The century-old Ontario lakeside retreat will be offered for three October weekends at CAD 180 per night, with booking requests opening September 15.
Airbnb will open Gordon Bay Cottage for three limited October 2026 stays, with booking requests beginning September 15 at CAD 180 per night.
- Airbnb will offer three promotional stays at Gordon Bay Cottage on October 2–5, October 9–12 and October 16–19, 2026.
- Booking requests open September 15 at 9:00 a.m. ET, with the cottage priced at CAD 180 per night.
- The property dates to 1902 and retains original features including century-old windows and an 800-square-foot screened porch.
- Airbnb says international searches for Muskoka stays through November 2026 rose nearly 110% year over year, while overall searches increased more than 30%.
(NEWS) Ontario, Canada, 2026-Sep-09 — /Travel PR News/ — Airbnb is opening one of Muskoka’s most recognizable traditional cottages to paying guests for just three fall stays, turning Gordon Bay Cottage into a limited-booking gateway to Ontario’s cottage country rather than a conventional year-round rental.
The century-old waterfront property will be available for three-night stays on October 2–5, October 9–12 and October 16–19, 2026. Guests can request to book beginning September 15 at 9:00 a.m. ET, with the promotional rate set at CAD 180 per night. Reservations will be handled through Airbnb’s Gordon Bay Cottage booking page.
The unusually narrow booking window is central to the story. Rather than simply adding another Muskoka cottage to its inventory, Airbnb is using the historic property as a showcase for the region at a moment when the platform says travel interest in Ontario cottage country is rising sharply.
A 1902 cottage built around the lake
Gordon Bay Cottage dates to 1902, when it began life as a lodge for hunters and fishermen. According to Airbnb’s September 9 announcement, much of the original structure remains, including century-old windows and hardware that preserve the building’s early character.
The stay is organised around the elements that traditionally define a Muskoka cottage holiday. Guests will have private use of the cottage and dock, with granite steps leading down to the water for swimming, canoeing, kayaking and paddleboarding. Inside, the living room centres on a fireplace, while many rooms retain direct lake views through the original windows.
The standout shared space is an 800-square-foot screened porch overlooking the water. Airbnb presents it as a flexible living area for dining, games, yoga and long afternoons by the lake, reflecting the indoor-outdoor rhythm that has made screened porches a hallmark of older Ontario cottage architecture.
The property is also close enough to Port Carling for guests to combine time on the water with restaurants, coffee shops and the town’s waterfront. More broadly, Discover Muskoka promotes the region as a year-round destination spanning lakefront communities, resorts, cottages, outdoor recreation and small-town centres across central Ontario.
Airbnb points to a sharp rise in Muskoka searches
The limited release arrives as Airbnb reports a marked increase in searches for Muskoka. Based on searches conducted between August 5 and August 24, 2026 for stays through December 1, the company says searches from outside Canada were nearly 110% higher than during the comparable period a year earlier. Overall searches, including Canadian demand, were up more than 30%.
Those figures come from Airbnb’s own platform data and therefore measure search activity rather than confirmed visitor arrivals. Even so, they point to growing international curiosity around a destination that has long been embedded in Canadian summer culture but is increasingly being marketed beyond its domestic audience.
The timing also pushes the cottage-country story beyond peak summer. All three Gordon Bay stays fall in October, when Muskoka shifts toward autumn colour, quieter lakes and shoulder-season travel. Discover Muskoka is currently promoting fall drives, hiking, accommodation packages and seasonal events as part of its effort to spread visitation across the year.
A promotional stay with a wider local-tourism message
Airbnb is also using the cottage launch to make a broader economic case for short-term rentals in Ontario’s cottage regions. The company says hosts in the area generated more than CAD 83 million in economic impact and supported nearly 1,300 jobs during the 12 months from May 2025 through April 2026.
Those estimates were produced using Airbnb internal data and the IMPLAN economic model, covering selected Ontario census subdivisions in the Muskoka-Kawarthas region as well as parts of the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie and Northeast Ontario regions. They include direct, indirect and induced activity, so the figures should be understood as modeled economic impact rather than accommodation revenue alone.
Val Hamilton, Executive Director of Discover Muskoka, said the increased attention gives the region an opportunity to introduce more international travelers to the businesses and communities that support its tourism economy. Her comments also underline the destination-management challenge behind the promotion: translating heightened visibility into year-round spending rather than a short-lived spike around one high-profile property.
Limited availability makes the booking itself part of the appeal
For travelers, the practical proposition is straightforward but scarce. Only three promotional stays are being offered, each covering a Friday-to-Monday period in October. The cottage includes Wi-Fi, but the experience is deliberately framed around the lake, screened porch, fireplace and non-motorized water activities rather than a dense schedule of services or organized programming.
Host Jayne McCaw describes the property’s appeal in terms of continuity: Gordon Bay Cottage has occupied the lakefront for more than a century, and the basic reason for visiting has changed little. Guests come to slow down, spend time outdoors and experience a version of Muskoka life structured around the water.
That makes the Airbnb launch notable beyond the promotional price. At a time when much of luxury and experiential travel is built around newly created concepts, Gordon Bay Cottage offers something different: access to an existing piece of Ontario cottage history, available only briefly, with the old windows, screened porch, granite shoreline and private dock doing most of the storytelling.
