Where to Stay in Windermere, Muskoka

Windermere is a small village on the east shore of Lake Rosseau, in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, and one of the oldest resort communities on the Muskoka Lakes. Settlers arrived in the 1860s, a post office opened in 1868, and Thomas Aitken built a wharf so the lake steamers would call.

The guests who came off those boats turned his home into Windermere House, the hotel that still anchors the village today. That history is the reason to stay here. The original Windermere House burned in 1996 and was rebuilt to its old outline the following year, with its verandas, waterfront lawn and boathouse facing the lake.

The Windermere Golf & Country Club sits beside the hotel. The village itself is quiet, with about sixty households and few services, so accommodation is limited to the hotel and private cottage rentals around the lake. Port Carling, the Hub of the Lakes, is a short drive south for shops and the locks, and Bracebridge and Huntsville are both within about forty minutes.

Most properties here are seasonal, so confirm opening dates before you book outside summer.