The Bala Bay Inn is Muskoka history you can sleep in. Built in 1910, it’s Muskoka’s oldest brick hotel — a grand red-brick landmark that once operated under a different name before a postwar rechristening. Step into the lobby and the past is still there: the original tin ceiling, the mahogany staircase, a century of summers in the woodwork. Revived for modern travellers, it now bills itself as open for four-season adventurers.
The renovation kept the bones and upgraded the comforts: boutique rooms, an on-site spa offering massages, facials and a sauna, a sports bar with live music, and a lakeside patio made for long evenings. Partnerships with local brewers tie it into the region’s craft scene. The location is hard to beat — steps from Lake Muskoka and the Kee to Bala, walkable to downtown and the Cranberry Festival grounds.
In a region where grand old hotels are increasingly rare, the Bala Bay Inn stands as a survivor: a 1910 brick beauty that watched Bala grow up around it and is still welcoming guests more than a century later.