Merland Park Cottages — Hotel in Ontario

I typically do not write negative reviews, however after reading the response to many negative reviews, "you should have told us", which appears to be the owner's generic response on almost every negative review regarding Merland Park Cottages, I decided to share my review. ||||I stayed in cottage #4 with my wife and children from August 8-15 and my parents stayed in cottage #8 for that week, and we kept telling the owners about our issues that we were experiencing during our stay, but as you will read in my review, it didn't help during our stay, so please be aware, if you decide to stay here. ||||As soon as we entered cottage #4, there was a stench of "pot smoke", so we immediately notified Jen (one of the owners), and she was aware of the stench, as she told us, that she was charging the previous tenants a cleaning fee. I was quite surprised, that I could still smell the pot, despite Jen alluding to the fact that there was extra cleaning that was done in our cottage. We asked to be moved to a different cottage, but were told that there was no vacancy. Jen offered to wash the drapes (I had to help her take the drapes down and needed to put them up myself), and when we asked for the futon cover and chair covers to be washed (as they smelled like pot too), she wouldn't take them, as she mentioned that they were just washed (even though they appeared dirty). The BAND-AID SOLUTION was that we were given a deodorizing spray to mask the odour, which continued for the duration of our stay. ||||We tried to keep the windows open in our cottage, but since the screens were broken or missing, we ended up having to choose between the strong pot smell or bugs flying into the cottage. We did notify Kevin (the other owner) about the torn screens who replied with, "What do you expect, when we allow dogs on the property?". Eventually, a maintenance person came to fix the patio screen (only), by simply putting tape on both sides of the screen, but we couldn't use the windows in the cottage for the whole week. A BAND-AID SOLUTION.||||On the website, it clearly states that dogs must be on leashes. It is no wonder we did not see a single dog on a leash, because the owners' sheep dog was never on a leash. So if the owners aren't practicing what they are preaching, why would anyone else follow suit? The neighbours' golden retriever was a constant fixture on our patio. We did mention this to Jen, that there was a stray dog, who was defecating on the lawn and roaming around the property, and her response was "Oh, it's the neighbours' dog". Jen did pick-up after it, that one time, BUT IT APPEARED THAT I NEEDED TO MENTION THIS TO HER EVERY TIME, OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE IGNORED. I AM NOT SURE WHY THE ONUS IS ON THE VACATION GUEST TRYING TO ENJOY THEIR VACATION AND WHY THE MAINTENANCE CREW ISN'T TAKING CARE OF THE GROUNDS. There was not one day that week, that we didn't see feces on the grass.||||We couldn't enjoy the property, as besides finding feces on the property, garbage also wasn't picked-up. When we arrived to the cottage on the first day, there were wrappers, a cigarette box and other scraps, which remained in the same spots for the whole duration of our stay. This set a tone that not only were the grounds dirty, but the inside of the cottage was dirty too. In fact, my daughter found a t-shirt and water bottle underneath her bed, which should have been found if the cottage was properly cleaned. ||||After a few days, I felt tired of bringing up these inefficiencies to Kevin, who kept asking me" What do you want me to do about it?". Hmmm- address a guest's concerns at a facility that you own?||||As we have been renting in PEC for every summer for almost a decade (we stayed at Sunrise Cottage Resort during that duration - which is now torn down), our future stays will definitely not be at Merland Park. ...

We stayed at the Laker Lodge cottage. Overall, we enjoyed our stay, would recommend this place to friends and would come back. Since I like to be thorough, here go positive and negative details. Positive: It was a good size for a 2bedroom cottage. Good-sized table on the kitchen, 8 chairs available. Living room area was a good size, with 2 comfy sofas, one of them a recliner. Tv was pretty decent. It was very clean when we arrived. Location is great! 5 minutes from restaurants, grocery stores, ice cream parlors, etc. Around 20min to Sandbanks provincial park. I like that there was a swimming pool (not heated, though) and a bonfire (although we didn't use it, due to weather). There was also a foosball in the motel area. Not sure if everybody can use it, but we did. The kitchen has all the basic stuff, such as glasses, plates, toaster, coffee maker, pans, cookie sheets, can opener, corkscrew. The place is very pet-friendly, which we enjoyed. We could play catch with our dog, without complaints about him being off leash. Now I understand that might be a concern for whoever is afraid of dogs. For us, there was a bonus. We have a 4yo very friendly and well-trained dog, so we are comfortable leaving him off-leash for short periods. The staff is really helpful! The door handle on the bathroom got stucked (apparently some inner piece broke). Somebody quickly came and replaced it. Some negative points: The chairs in the kitchen were pretty old, and the leather layer was peeling. After sitting and standing up, there were tiny pieces of the leather everywhere! In our clothes, on the floor, it even ended up somehow on the table and bedrooms. So, time to get new chairs, owners! There was also a strong scent of cigarette in the cottage. In the first day it was very overwhelming, but after the 2nd day I guess our noses got used to it. There was a no-smoking sign on the door, so not sure who's to blame for the smell. Previous occupants, I'd assume. The kitchen could be a little better equipped. It could use a few more forks. There were 2 or 3 regular-sized ones, and a few of those dessert-sized forks. More steak knives would be good (all the knives also need sharpening). It also didn't have a blender. The bathroom window did not have blinds or curtains!!! There were no cottages on that side, the window was facing the fence and trees. But still, if somebody went for a walk and passed over there, they would have a great view of whoever was in the washroom. Do note that we did not raise any of these concerns with management, because they were not that relevant to us. Still, addressing them would make for a...

Merland Park Cottages - A Gem Within the Gem of Prince Edward County

We were thinking where we could go to do a little fishing and having a nice quiet getaway, and not too far away. I reached out to a friend and well-known angling personality. He highly recommended Merland Park Cottages near Picton. It’s nestled quietly in a beautiful area overlooking Picton Bay just a few minutes from the picturesque town of Picton.

We were not to be disappointed as the resort met all our requirements and more. Beautifully well kept cottages overlooking the bay with all the amenities including TV, Wifi, BBQ, decks, fire pit and a beautiful pool . Kevin and Jennifer and the staff (I should say more fittingly, “family” of Laurie, Pat, Dave and Ryan were so genuinely helpful and always available to make sure all our needs were met and our stay made memorable.

Kevin is a very accomplished angler and introduced me to some of the greatest walleye fishing I have ever experienced and I have indeed experienced a lot of walleye fishing in my lifetime. Unlike other lakes, these walleye hit lures with a vengeance. Kev and I shared some great moments together hunting these big denizens of the deep, pointing out the best lures and approaches to use. Kevin even had us over a very tasty fish fry. Now how nice was that. There was very good secure mooring for my boat and Pat was very helpful launching and taking it out for me.

What is nice about Merland Park is that it is literally minutes to many points of interest and sights including excellent wineries, Sandbanks Provincial Park, grocery stores, LCBO, Beer Store and don’t miss a walk through the interesting shops of quaint Picton.

By the way if you enjoy explosive ice fishing or just the quiet winter, the cottages are winterized and open all season. You can literally walk from your cottage a few yards to ice huts that Kev can arrange for you.

Merland Park Cottages, definitely is a gem within the gem of Prince Edward County and definitely a gem to bring us back again. Thank you to Kev, Jennifer and the Merland Park family for making our stay so special and so memorable.

Gary &...