History
The Bala Bay Inn was built in 1910 by E.B. Sutton and opened July 17th 1910. The hotel has been a symbol of Bala's rich history and continues to leave its mark
Sutton, born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, on Nov. 8, 1854, died in Bala at 63. In his short lifetime, he managed to live several lives — as a businessman, writer, musician, composer, environmentalist, and non-stop promoter of Bala and Muskoka. Sutton got his middle name from a famous relative, poet Robert Browning, who died in 1889, seven years after the younger relative left for Canada. Sutton, who left school in his early teens to work for a book publishing company in London, England, corresponded with author, Charles Dickens, until Dickens died in 1870.
Press
canoe.ca Travel
By Tracy McLaughlin
Misty swirls of vapour that float across the room. Eerie orbs of white light. The sound of footsteps in the night when nobody is there. The cackle of laughter, or the lonely desperate sound of someone weeping that echoes from the walls of empty rooms...more
Muskoka Sun June 29 2006.
Written By Mr.Jack Hutton
Have you ever seen a ghost smile? Take a look at one of the upper windows the next time you drive past the Bala Bay Inn. If you look ever so carefully, you may catch a glimpse of the late E.B. Sutton, who built that hotel in 1910. Sutton has supposedly been haunting the place ever since his death in August 1917..more
The story of ‘The Three Knocks’ has been shared many times on CBC television and radio and appeared in a book called Haunted Ontario, written by Parry Sound writer Terry Boyle. (Boyle will be conducting ghost tours outside the Bala Bay Inn... more
Word is slowly getting out that the Bala Bay Inn is not what it was a year ago. Every carpet and every mattress was replaced within weeks of the sale going through. The interior has undergone a total restoration in colour design. Guests can now use a wireless environment for their laptop computers. Soon, there will be special buffets on...more