This is one of the best golf experiences in the Brainerd lakes area. Everything from the course to…read moreclubhouse to the staff is very well run. The course is in excellent shape. Lots of trees, to be sure, but still forgiving enough for the average player. Greens are fast and challenging. The clubhouse and staff are outstanding. You can order food after 9, and they drive it out to you on the course. Oh, and the breakfast is excellent! Highly recommend.

I visited Maddens for two nights for the MGA conference at the end of July. I stayed in the Voyager…read morerooms, they were amazing! Very clean, king bed, updated bathroom, back porch, and a kitchenette with a mini fridge, microwave, and sink. We walked to explore around the different areas of Maddens, and the grounds are beautiful! There are tons of activities including a pool, fitness center, tennis courts, croquet, paddle boarding, ice cream shop, gift shop, golf courses etc. The staff working at all of these locations were friendly, accommodating, and helpful. We golfed The Classic, which was awesome as well. Maddens also offers a few different restaurants which have great food. I came here on a work trip so I can't speak to the price/cost of the stay, but I do think this place has a ton to offer for a wide range of ages.

We stayed at Kavanaughs for 4 nights this summer for our first time! We stayed in the 3 bed, 2 bath…read moreunits called the Woods. We were right off a playground and a beach, so perfectly located for a family with young kids! The resort is family owned and much smaller than the surrounding resorts. I found this to be a good thing - it's quieter and low key! The house was fine - definitely an older building but it was functional - it had a full kitchen stocked with basics and an a/c unit. The rooms are smaller but we were easily able to fit a pack n' play in the biggest room. They do offer a mini crib for free as well. We took advantage of the fire pits one day to roast s'mores (they have several fire pits around), went swimming in both the indoor and outdoor pools & hot tub, and spent time in the lake. The property is located within 10-20min of many restaurants, activities for kids and adults (ie golf), and towns. Def recommend checking out Nisswa's downtown - it's super cute!! We plan to return next year!

We really enjoyed our stay at Kavanaugh's for a multitude of reasons! As a quick lakeside getaway…read morefrom the Twin Cities, a stay at Kavanaugh's is hard to beat! Here's why: The rooms/cabins: Our cabin was amazing. We stayed in a "cottage," which is a two-story, three bedroom cabin. There was a ton of space, including three full bathrooms, a huge kitchen and living room, a washer/dryer, and plenty of storage space. Everything was in in great condition, clean, and the kitchen was well-appointed. Our parking space was close by, and we were about 20 yards from the beach. The resort: TONS of stuff to do. There's a multitude of boating options, from free paddle boats to rental kayaks and fishing boats. The lake is warm enough to swim (and there's a small swimming beach - wish it was a bit bigger). Contrary to what some people said, we had no problem catching fish in the lake. There were toys down by the lake which our daughter LOVED playing with. The indoor and outdoor pool were both great, and the grounds were overall nice to walk around. Although we didn't use them, there's a really nice paved bike trail and bicycles for rent. The staff: super friendly and accomodating, they went the extra mile to make sure we had a great time. Rates: high in the height of summer (of course), but in late summer when we went (right after labour day), very reasonable. Location: just two hours from the Twin Cities, and super close to Target, Costco, and other stores...the perfect blend of nature and civilization. All in all, a great place to stay on a lake in Northern(ish) Minnesota!

We have been enjoying Sandy Beach Resort every week of the Fourth of July for the past 25 years…read more Very relaxing and beautiful spot on Gull Lake. Yes, the beach is sandy indeed. One disappointment is that a year ago they changed their store hours to close at 6:00 PM. Short on milk at supper time? Sorry you are out of luck. Want an after dinner frozen treat -- nope! I hope the owners will see this post and add go back to their previous 8:00 PM closing time -- a little customer focus will help keep your business healthy.

Sandy Beach Resort makes it feel like you have your own cabin for the week. The family who owns the…read moreresort is highly responsive and very welcoming. Would definitely recommend this resort for anyone looking for the classic up north Minnesota feel!

General - I had a work conference onsite in May and stayed onsite with family while attending the…read moreconference. Location - You have to drive for a bit outside of Brainerd/Baxter but you are right on the beautiful shores of Gull Lake. If you don't know anything about Gull Lake, it is one of the top lakes in the area. Big and beautiful lake - great for boating, fishing and swimming. Rooms & Building - This place has been around for quite some time and still gives off those old school lake resort vibes. I used to come here as a kid for a weekend getaway and some of the things have not changed one bit. Ha. All in all, they have kept up with maintenance for the most part. The rooms do show wear and tear but for how old they buildings actually are, you would expect worse. I kind of like the old-fashioned classic look - gives the building more history and a story than if they would bulldoze it and build modern. Amenities - The resort is loaded with things to do including a full-size gymnasium and ball court, a couple pools, arcade, hot tub, outdoor recreational activities, golf course, etc. Food - There are a few bars and restaurants onsite. We got pizza one night for dinner at the poolside restaurant and it was pretty good. Large size and priced very fairly for resort food. Vibe - Easy going and super friendly staff. No complaints. Reality vs. Online - Pictures that I saw on their website and online matched the quality and condition of the hotel and rooms in-person. No surprises. Price & Final Verdict - It is a classic location in the heart of Brainerd Lakes. It is different than just a "hotel stay" or smaller resort stay. It is a unique experience that one should not miss. Give it a try - great place for a weekend getaway with family and/or friends.

Had a fun weekend trip up here! I would say the main plus of this place is that they seem pretty…read morelaid back, and you have a lot of freedom to do what you want. We didn't want to pay the equipment rental prices so we brought in our own inflatable kayak, and didn't get in any trouble. It's a beautiful lake, and we really enjoyed the view from the upper level deck near the Pizza place, which definitely had a good pizza! They gave us the wrong one, so I don't know what we actually got, but it was good. Thankfully they let us in to eat Pizza because upon arrival their system was down and we couldn't check into our room. The worker behind the counter seemed to be doing the absolute best minimum and wasn't super friendly. After lunch we checked back in and thankfully there was a much more competent and friendly person there to help us out. The system was still partially down, but he was able to give us some details on the status of our room and encouraged us to still enjoy all the amenities until we could check in. As another review mentioned the shower head was uncomfortably low for me, but I'm 6'6" tall so it's probably fine for most people. The indoor pool is quite nice and not overly chlorinated, no burning eyes from the fumes is great. My last thing is the way finding. I think part of it was the room we got (162). It was completely alone and not by any other rooms which made it hard to fine. Also certainly not as good of a view as upper level rooms. But in general there was very little signage and a lot of confusing stairwells with unknown destinations. We only stayed for the weekend, but I didn't feel very confident finding my way even at the end of our stay, so I feel like there could be an improvement there. It seems to be a good value for the money in this area and I would say it's worth checking out!

Went up for a week and had a great time! You can rent pontoons, kayaks, canoes and paddle boats to…read morekeep yourself entertained. Plenty of room for sure. Rustic and on a great part of Gull Lake. They have a store on site but not much for groceries but plenty of grocery shopping close by. They have stuff for the kids to do and if you have a boat bring it! They have plenty of docks. Very relaxing time! Staff is great!

I stayed a few nights here with a group of crafty individuals (we were there for a craft show…read moreweekend). Originally we were supposed to stay in a different cabin but it wasn't ready because no one had cleaned it...the place didn't seem very busy so I'm not sure what happened. The cabin itself was nice and spacious. Beds were comfy and bathrooms were modern and clean. The fireplace was a great touch. The resort was very quiet and setting was nice. Not much to complain about but not much to say either. I didn't go to the gift shop myself but it seemed expensive from what I saw come out of it.

Everything ! Is awesome. From check-in to check-out . We stayed with our family in one of the big…read morehouses by the beach . We loved it .

Stopped for dinner, ordered a steak and a salad, the steak…read morehad great flavor. Potatoes and asparagus were also really good! Great service! Will be back!!

We usually avoid staying at Wyndham properties because we often get pulled into timeshare or upsell…read moreconversations, and unfortunately that happened again this time just when calling to confirm our reservation and request early check-in. I called multiple times about early check-in and got a different answer each time. We did end up being able to check in early the same day, but it cost an extra $60. They also mentioned we were the only guests requesting it, which felt a bit odd. The water park was a highlight our kids had a great time. The only downside is that the water is freezing and there's a noticeable cold draft throughout the area. Our room was spacious and worked really well for our family of five. Wi-Fi was spotty, but the TVs were nice. Overall, some frustrations, but the space and water park kept the stay enjoyable for the kids.

We had a nice room; there was barely any shampoo and body wash in the shower. We had a birthday…read moreparty and a lot of children. The pool needed 2 or more life guards vs one (the life guard had ear buds in & rarely left the chair-not a safe position)! We wanted to order food later to the room but was told the restaurant could not make any food. The breakfast was so so. I recommend the pool area be inspected and get more information about the limitations of the restaurant and why we could not get room service based on the menu included in the room.

We just stayed here and had a great time! I was a little reluctant with the other reviews but we…read moredidn't experience any issues. We enjoyed the swimming opportunities and never found them overly crowded. The facilities were beautiful and the kids enjoyed the activities. We really enjoyed our long weekend here.

Our goal here is not to bash management of Birch Bay RV Park, but to rather provide you our…read moreexperience, so you can make an informed decision about where you want to spend your precious summer weekends you work so hard all week to enjoy. If you are looking for a fun seasonal campground, I would strongly urge against staying here. The management has control issues, are very rude most of the time, and they will charge you extra for everything possible. We were on our 2nd season staying here as Full Time RVers. We have traveled to numerous campgrounds for weeks to months at a time, and have never been treated so poorly as we were at Birch Bay. Knowing that we lived there (and it was our home location), they kicked us out mid-season, giving us a week to leave without discussion. This, for doing absolutely NOTHING against the rules. We were up singing around a campfire with many friends (from the campground) on a Saturday night, up until quiet time, which was 11 PM at this time (as read in our contract. I see now that they have changed that to 10:30pm). At 10:59 PM the music was shut off. At 11:02, management called our cell phone and said, "Party is over...meet me in the office at 9AM", where they proceeded to say we needed to leave and had a week to do so. The last comment made from management was to "make sure your friends knew you are taking the fall!" Who does this?! A couple hours later, management did come back and offer us a different site back in the woods, but again, made a comment about making sure our friends stay away! So, not only did they kick us out without talking about noise levels acceptable during normal hours, they then wanted to control who and how many friends we hung out with! We left the next day! I wouldn't recommend this campground to my worst enemy. If you like to be controlled and treated poorly, this may be the campground for you. I know they will come back with a rebuttal as they always do too turn the blame against the camper, but how many times can they do this too campers before people see right through them.