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    The Osthoff Resort

    3.2 (144 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

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    This was the Most disgusting vile resort i have ever stayed at. We got to the room and this was in the toilet. Not only did the staff not take responsibility but they also gaslight us and said it was "our fault" when we had just showed up to the hotel. Then the first thing the manager did was flush the toilet to hide the disgusting evidence that was in the toilet. Never stay at this hotel. Not only is it disgusting, management is terrible and should be fired.

    First time in Wisconsin !! This resort is great. Chill time many amenities a lake restaurants etc rooms are very nice

    Osthoff Resort

    No recognition of our 35th wedding anniversary, has in the past from other 4 or 5 star hotels. The grounds and lake was beautiful, Walked 4.5 miles inside without going out side.

    Damaged balconies by screen

    Our daughters purchased gift cards for a two night stay at a resort we had visited many times. Terrible experience! 1. Took our debit card to hold $200 for incidentals. Wanted to switch to a credit card and ended up with two cards with a hold of $1142 2. Had a shower head break as we were getting ready for a dinner reservation and it could not be repaired. Moved to a new room which had a torn up screen on the balcony. When returning, the keys did not work. 3. Upon checkout we were charged for 2 pontoon boat rentals and the one we rented had already been paid at the time of rental. Untrained staff should not be allowed to process payments. Terrible experience!

    We have stayed at the Osthoff Resort on two different occasions in 2024 and have had excellent experiences both times. The latest visit was for the Christmas Market. The Front Desk staff went out of their way to welcome us and ensure we found our room. Our room was as clean and neat as the room we had in September, one in the North Wing and last week in the Main. We attended the Christmas Tree lighting as well as the Christmas Market. Both were fun experiences and I could not have envisioned the size of the Christmas Market until seeing it for myself. Overall, I can give the facility high marks for service, accommodations as well as the events and activities available. We will return again in 2025 to check out more of the amenities of the resort.

    Fall in Wisconsin
    Brian M.

    The Osthoff Resort is the perfect place for an overnight getaway with that significant other. Elkhart Lake is just a fun lakeside community with a few different unique places to stop for a drink and a bite to eat. The Osthoff is a very comfortable hotel right on the lake. They take care to try and present that high end image and for the most part they are a success. This is just one of those places you can see yourself having that glass of wine on the deck overlooking the grounds or in the lobby seated near the fireplace. The entire property is well maintained. The hotel certainly allows children, but to me this place just exudes couples getting away from the kids for the night. I find myself more fond of the thought of staying at the Osthoff than at what is supposed to be the swanky & not too distant American Club in Kohler.

    Living room
    Pamela R.

    I was hoping to leave a 5 star followed by a narrative detailing our wonderful visit- unfortunately the esthetics of the resort and grounds is what earned the 3 stars- customer service was a huge disappointment! The stay was booked with Priceline, all of the rooms were advertised as "garden view" or "lake view" ours was a "deluxe king suite" had a balcony with a view of the parking lot/loading dock and surrounding trees. The manager, Rosa stated that we were given the wrong room but was unable/unwilling to honor the reservation, even though we paid a premium for the advertised garden view! Not good business. My issue is the false advertising and lack of a true customer service response esp when facility acknowledges mishap. We made the best of the trip, room was spacious with a couch, dining table and kitchen; large tub and large bed- very clean. The highlight was walking outside along the tree lined trails and down to the beach area. Overall, we would have liked to enjoy the gardens from our balcony-very disappointed with the false advertising and poor quality of service for the price point.

    View from the lake
    Ali B.

    The Osthoff used to be a much looked forward destination for our family's fall getaway. After six years of visits, this likely will be our last. The entire property has become run down. Landscaping lights are broken, furniture in the lobby is dated, and the courtyard is all torn up, leaving a very lackluster view that was charged at a premium. The room we were placed in was appalling. It was reminiscent of a roadside efficiency, complete with mismatched appliances circa mid 90s, the smell of stale cigarette smoke, marked up/chipped walls, broken air conditioning units, and the smell of hair grease on the bedding. As someone who expects hotel stays to be at or above my living standards, this place has fallen significantly short. When we took our concerns to the front desk manager, Rosa, she lacked any candor or sense of empathy. She essentially told me she could not and would not do anything for our family. My concerns of cigarette odor were met with a can of Lysol and disregard for the asthma problems smoke creates for me. As for the 85 plus degree temperature of our suite, we were told to "open the windows". With 30 degree lows and seasonal allergies, this is also unacceptable. Rosa passed me the card of the guest services manager, who conveniently can not be reached, and we were left to sleep in a hot, dusty, smelly room at $375 a night. Did I mention that the hot tub has sand in it? The beach has been closed for almost 2 months... does anyone clean anything here? Elkhart Lake is beautiful this time of year, but the Osthoff has become a giant eyesore with subpar service.

    Private beach
    Lori H.

    Beautiful resort on Elkhart lake with a private beach. Our room was spacious with a private balcony overlooking a wooded parking lot. Two person whirlpool tub, fridge, microwave, bar sink and an extremely comfortable king bed with 7 pillows. Luxurious. There are two pools -- one for adults and one for children, Very considerate. This is a large resort with beautiful grounds, many restaurants on-site, a spa, and a private beach with water sport rentals.

    Sunset

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    Ask the Community - The Osthoff Resort

    Review Highlights - The Osthoff Resort

    Both were fun experiences and I could not have envisioned the size of the Christmas Market until seeing it for myself.

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    Camp Brosius

    Camp Brosius

    5.0(19 reviews)
    1.0 mi

    Camp Brosius is a hidden gem located on Elkhart Lake, WI! It's managed and owned by the School of…read moreHealth & Human Sciences at IU Indy. I just can't believe I've worked for the school and I'm just now experiencing this beautiful and relaxing little spot. Camp staff and counselors are absolutely amazing! There are families that have been coming to this camp for decades. The Camp has cottages, cabins, rustic cabins, an inn and an annex building for stays ... which all have different amenities and features; the stay also includes all three meals. The camp is currently open for eight weeks in the summer which includes a college camp and family camp. There are several different activities for kids and adults to do but my favorite is being out on the lake!

    I must start this with a disclaimer. I'm now 68 and attended this camp as a child age 10 through…read more16. Back then the only session was one 8-week period from late June through mid-August. Being born in July, I had 8 birthdays with fellow campers. The idea of being a family camp has evolved since I was there. We met in Bloomington to board a bus after hugs and kisses to the family. Some campers were apprehensive about their first separation from family. But most of us were excited. Parents were tearful or rejoicing at the peaceful summer ahead! The belongings on our required list were sent ahead in one foot locker two weeks earlier. I remember Mom cutting name tags and sewing them into all of my clothes, sleeping bag, and every piece of linen then marking anything else with a black sharpie. Laundry would never have been possible otherwise. When we arrived, everything was unpacked and put on a labeled shelf or in the foot locker. Valuables were left at home so any loss was minor, especially since we all worked off the same list. If counselors found at risk items, they labeled and locked them in the office, notifying the parents by mail. All was returned when we boarded the bus to leave. My first vivid memory is the extremely cold lake in late June. We would bob up and down until we were acclimated to the water temperature. Then magic came in mid-July that seemed to heat the lake quickly. By August it was like bath water, except for the deeper areas which stayed cool year-round. Our counselor told us there were 90 ft deep parts and thus it was important to stay within the roped off swim area. We were subjected to sob stories of how they arrived 2 weeks early and clean out all of the winter overgrowth in the shallow areas with complaints of colder water. (they were all health & PE majors at IU) I had several years of past swimming lessons, and was quite the fish, but had never learned to dive. It took most my first year before one the big male counselors stood by me to coax me in. He said just fall in with my hands over my head as I leaned over the dock edge. After 3 failed attempts of entering the water feet first each time, this guy just grabbed my feet as I was slipping off the dock and down I went head first. That's all it took to get me started. By the next year I was diving off the float's high dive! There were so many things we did each year. Some repeats and many new. I remember one very young camper that was mesmerized by seeing a live calving at the farm just a short walk down the shore from us. We were shown how to make cheese and even got samples. That was a big hit every year. The farm owners were fabulous and really loved having us all running around their place all afternoon. We played soccer, kick ball, red rover, tennis, had field competitions, made lanyards and sooo many other arts and crafts on inclement days when we all whined about no afternoon swim session. Evenings were filled with things like charades where campers dressed up like a familiar song and counselors would try to guess it. I did "Take a Letter Maria" by wearing a very long T-shirt, belting it like a dress, putting a Maria name tag on and entering with a pad and pen. I mocked opening a door to my boss, sat in a chair, crossed my legs and posed in the ready position to take short hand on a steno pad. We had campfire cook outs, & tons of singing after eating. We learned how to make a fire...no matches, before cooking. And the importance of making sure the fire was completely out...without water. All above was done on camp property. Two weekends of each 8-week session we loaded up the bus and truck with two days' worth of food, tents, sleeping gear and cloths then went up to Lake Michigan. That was superb because there were waves! And you couldn't see any land across the lake. It was the largest body of water I had ever seen. Of course, we practiced what we had learned from the cook outs. We also had day trips to Sheboygan for shopping. And I don't know how long the walk was from camp into Elkhart by skirting the lake's shore, but again we went shopping. (Which, by the way, consisted mostly consisted of candy and trinkets.) A letter home was admission to Sunday dinner. Every day started with revelry calling us to say the Pledge of Allegiance around the Red, White & Blue. Some parents came to the hotel at various times during our session. Near the end, on two different years I even stayed an extra week with my folks. So much more, but I'm running out of space. One memory I did not have was any camper leaving with severe injuries or illness. That's because we had a great camp nurse. (& I graduated nursing school 8 years later) By now you can tell that Brosius was definitely the biggest high light of my childhood. And I do apologize that all my pictures were lost in a flood while in college. So sorry I could not post any of the fabulous pics I took.

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    Camp Brosius
    Camp Brosius
    Camp Brosius

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    The Osthoff Resort Cooking School - The kitchen

    The Osthoff Resort Cooking School

    5.0(1 review)
    0.1 mi

    Cooking a meal with chef Rodney Schultz was one of the most fun and educational things that I…read moreexperienced while visiting Elkhart Lake. If you like to eat and want to learn more about how to cook well, then you need to take a class at the Osthoff Resort Cooking School. Just do it! First of all: How neat is it that there is a hotel in Elkhart Lake that offers cooking classes? It's super cool. Even better: the instructor, Chef Rodney, really knows his stuff. You will learn from an experienced cook who will teach you tips and tricks that you can take home and use in your own kitchen. The cooking class that I signed up for was an Italian cooking class, so we made chicken marsala with mushrooms, asparagus risotto, roasted zucchini, and strawberry cannoli. That's a lot of delicious food! Chef Rodney shepherded us through all of the steps, and kept us on task as we made our way through cooking up the menu. At the end, after almost two hours, we had a delicious meal that we shared among ourselves. I can honestly say that the chicken marsala that I made here at the cooking school was the best chicken dish that I have ever made. Chef Rodney is a delightful person, and I loved taking his cooking class. I could tell that he really loves food and teaching people to love food as much as he does. I left Chef Rodney's class with a belly full of delicious food (that I cooked!) and skills that will make me a better cook at home.

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    The Osthoff Resort Cooking School - The kitchen

    The kitchen

    The Osthoff Resort Cooking School - Cuttin' them asparagus

    Cuttin' them asparagus

    The Osthoff Resort Cooking School - The kitchen

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    The kitchen

    Christi's Inn - Lovely front porch!

    Christi's Inn

    2.2(5 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    A whole house in Elkhart Lake. Two nights, $300. Boom…read more It was all so hands off for me and in general, which is rare. L reserved the B&B since it was his BFF's wedding weekend in Elkhart Lake. Instead of paying the $280/night at the resort the wedding was being held at (in all fairness the rooms can facilitate like four+ people) he booked a little B&B right around the corner in Elkhart Lake. Upon arrival, we found that we had been upgraded to a whole house. A whole freaking house. ... that didn't lock, but that's cool. (Apparently people in Elkhart Lake don't lock their doors and they're not worried about you locking yours either, because it's a tiny, tight-knit town.) So we get in, and we enter the B&B, and there's nary a soul to be found. Just a chalkboard that says, "Luke, you're in the house across the street." I follow up w/ Christi herself via phone because L is running late to the rehearsal. "There's no key, you have the whole house, you'll be upcharged if anyone else stays there." Clear enough. It was way more than we needed. It was nice. It smelled a little musty. Having a whole house was awesome but a little weird. There was no breakfast, so the &B part of the whole thing was definitely a misnomer. A solid option if you're staying in the area with a handful of ppl; there were THREE bedrooms. (We probably could've saved our friends some $ had we known this was an option and would've gladly paid the upcharge for additional guests.) No &B, though, so this really isn't a B&B. Three stars bordering on four, but sticking with three because it was all so weirdly hands off and also, no key and no breakfast.

    Our experience was dismal! I would recommend you find other accommodations…read more The web page is cleverly worded but not forthright regarding the "amenities." It does not tell you that you will sharing a bath with 3 other couples, or that the walls are so thin you can hear everything going on in the other rooms. It promises bathrobes and toiletries, but neither were in our room. It is advertised as a B&B in the video on the homepage, but it is not. There is no food, fridge, or anything having to do with food. No one is on-site if you have an issue. The bed in our room was small and shoved against one wall. I had to climb in and out over my wife. The stairs are very steep, narrow, and with shallow treads. If you have any mobility issues, like my wife, it will be a challenge getting up to your room. We tried contacting Christi with these concerns and received a very snippy email reply that we should have deduced from the picture of the house that the stairs would be narrow and steep. One bathroom for 4 bedrooms, thin walls, non-working AC, a musty odor, items promised that weren't there, Christi's lack of customer care and hospitality all added up to a very bad experience for us. We left after one night. I asked for a refund but doubt I will get it.

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    Christi's Inn
    Christi's Inn

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    The Osthoff Resort - resorts - Updated August 2026

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