Picture this scenario: you arrive at your vacation cottage after a long car journey; the kids are excited, the dog has caught on to the mood and is leaping around the back of the car, you are tired after the long drive and in desperate need of a long cold drink. You open the back of the car and the dog disappears; the children jump out and as they race to the water, one of them trips on a rock and is now crying and bleeding from a scraped knee. And then you realize you’ve left the code for the cottage lock box at home. Not a good start to a long planned vacation.

Preventing this situation happening means doing a little forward planning with the family so that everyone has a task on arrival at the cottage.

Give one person responsibility for the key, or access details to the cottage and make sure he or she also has any other important cottage information close to hand once they’re seated in the car before you leave.

Don’t let it jump free from the car without it being fully under control. Cottage country smells; the local animal population, and the lure of the water are usually enough to get Rover pretty excited, so it’s worth taking a moment or two to get him acclimatized.

Walk the property as a family and check out the terrain and waterfront, noting any potential danger areas, such as slippery or submerged rocks in the water, and tree stumps around the cottage. Look at the dock and deck and, depending on the children’s ages, remind them of any safety points they should be aware of.

Read the Cottage Guide; it’s the user’s manual for the property the owner has carefully prepared to make your stay trouble free. Pick it up and scan it for essential information as soon as you arrive, then once you have unpacked, poured that cold drink and feel a bit more relaxed, read the guide cover to cover. Then pass it on and make sure every member of the group reads it too. It will contain important information on cottage systems, property boundaries, instructions on using appliances and watercraft etc.

Check all appliances are functioning and note any damaged items. You will probably have lodged a damage deposit with the owner, so let them know within the first 24 hours if there is any appliance not working or if there are substantial stains or marks on furniture or carpets.

Check the property boundaries and remind the children about respecting the neighbour’s privacy and boundaries.

Taking 10 minutes on arrival to get your bearings and familiarize your group with the layout and terrain of the property may save you hours of stress and potential disaster recovery.

If you are planning your cottage vacation with friends this year and haven’t set your ground rules yet, make sure you do,  before you get to the cottage!

Renting a good sized, upscale cottage becomes much more manageable when you share the cost with another family and I have noticed that a lot of our larger cottage rentals are being taken by multi-family groups this year. Over the years, I have gone on camping and other self-catering vacations with friends and have leant quite a few things that lessened the chance of arguments and reduced the risk of ending the friendship permanently

The issue that can cause most friction is the different way families have of managing day-to-day activities such as meal times, childrens bedtime routines, cooking and housekeeping. If one family relaxes their hold on regular routine for holiday times, and the other doesn’t, this can create a conflict situation that will surface in the very early stages of the vacation. If you haven’t addressed some of these issues before you get into vacation mode, this will have a considerable impact on your enjoyment of the holiday you have spent months looking forward to.

Friends usually decide to vacation together based on a mutual desire for a similar style of getaway, and plans are often made in the relaxed atmosphere of a barbecue party or card game with neighbour ‘friends’. When reality sets in, it’s usually too late to change your minds as you’ve normally paid a non-refundable deposit by the time you realise that What happens in the privacy of your own home; how your family relates to each other, and any quirky habits any of you have, will be open to observation from your housemates. So, make sure you get together with your friends on several occasions before you go, and talk frankly about your expectations. If nothing else, decide on a few ground rules and follow these few pointers:

• Decide on the allocation of bedrooms before you get there. Invariably one bedroom is the ‘master’ often with an ensuite bathroom and problems start when the first one to arrive takes the best bedroom. Don’t leave it till you get there, perhaps late in the evening and after a fraught trip on a busy highway, to start negotiations as to who sleeps where.
• Discuss housekeeping rules. Do you expect the kitchen to be cleaned at the end of each day, or do you usually leave the dinner dishes to the morning? If you have teenage children, are they expected to help out with washing up or do they normally disappear from the table as soon as a meal is over?
• If your children have more relaxed bedtime schedules on vacation, and your friends kids have to stick to their home routine, it won’t take long for arguments to break out, so be open about your rules and how flexible you will be. Perhaps you can agree on some middle ground.
• Plan on how you’ll manage day to day expenditure. Who pays for what? Will you pool housekeeping money? How will you share food and drink? All these things need ironing out before the vacation starts.
• Find out what you all like to do on vacation and commit to respecting each others preferences. If you like nothing more than to relax and get lost in that bestseller you’ve been waiting to read, you won’t be too impressed with being nagged about playing games or going sightseeing.

Make this a vacation to remember and not one to look back on and say,’Never again!"

I first saw this cottage in early April when the ice was still on the lake, the renovations were still in progress and it was a bit hard to see what the end product would be. Well, it’s pretty easy to see now. It really doesn’t matter how small or large a place is – if it has quality it will show. And The Willows has that quality.

The unique aspect of this cottage is the little guest cabin that overlooks the main cottage. It even has its own balcony with patio seating and umbrella for those that crave a bit of privacy and space. I also liked the attention to detail in the decor, the bedding and furnishings. I’ve just listed The Willows on the website, so take a look – I think it will book up soon.

It’s been a busy year so far for cottage bookings and many of our popular cottages were reserved really early. If you are still looking, there’s plenty of new cottages being listed by the agencies and through private listing services. The secret is getting to hear about them as soon as they go up on a website.

We post every listing here on the day it goes up on the website, so subscribing to this blog is one way of hearing about our new cottages. We view every one of them, so you can talk to the person who did the inspection and get a first-hand viewpoint of every aspect of the cottage. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow viewing five new cottages in the Bancroft and Madawaska Valley, and the forecast is great so I’m looking forward to taking some great photos. Mike, who is our Haliburton expert, is out viewing at Hidden Valley, Hall’s Lake, Kennisis Lake, Redstone Lake, and tiny Tamarack Lake, on Saturday. So, watch this space next week for some great new finds.