Bryer Lodge

The place is very quiet. Has boats you can rent but I highly recommend you book those in advance. The boats are maintained ok except outs went into limo mode, luckily not too far from shore. Turns out it was out of oil. One thing that bugged me is the smell of the water. I could do any dishes as it made me nauseous. I didn't end up showering but luckily we were there for only a weekend. Don't know what I'd be doing if we were there for a whole week. Owners seem like nice people although I had limited interaction with them. They were very accommodating at allowing us to check in earlier. Overall happy with the trip but would probably try another place next time.

Attempted to book a cottage for the weekend and was asked by the owner if I was affiliated with the wedding near by. When I told her I was, she told me she was not interested in my business. I told her we were a respectful couple but she said she was not interested. I'm sure they have been burned in the past, but I don't like being stereotyped.

We spent a week here, starting June 8, 2019. It was a group of guys hoping to find some walleye and smallmouth bass. We found some smallies, no trophies, and 2 walleye. Not a good week. The Lodge: There are a bunch of cabins. We started in #7, and it looked like the oldest. It was SMALL. Two bedrooms, one with queen bed, the other with 3 single beds crammed into it. The whole thing was waaaay out of level. The porch was very small. We found out another one was opening up the day after we got there, so we switched to it, #5. For another $40 per person. That one was bigger, two bedrooms, both with queens. A leather couch in main room, with wood stove. The best part of the cabin is the porch, long and nice, looking right out to the water. There is a table with chairs, and a couch. I actually slept on the couch a couple of nights. To the kitchen, it was mostly ok, but we did not find a sharp knife in the drawer. But there seemed to be enough of other kitchen things we needed. We used their gas grill, which was nice. We got a kick out of the shower, which had a very spongy floor, and the drain went straight down out onto the ground. They have two different dock areas. Ours at the bottom of the hill, came loose twice while we were there, and the owners, along with one of our crew, had to help get it back to normal. It was not constructed very well. Luckily our boats did not float down the river. There is not power down by the docks to plug in your boat. We brought our own, and needed to recharge batteries. We had to run two extension cords all the way up to the #7 cabin. Luckily no one was in it after we moved. Also, no fish cleaning shack. They had a plastic table and a hose. Parking is not good. There is a small turnaround area at the bottom of the hill to use when you pull up to your cabin to unload. There are a couple of different areas to park, very small. The area to leave your boat trailers is realllly small, and a little bit of a hike. They do not have their own boat launch. You have to drive 10 minutes down the road to the Wolseley Lodge to launch at a gravel launch area. We did need gas during the week, and they do have that right next to the water, so that was one of the few nice perks. If you are looking for very rustic, low level lodging, this is your place. If you are used to a certain amount of amenities, there are nicer lodges very close by. There is no WIFI here. And our phone service was average. I could not send photos with texts. This area of the French River did not produce any fish for us. We had to travel far East to find them. We found smallies on wind blown islands. We were told we had to travel almost to Lake Nippising to find walleye. There are 5 areas where there are falls. We saw 3 of them. Very cool to see. There are nice roads on the way in to the camp, recently repaved. Until you turn off to the camp. We will not stay here again. It was not remote enough for us. Lots of people fishing, from all the area lodges. We did not receive any discount because of the dock situation, and had to pay to park our own boats on their dock. The people who run it were nice enough, but we won't be back.

In the winter of this year, I had emailed and left a voicemail with Bryer Lodge, wanting to reserve a block of rooms for a wedding nearby. They did not return my email nor my call promptly. After follow up calls over a few weeks, someone finally picked up the phone. They said that they had done wedding block reservations in the past but found that it wasn't a good arrangement for them. I said, "oh that's disappointing" and asked if there was something we could do to make it work (i.e. what was the issue and what they wanted to avoid). She replied "we prefer quiet families who stay a couple of days to enjoy the surroundings." So, we directed our friends and family with young children or babies who would appreciate a quieter and quainter environment and would stay a minimum of two nights to Bryer. Their profile also says they are Child Friendly. To our surprise, two of the families who attempted to make a reservation described the same unpleasant scenario: They were rudely turned away. The owner communicated they were not interested in their business AT ALL. One of them was hung up on.

I visited Bryer Lodge in June 2018 and I am still remembering about this time. Nice and friendly owners Bill and Louise are so careful about your stay! Beautiful place and a nature around, Beautiful French river, Good fishing and just relaxing environment. Cottages aren't a brand new ones but completely sufficient and convenient for those not having a "high blood" and those habits .:). I have been spending time in the area around for 20 years at a differnt places and I would definitely recommend you to visit this awesome place. It is one of the best as of a location and a price wise together with a friendly atmosphere and beautiful environment.