Friday, December 18, 2015

It's time to send or call-in your deposits

Lots of our guests already have put down a $100 Cdn per person deposit on their trip next summer. If you haven't done so, you should do it immediately.
Our rates will be unchanged for 2016. That good news is followed by more good news: the exchange rate is the greatest it has been since 2004. American guests can realize a 27% savings, just on exchange. And you also get one-half of your HST tax money returned to you through the usual mail-in rebate.
Put them together and it amounts to a savings of more than 33%!
Many people are putting down more than $100 right now, figuring that the exchange rate could hardly get any better. The rate changes every day but it has been drastically in favour of the American dollar for a year now.
We are making one change on our deposit rebate policy this year. We will now refund your deposit if you give us at least 90 days notice of cancellation. Previously it was 60 days.
We're making this change because of a number of people the past few years who have cancelled in the months of May and June and didn't inform us until April, usually exactly at 60 days. The problem is we cannot fill these vacancies after about March 15. The last three years we have had an empty cabin almost every week in May and June, the months when we always turn down dozens of requests for reservations. But those requests are made from October to March. After that everyone has booked somewhere else.
For those people who put down a larger deposit than $100 and then cancel with less than 90 days, we will refund everything except the $100.
Finally, if you already have reservations, let us know what your current numbers are. Perhaps last summer you booked a cabin for six but know now you will just have four. We need to know that ASAP as we may have another group who was four and wants to become six but are currently booked for the four-person cabin.
Our rates are amazingly low for a remote-access camp. To keep them that way we need you all to communicate clearly to us what is going on with your group sizes, etc. Don't wait until just before you leave home; that's way too late for us to make necessary changes at camp. We really need at least three months of lead time.
As always, you can make your deposit by calling us with a credit card number at our winter phone number: 807-475-7246. You can also send us a personal check, made out to Bow Narrows Camp and mailed to our winter address:
Bow Narrows Camp\
RR 1 Old Mill Rd.
Nolalu, ON  P0T 2K0
Please don't wait until you receive a letter from us to make your deposit. I will send out letters as usual because some folks still don't have internet or e-mail. But if you are reading this, then you aren't among those.
You can use your HST rebate from last year as part of your deposit. Just sign the back and mail to our winter address.
Finally, another reason to phone-in your deposit is to book which boat-trip you prefer on your arrival and departure dates. On Saturdays and Sundays our boat, the Lickety Split, picks up guests at our dock in Red Lake at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays the boat leaves camp for Red Lake at 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. The boat carries 9-10 people. Those with first deposits also get first dibs on when they want to come and go.
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