The Last Resort is freely based on a true story of one man’s dream to leave the rat race in the city and his hourly paid job as a construction project manager to become an owner/operator of a holiday resort. By the late 1980’s, Les Horvath is burnt out from his high-pressure job and long commute to the city and begins to dream about having a different lifestyle. With the belief that being an Innkeeper at a resort or lodge would be the perfect lifestyle, Les begins the search for an existing affordable property. With limited funds, it soon becomes apparent that resorts within his budget are small and require extensive repairs, or major expansions. Just as it seems he may have to abandon his search for the dream, he happens upon a recent listing for a resort called The Norsemen Restaurant/Walker Lake Resort. Les instantly falls in love with the fourteen-acre property in Muskoka that consists of a beautiful main lodge, seven cottages, and a fine dining restaurant with a lake as a backdrop. However, the price is well above anything Les can afford, and the only way he can acquire The Norsemen or an equivalent business, is to consider a partnership.
With the goal of finding a partner to make his Innkeeping dream a reality, Les approaches his best friend Jackson Bale. Jackson, or Jack for short is living the same rat race lifestyle, so he is more than eager to give up his career to live the dream lifestyle. With Jack onboard, the two friends take the unconventional long shot approach to buy the Norsemen Resort. The Norsemen yields a hefty price tag, and the requirement of a fine dining chef, so together they search for a means of securing the property. In the end, five equal partners place an offer to purchase the Norsemen, and must now overcome the hurdle of securing a mortgage. Against the odds, and many doors slammed shut on the group’s quest for a mortgage, the partners eventually find a last minute unconventional lender, and secure the funds, obtaining ownership of the Norsemen Resort. However, almost immediately after settling into the resort lifestyle, the partnership is beginning to deteriorate, and life at the Norsemen is quickly becoming a nightmare. Within mere weeks of obtaining ownership, the first partner decides to leave, followed closely by a second. Now Les and the two remaining partners must run the entire business alone, and with everyone’s life savings sunk into the resort, there is no choice but to keep the operation running at all costs. A succession of unfortunate events ensues, and the life at the Norsemen is now quickly becoming a financial and physical burden that the remaining partners simply cannot sustain.
The partners decide that they must sell the resort, and proceed to list the property in the worst commercial real estate market that the Muskokan region has ever seen. With the possibility of selling the resort a long shot, Les tries to keep the business afloat, whilst yet another partner leaves the group. With personal bankruptcy in the horizon, Les has no choice but to enter a new kind of rat race. He must return to his old career to make ends meet, while simultaneously trying to sell his beloved Norsemen. Then, in another twist of fate, the partners receive an offer of purchase. However, this too is unconventional, and caught between a rock and hard place, Les and the remaining active partner will have to endure another six months of involuntary Innkeeping at the Norsemen.
