Spencer's Riverfront Cottages - Gananoque, Ontario

Benoit Michel Séguin

Les gens sont très sympathiques, l'équipement est un peu vieux, mais hyper fonctionnel. Si vous allez dans les milles îles pour quelques jours et vous voulez dormir sur une île. Ça vaut la peine.

Juliane Desroches

Les propriétaires sont des gens adorables, tout étaient propres et rangé. Nous étions au calme avec une vue magnifique que faut il de plus pour être heureux

Veronica Thomas

Not sure why the reviews of this place are so critical.

Second time staying here for a week-long vacation. The cottages are very well stocked and fully equipped. It really is just bring/catch your food and enjoy your stay.

This is a family run business with the owners handling the upkeep of the property so it would make sense to see them around. Any time I have seen them they seem very busy working on their property for people to enjoy.

As usual, at check-in, it's always a pleasure to converse with Chris and Lynn. Lynn was even kind enough to give some of her freshly baked cookies as a treat :).

Waterfront view is absolutely gorgeous, lawns are upkept really well, and property is equipped with boat launch and essentially at-your-door boat docking availability for customers. Communal firepit area offers lots of seating for families to enjoy.

This is a 5-star family owned, family friendly fishing camp/cottage rental place, not a 5-star franchise hotel. It makes sense they wouldn't want property damaged as they don't have the revenue a franchise would have to replace items when property is damaged.

You agree to the contract at check-in, and as the saying goes - you break it, you buy it!

5/5! Thanks for your hospitality again Chris and Lynn! Our family will be back again!

Kevin Andress

My son has picked up an obsession for fishing and unfortunately I couldn’t get him out on the water. We spent the day with Chris who was very friendly, knowledgeable and patient. We landed several large pike and he made a little guy very happy!

Lois

Just got home from 3 nights in cottage #6. Paid $200 a night plus $10 a night for my dog. Way too expensive for the poor accommodations. Cottage was clean and could have been very nice, but furnishings other than the fridge and stove were ready for scrap. Wifi was slim to none and the television did not work. Owner gave us rabbit ears the first night so we at least had a few poor channels, nothing of interest. She never came back with news of the cable being restored. All the towels, kitchen and bath were dingy and ready for the rag bag. Dishes and utensils were odds and ends, no two utensils matching and several plates chipped, nothing matching either. The windows all need to be replaced, several having cracks. The outdoor steps to the deck are an accident waiting to happen, uneven and not solid, as is the wharf which is made up of 3 panels, just thrown down, not securely attached, and the wood is getting ripe. There is a lovely lawn ornament, an abandoned van which according to some locals, has been there for years. The owners know that their sign is only visible from one direction, making it hard for people to find them but they don’t seem to care. The only soap left for us in the bathroom was one tiny bar. Toilet paper was the thinnest one ply I’ve ever seen. Thankfully my cousin had brought
a roll in his suitcase. Hot water was not turned on nor were we told that we would need to turn it on ourselves when we arrived. I specified when I reserved that I was not looking for The Ritz but I did want a place where my dog could go into the water. I was not told about the green algae at the shore. I would not go into that water so I would not allow my dog to either. Had we known we would not get what we asked for, we could have stayed in a regular hotel for lots less with functioning services and furnishings that were in better shape. We were told we could leave and they would credit us but how was I to shop for a better location with slim to none wifi? We had plans made for our time in Gananoque, we were not going to waste our time packing and looking for another place to stay. We will not be going back to that area again, this experience spoiled Ontario for us.

Chris Meyer

People keep putting bad reviews because of wifi or turndown service etc... THIS IS A FISHING COTTAGE. It had beds full kitchen(except microwave), dishes and utensils, a place to eat, and even a picnic table on the front porch. I had a great time. Thank you spencers.

David Strothers

Prior to buying my own camp and fishing boat, I used to take my kids and a couple friends and their children to Canada to fish. We rented a camp on Charleston Lake and we chose to rent boats from Spencer's and fish in the St. Lawrence. We would usually rent two to three boats daily during the time we were in Canada fishing. We would spend a couple thousand dollars at Spencer's each trip. Over the years, we had too many disappointing experiences with Lynn and especially Chris to continue doing business with them.

Out of curiosity, I just pulled up their website to see if they were still in business. To my surprise, they still had a website and appear to still be in business. Not to my surprise, while reading their customer's reviews, so many customers shared the exact same negative experiences dealing with them that we had many years ago. For the Spencer's customers who have had a quality experience from beginning to end, consider yourselves fortunate. Chris and Lynn, I am not surprised to see the volume of negative reviews. My friends and I have experienced the blatant rudeness, lack of positive interpersonal skills, the over charging for repairs on old boats, being charged for extra tanks of gas, props etc, etc. Same experience that so many of your customers have described. The last time we were there, Chris was so aggressive with one of my friends over alleged damage to an old prop and a tank of gas, we got in our cars and agreed we'd never go back to Spencer's again... and we haven't. I could share many other negative experiences we had, especially with Chris, but that's possibly for another time. What is so telling about Chris and Lynn's philosophy on how they view their customers, is their rude and dismissive responses to the issues their customers have taken the time to share.

A tip from someone who used to see you two as friends, do not invalidate and insult your customers who share their experiences with you, that's not what this platform is for. Do not be defensive, chastise and insult customers who share experiences they had with you that you don't agree with. None of your customers come to your camp looking to have a miserable experience with you and on the water; quite the opposite. When your customers share with you that your services didn't meet their expectations, own it, show some empathy, invite them back, and make it up to them. That's what good, caring people do.

The only reason I'm motivated to write a review this many years later is because we experienced the same rudeness that so many of your "valued" customers have shared. And to read your unprofessional responses and attempts to discredit and invalid your customers is offensive. And, that's the reason we regrettably decided we would never interact with you two again; until now! I'm not one to write a review, and this is difficult because I don't like to criticize anyone. With that being said, when I read Chris and Lynn's responses to their customers who put their faith, confidence, and money into Spencer's. Choosing Spencer's, as we did, with the expectation of having a good time with family and friends on the water. Chris, Lynn, these are good people who are taking a day or week looking to have a great time... honor and cherish your customers! Chris, don't raise your voice at them for goodness sake. If your customers don't have a quality experience, invite them back for a do-over. Clean up the mess, make it right! There's an old adage that you two really need to need to take to heart, and I think you two know what it is "The customer is always right." Use the feedback to improve the experience for ALL of your customers! Good luck

mosslisa75

We had an excellent stay at Spencer's. The cottages were very clean and very well equipped. The grounds were well kept and the location is very convenient to both Gananoque and Kingston. We booked one of their cottage/boat rental packages. We had a 2 bedroom cottage with a deck for 4 nights and a bass boat for two days for $925 cdn. With the exchange rate that was about $710. Excellent deal. The boat worked well and was easy to operate. Lynn gave us lots of information about driving and maps to show us fishing spots and public islands. She also took us right to the boat and showed us how to use it. She was very thorough. I read some of the other reviews and the very negative ones all seem to have had a damage problem on their boat rental that they didn't want to pay for. After actually going to Spencer's and seeing how clean and nice it was and how much time they spent to teach us about boating, we agree with glen, it really shows these reviews are biased. Katie your group sounds like a nightmare and I just hope Spencer's can ignore your mean words and keep offering such a good package to other tourists. We highly recommend Spencer's and will probably return.