Hotel Lake is a headwater lake.  It has virtually no incoming water except rainfall and ground water that is captured in the catchment area around the lake.  If there is any spring-water entering below the lake's surface, it has never been conclusively identified.

 

Taking a look at Hotel Lake's catchment area provides some insight as to how water finds its way into the lake. The east end of the lake, for example, is surrounded by rising terrain that forms a basin in which water collects in several places. These areas are known and depicted on maps as wetland areas and by studying terrain contours it is possible to depict the likely flow of water as it descends to the lake.

 

The map below shows known and published wetlands. Suggested flow arrows have been added, all leading towards a low spot in a ravine-like notch in the terrain east of the east-end of the lake.  Although not shown on previous maps, this point of collection has the characteristics of a wetland that feeds a short but well-defined creek flowing into Hotel Lake at its eastern shoreline.  Wetlands, as we shall explain elsewhere on this website, are an important element in the catchment functions of a lake and also in the water quality of downstream watercourses.