Heated Rivalry finale creates buzz around ‘The Cottage’

Wanting to escape to Ontario’s cottage country this summer? You may want to book sooner rather than later.

The first season of ‘Heated Rivalry’ has taken the streaming world by storm, and the peak of its love story between two professional hockey players was filmed at a Muskoka cottage.

The Barlochan cottage, known as ‘The Cottage,’ is where lovers Shane and Ilya take their romance to the next level. It has generated almost as much momentum as the series itself since its late November release on Crave and HBO Max.

In the series, ‘The Cottage’ is in a remote location outside of Montreal.

But in reality, ‘The Cottage’ is situated right off Lake Muskoka between Hudson’s Point and Hemlock Point.

“It was designed by an amazing architect and they decided to film there and I think something that caught everyone’s attention is people didn’t realize worldwide that Muskoka has these beautiful places to stay,” said Val Hamilton, Muskoka Tourism executive director.

With 2,500 square feet, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and wide open lake views, the Barlochan’s shift from seclusion to the spotlight has helped reinforce Muskoka as a top summer destination.

Discover Muskoka highlighted it in their ‘Come to the Cottage’ campaign with billboards across the Greater Toronto Area, offering a special chance to visit the property.

“We’re anticipating over 15 million impressions,” added Hamilton. “We’ve got a lot of great buzz. A lot of TikTokers have been sharing them, we’ve heard a lot of rumblings, people seeing them.”

It is also expected to inspire another cottage booking rush for this year.

“It has spurred a lot of web traffic to our site,” confirmed Jayne McCaw, owner of Jayne’s Luxury Rentals based in Muskoka. “We’re seeing 25 per cent increase in traffic from outside of Canada as well as inside Canada, Europe, China, etc.”

In terms of actually renting the Barlochan Cottage, its availability remains to be determined, but Muskoka Tourism says a decision will be made in the coming weeks.

“The cottage is privately owned. We’re hoping that it might be able to come for rent potentially just even a little bit throughout the summer,” said Hamilton. “If people are interested in Muskoka, the good thing is we really have hundreds of cottages people can rent if they can’t get their hands on that one.”