To our valued Manotak Lodge guests:
We never imagined the US/Canada border would be closed for a year and further impacting our business and your fishing vacations. While the status of the US/Canada border remains uncertain, we are positive that Manotak will return better than ever when we are able to open for our US guests. Unfortunately, we do not know when our US guests will be allowed entry to Canada. There have been no parameters announced by which the border will be allowed to open, and the government has not been forthcoming with communicating information timely.
Canadians are also being vaccinated at an extremely slow rate and, it has been predicted that it will be September before enough Canadians will be vaccinated for the country to feel safe. We have also heard many politicians are pushing and want the border opened by July. We prefer the July plan! At this point, we continue to receive last minute announcements with the general public at 30-day intervals and we simply do not know when the border will re-open with no quarantine requirement. We will do our best to keep you updated.
We are heartbroken to state that the border has been closed to non-essential travel until May 21, 2021. Ontario is under a “stay-at-home” order until May 20th. This impacts our guests with reservations for May 15 – June 12 and possibly June 19 due to the fact we cannot enter Canada until at least May 22nd and the added amount of time it takes to open camp and hire staff. We will be in contact soon with those of you with impacted reservations. Of course, when we are able to open for US guests, we will do our best to open and provide you with an amazing fishing vacation. We know the fishing will be off the charts incredible!
Here is what we know for certain:
1. We will do our absolute best to open just as soon as the border opens. Opening our camp will take 3-4 weeks and we will need to hire staff. An opening date will be announced by us and may not correspond to the border opening date. We cannot even enter Canada right now to work on opening the lodge.
2. We will be allowing you to make an alternate 2021 reservation should your current reservation be cancelled due to the continued border closure. This will be on a rolling basis as things evolve.
3. We appreciate your understanding regarding deposits. Deposits to Manotak Lodge have always been non-refundable. We decided last year, rather than having guests forfeit deposits, we would honor them for 2021.
4. COVID-19 is an unprecedented event, and no one could have predicted we would be here today, facing the loss of our 2021 season. With the 2021 season in question, we have made the decision that if your trip gets cancelled in 2021 due to the border closure, we will honor your deposit for 2022. We know many of you do not want to wait until the last minute and desire to make other plans now. Please contact us and we will work with you.
We normally do not like to share our personal business. We know you all want to return to Manotak and experience your fishing vacations. Because we are asking many of you to hold on after missing possibly two seasons at Manotak, we feel you should know where we are coming from. We are a family business and we do not have deep pockets. We have our entire life’s work and funds invested in Manotak. We are “all in” committed. We have been doing everything we can to ensure Manotak is still around when the border opens. We have been plugged in to countless webinars and meetings regarding tourism. We are reading everything available regarding the border. We have written countless letters to politicians pleading for assistance to no avail. Many lodges/camps are asking for additional deposits from guests OR their guests had to forfeit their deposits. We made the decision early on in this pandemic that we would honor guests’ deposits until you can return to Manotak. Please understand and respect we are doing the best we can.
Our goal at Manotak is to continue to provide you with a world class fishing trip with the best multi-species fishing, boats, service, lodging, and food. We cannot stress enough how much all your continued love and support means to us. Thank you for your prayers. It means the world to us. Please pray for the world and stay safe and healthy everyone!
Steve, Christine, and Jeremiah
www.manotak.com
800-541-3431
manotaklodge@gmail.com
