. Everywhere. at VNP, but you are completed free of bug bites in the morning. They provide a great packing list, but 2 things we were glad we brought and 1 we wished we did: house slippers or a different pair of flipflops that stay in the cabin so you don't track as much sand and what not in (there is a sweeper and broom on board too), plus it feels homey. Second, the beds are comfortable enough for sure, but having an extra comforter to add some padding was a game changer. Third, don't forget salt and pepper. They provide so much stuff in the kitchen (like you could actually bake muffins or brownies with the bowls and pans they have), but we spaced on the salt and pepper. The cooler they provide is huge...bring tons of ice if you have more than the refrigerator can hold. The drinking water they provide is in sealed Chippewa Falls gallon jugs...no need to bring your own. We wrongly assumed it was just going to be a giant reservoir of drinking water so we brought bottled water and...