A few weeks ago my friends and I stayed at the lodge. We were there for lodgapolooza. The Music was great. But the main reason I'm leaving a review is The Horseradish Steak Sandwich. This has to be one of the best things I've ever tasted. The steak was tender and just the right amount of seasoning. The bread was soft and very fresh. To round off the meal where the French Fries. Perfect no need for any dipping sauces. The staff were great and I can hardly wait to go back again. Thank you, Steven read more

We spent $3K, for a cabin to accommodate our family of 11. The resort is nice, grounds clean, nice beach that was groomed every day. The activities were disappointing- the heated pool was around 80 each day and cold. The hot tub was out of commission a few times during our stay. The cabin was spectacular- clean, comfortable and large but on top of a hill and not lakeside. Very quiet and no one was around much. read more

We had the best time at Big Sandy Lodge & Resort last week! Gorgeous cabin for our family of 15 get together! Staff were friendly and helpful. Beautiful grounds, beach & pool. We had the best time!! Recommend this resort Highly! read more

Staff is amazing!!! Huge portions of food that does not disappoint. Villas are beautiful and so is the view. Pool area is well kept and lots of fun. read more

35 minutes for buffalo wings, onion rings, and a fish sandwich... about 25% of tables had people so NOT busy. Onion rings were good. Fish ok. Wings stringy and not cooked as requested. Serving me at the bar seemed somewhat inconvenient for the bartender. Not returning unless the food and service quality improve. read more

If you are thinking of spending time here think again. We came for the Memorial Day holiday - and what a mistake. First of all the rooms and hallways are really dark. The rooms need updates. Blinds broke, beds were horrible, paint patches on walls and a shared microwave for all. Hot tub broken and I don't think it will be fixed. Place is really run down. We tried the restaurant - so bad. The tables were wet and dirty and we asked the rude waitress if we could have it dry and cleaned and we were given a towel to do it ourselves. My husband ordered the Walleye sandwich and it was raw in the middle. I had a chicken sandwich which was gross and bacon was old. The food is really bad. The bar closes at 9 on weekends. They let it stay open on Sunday until the Timberwolves game was over. People were really disappointed. Go to Hillcrest for food and friendly people! Awesome there! Really sad that people sitting on the patio at Hillcrest were talking about how bad the Resort is and how it has gone downhill. I will never go back. read more

Went here on Friday, 9/6/19, based on boat access on Big Sandy and Yelp ratings and reviews. The complex of buildings, interior and deck are surprisingly nice. There is a huge bar with tables ringed around it. We had a nice view of the lake. Service was very slow. Waited an eternity for the waitress to show up, order and even pay. That is ding of one star. My Sunrise Burger, cooked pink with a fried egg was superb, absolute perfection. Really good. So were the crunchy fries. Five stars. There are many yummy menu items I would like to try on future trips. Prices are reasonable. So the food is great, interior great, huge dock for boat access and a big parking lot. I will be back. read more

Big Sandy Lodge & Resort - The lake - Hotels Near Me - McGregor, Minnesota

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Spending A total of five days on a family vacation at the big Sandy resort was enjoyable. The location is very secluded and activity at the time that I was there was very little I felt like I was one of the only people in the resort. Big Sandy Lake is gorgeous the resort offers pontoon boats, fishing boats, canoes and kayaks for Lake activities you want to make sure before you get here to bring any necessities or supplies that you truly need because a true convenient store is not very nearby. The only downside to my stay at the big Sandy resort was the awful service and the awful food at the big Sandy resort restaurant. I sat down with my family of 14 at two dirty tables connected to each other and it took staff 20 minutes to clear the table the restaurant had barely any customers at the time! If waiting at a dirty table wasn't bad enough it took a great deal of time for them to even get on our orders. The food was nothing special. read more

Very small room and bath. Also very bad lighting, bring some candles if you want to read. Free breakfast is a joke.

Great location, but is outdated and at least 20 Years behind the times! My room has 1960's comforters that are not only scary, but look disgusting! Although room is clean, bathroom is small and dated, as well. In my opinion, this resort can survive only 2-3 more years w/o a necessary rework and update! Very disappointing that they have not even acknowledged this fact, nor made any attempts or plans for the resort's future, as I specifically asked this question. As an FYI, I had to climb through and over the additional bed frame (2 Q bed room) in order to set up my phone charger for the night. WiFi is sufficient. Beds and linens are old and bordering on disgusting! However, drinks at the bar are very reasonable! Visit at your own risk! read more

Mediocre lunch over Independence Day holiday weekend. Highly limited menu. Slow service. Just okay food.

The food here is awesome. Waitresses are awesome. Rooms are alittle small but cozy. Very beautiful area

Absolutely terrible service... we had ordered food and 50 minutes later the server informed me it was still going to be a long time! She did not apologize and did not even make an attempt at fixing the issue. She said " I didn't know our kitchen was slammed until just now ( 50 minutes later)" read more

Employee Maddy was very very rude to me and my friend while we were leaving, she wasn't our server and stepped into our conversation and was very rude. Other service was great her attitude wasn't. read more

We have been going here since the resort opened and this was the worst experience we've ever had. It has gone downhill unfortunately. Lack of service and quality overall. They charge the same rates however now don't have maid service. They no longer offer any breakfast, muffins etc even something basic which is super inconvenient as the restaurant is not open during the week days. They have coffee in the morning and that is it, not even something light to snack on. When I inquired on a light breakfast I was directed to the vending machine . They have no phones in the room so you can't even call down to the front desk. The AC in the resturant was broken, same as it was last year, so at 3:00 they had to open all the windows and doors to the lodge to allow for air flow, making the whole place hot humid and stuffy. Boaters come off the lake and want to cool down inside and relax. They leave the doors open so horse flies are buzzing everywhere. Even at 10:00at night to go down to the bar and relax, it's uncomfortably hot, not relaxing at all. The volleyball courts have no nets, there's no corn hole bags like there used to be, overall it seems like just a downhill turn of care to the guests. Also, The front desk staff seems miserable and I caught them several times complaining behind the desk about management. Clearly there's been a management change or shift of some kind , for the worse. They also used to have young men on the docks to assist the boaters as the come off the lake with there boats, they no longer have that. The merchandise in the guest shop is flimsy and cheap, we previously purchased sweatshirts from there, now they look super thin and awful quality. They took away the chairs that were in the lower patio area where we used to sit and relax in the morning and evening, and no longer have bonfires like they used to at the fire pit area. We used to go there and have smores with the kids at night, now there's no option to do that. They seem to have made budget cut choices that have severely impacted the quality of the lodge. Very disappointing. We used to love it here but will reconsider coming up after this poor experienceShow less read more

First: the lodge is on a gorgeous part of Big Sandy and is impressive to look at. I like the volleyball court, sandy beach, and pool area. My review is predominately concerning the restaurant. I have been coming to the lake for 20 years and remember when the lodge was built. It has changed hands multiple times and each time, the restaurant gets worse. The food is sub par, the prices are high, the service is negligent, and they can't seem to employ a bartender who actually knows how to mix a good drink. I've gone 3 times this vacation and won't be going back until I hear from other friends on the lake that the place has improved. While I liked being walking distance to a decent place to eat, I'll just have to try one of the few other places in the area. read more

We did not stay in the lodge. We rented one of the townhouses, and found it to be quite comfortable. If you have a large group, we suggest going this route. For us, it was about $400 a night, but that gave us three bedrooms, three baths, our own kitchen, and large dining room, and a good meeting area, including a balcony. The only problems we had with the townhouse were parking, some minor maintenance issues, and the ongoing construction around the area. Other than that, the townhouse was big, comfortable, and pleasant. As for the lodge itself, the bar and food were good. All of the staf were polite, and accomodating, seeming really to care about doing a good job. We enjoyed the availability of rentals, too. We recommend renting the bikes which are only $5.00 an hour, except that there are no trails to ride them on. You have to take them out on the highway. There is a large area for riding, walking, and skating alongside the highway, be we were hoping for more of a trail experience. Also, I had the largest of the four bikes, and the goose neck on mine was either stripped, or not tightened enough. My handle bars kept turning up. I did report the problem, but it was unnerving when, all of the sudden, my brake handles were facing upward where I could not reach them. I had to hold the handlebar down with the brake handles to keep it in place. There was also a couple of problems on the Wave Runner Rentals. They will tell you that the rules for refueling are listed on the rental agreement, but we could not find them. Be sure to ask about refueling charges. The $70 an hour you pay for the rental does not include refueling, and they charged $30 after just 1 1/2 hours of use. What is on the rental agreement is the note that any "unused" minutes will be reimbursed. They were not. We rented the Wave Runner for two hours, but only had it for 1 1/2 hour. We were charged for the full, two hours with no offer to reimburse the $35 we did not use. They really need to review, and "fine tune" their rules on equipment rental, making information more clear, understandable, and fair. In my mind, there is no way they can justify the $30 refueling fee for that device, and I guess that is why people who frequent the area bring their own gas cans. Nonetheless, for a peaceful, rural, Minnesota lake experience, this place is nice, conveniently located, and friendly. They have some great views, too. read more

I love this place. Friendly, efficient and helpful service. Great food. And the view of Big Sandy Lake from the deck or from inside is amazing. We had Salmon Oscar and Fire Pit Chicken last week. Both were wonderful and I would suggest the wild rice blend. It is all wild rice and tastes amazing. Yesterday we tried the Sunrise Burger and Bruschetta Burger, one with regular fries and the other with waffle fries. The burgers were so wonderfully flavorful and both fries were great, though I'm partial to waffle fries. So far we haven't found anything they can't do well and we're looking forward to our next visit. read more

Ordered take-out Saturday evening at Big Sandy Lodge. The service was good, however the food was terrible. My wife and I had the hot roast beef sandwiches and was the worst one that we both had ever eaten. They need to do better if they want our business, and we are McGregor residents. read more

We had a terrible experience a few years ago and swore we wouldn't be back! Now they have new owners with an awesome new chef! Excellent service and a steak Gorgonzola salad that was to die for! Our whole group loved their meals! We sat on the deck and it was beautiful. We had a great time! We will be back! read more

Very small room, not even room for a chair. Room had a bad smell. Paid for an upgrade to view lake, very disappointed, room right above bar and restaurant patio, loud from people chatter and music. Requested to change rooms, offered a room facing the roof top with loud noisy air fans, even worse, went back to original room. After dark people gathered under room and started camp fire, the pits as we could not open window. Bathroom had very poor design, no place to put stuff. The room cost was around $135 with tax, never again!!!!!!! read more

The greatest kitchen staff ever....food was unbelievable!!!! Service was decent food was warm and great atmosphere

My only complaint about the whole place is the rooms are quite small. Other than that I really enjoyed my time here. The food in the lodge restaurant is very good and the bar is well stocked and has a nice selection. The staff is pretty friendly and helpful to visitors. We had a fantastic view of the lake from our room as well. If you're looking for a nice quiet place in the sticks to get away there is no better place! read more

Absolutely incredible spot. The staff were fantastic. They were helpful for every request and always available. The resort is MAGNIFICENT. I have never stayed at or seen such a gorgeous place right on the lake. They had activities for the kids and family. There were water "toys" that you can rent. We ended up eating at the lodge three times because the food was so good!! One of the nights they had a live band that was pretty good too!! We can't wait to come back here!!! I would HIGHLY recommend this beautiful resort to anyone in need of a vacation! read more

Overall we had a great stay the villas were super clean and nice. The restaurant service was awful. We waited 50 minutes for our food and we had to walk out disappointed. There was a buffet and no one told us about it. Wait staff seemed overwhelmed and not helpful at all. Would recommend bringing your own food if you don't want to wait and hour for food read more

We have waited for almost an hour and a half for our food. When pancake came out it was completely burnt and they forgot about a dish. They did not keep up on water. Staff is O.K, but we expected much better service. Hope they improve for future service or at least told us it was going to be such a long wait. The waitress Candy was such a doll and did realize that it was terrible service and gave us a 25% discount but the food runner had such a bad attitude. read more

I read the mixed reviews on this location. We didn't stay at the lodge but at one of the villas. It was clean and big enough for two families with kids. We were not here in summer but came up to snowmobile for three days. Granted we only ate at the restaurant once but thought it was fine. It was not as busy because again it was winter. Only reason for not 5 stars is the pool area is just ok or adequate. Kids didn't care, they had fun. read more

This is a beautiful place on a very nice lake, however we were not impressed with the service provided even before we arrived to stay during Memorial weekend. We had a family wedding nearby and had booked a 6 bedroom townhome in October 2014 for the wedding on Memorial weekend. We were called the first week in may and were told that the townhome we had reserved had been sold and the whole place was booked up throughout for the weekend. This was absolutely unacceptable. With the wedding just weeks away, where were 12 people who had reservations supposed to stay? They ended up giving us two smaller townhomes for the price of the first one we were initially supposed to get. And they were beautiful homes, very nicely decorated and had fairly nice views of the lake but really couldn't compare to the one we had initially booked. The bride and groom experienced the same thing. They had booked a room in the lodge last fall and called to verify it at the beginning of May and they had no record of their reservation. Fortunately, a wedding guest ended up cancelling their room and the resort staff called the bride telling her they had an opening. The person who cancelled their room slept on one of the couches in our townhomes so the bride and groom could have their own room. read more

To Whom It May Concern: I would first off like to start this letter by stating that the resort grounds are beautiful and the location of the resort is truly ideal. My family rented a cabin, cabin C36 to be exact from 07/23/2017-07/29/2017. Upon our arrival to the resort we were advised that the previous guest were checking out late but were told not to come back until 4:00pm to check on the cabin availability. The women at the front desk was extremely rude about the situation, and was more concerned about going outside to smoke an e-cigarette. Finally at 4:23pm on 07/23/2017 we received the keys for the cabin, but when we got to the cabin there were still three girls inside the cabin and they were not done cleaning the cabin. We had several groceries in the car and we politely asked the girls if they minded us filling the refrigerator while we waited; they had no problem with it, but they quickly stopped what they were doing and left. Linens still in the washer and dryer, dishwasher still full of dishes, table was filthy, and there were little things and trash still scattered throughout the house despite there being three girls inside. No big deal. We had called the front desk to advise them of the bigger issues like the broken light, carpet stains, etc. They were not concerned. It seemed like every bartender at the resort was extremely new and very poorly trained. One of the bartender's name's was Paul, he was a really nice guy. It seemed like they just threw him a shirt and put him behind the bar though. I had asked for change for a $100.00 and he did not have it. I went to the front desk and they said that bartender should have, I explained to the woman at the desk that he did not. This was the same woman that checked us in, she told me that someone would come by to help me and she went outside on her e-cigarette. After roughly 15-20 minutes a waitress finally went in to the back office behind the front desk and got me my change so that I could actually spend money at the bar/restaurant. A few days later while my family was on the beach late one evening, a bunch employees were playing volleyball on the court above the beach. They were actually trash talking the new bartender specifically making mention of how he did a deposit drop with the whole register till the previous night and left no money for the opener. I found the disparaging comments to be very unprofessional especially to be talking negatively about resort staff around customers. y wife had signed up to rent a pontoon boat for 4 hours on 07/26/2017 and for four hours on 07/27/2017. We took the pontoon from the resort at roughly 10:00am, about a half hour in to making it out of the bay the motor started jugging and stalled out twice. The condition/operation of the motor worsened as the day went on. We had five small children on-board 9, 9, 4, 3 & 7 months old. We had received troubling news regarding my father-in-law and my wife wanted us to take her back to the resort. It took us almost an hour to get back to the resort and the jugging of the motor worsened. The children were crying and the boat ride was not enjoyable at all. When we pulled up to the dock at the resort two of the deckhands came out to the dock and told us that they could hear the motor as soon as we entered the bay. The two deck hands came onto the pontoon and took the top off of the motor and began to check oil and fluids. I sat on the pontoon with them for 5 minutes and they called over a third deck hand. I asked them if there was something wrong with the motor and the one-deck hand confirmed that he knew what was wrong with the motor and told me to go to the front desk to get my money back. I spoke to an employee at the front desk about the situation and she took down my contact information. I was contacted by the lodge manager Josh K on 07/26/2017 at 1:39pm. Josh asked me what the deck employees told me? I explained to Josh the situation. Josh then claimed his employees did not know what they were talking about and they were not trained to handle the situation, Josh told me that it was normal for all the boats to operate in that manner and it was quite common. I told Josh that my family did not want to go back on boat like that that day or tomorrow 07/27/2017. I advised the lodge manager Josh on 07/26/2017 that I was not paying for the pontoon. The bottom line really is that I never signed up to rent the boat, I never authorized my credit card to be charged and I never signed to authorize any charges for the pontoon boat. Josh K asked me to reconsider and offered to discount another rental at 50% off or to work out some other deal. I advised the lodge manager that I had video of the boat acting up and explained that it was unacceptable. Also explained that we would have brought the boat back even sooner if the motor had been operating correctly. The lodge manager instead tried to convince me that boats jerking you back and forth is normal and told me to disregard. read more

If you want enjoy a 100+ year old resort that has been updated. This is the place! Friendly staff. Food is great, beverage selection is great. Lots of memories can be made. Have had a Christmas in one of Condos, room for the whole family to enjoy, upstairs, downstairs main floor. Also had a family reunion in summer here. Some rented rooms, rented 2-3 condos. Plenty of room for people to gather and sleep. Had our family reunion catered at the Condo. Was something for everyone to enjoy! Would go back again! read more