We took our first large family vacation here this year and loved it! The cabins were big enough for our large family, the staff was helpful, the view was beautiful, the accommodations in the cabins were just like home and the resort is right inside of the town of Isle, MN so you're only about a block away from groceries or restaurants. It was a perfect location for our first family trip. The resort has boat rentals, so there is no need to bring your own boat if you don't want to. The resort sits on a bay on the south side of Lake Mille Lacs, so you've got some shelter from the rough water on the main part of the lake on a windy day, and the resort has a protected harbor with multiple boat slips in case you do want to bring your own boat.
The only problem that the resort has is that it doesn't have a beach area attached to the resort. This is the only reason why I'm not giving it the full 5 starts. However there is a public beech just down the street that is easily accessible, and they do allow for swimming off of the docks, but the water there is a little deep for smaller kids, and with boats coming in and out of the harbor, it's not great for family swimming, although it's just fine for adults who'd like to just jump in and swim for a bit.
The rental pontoons don't have ladders, you you can't jump out of them for swimming (which is another reason I'm not going with 5 stars) but we did find a nice little public boat launch with a sandy beach about one bay over from the resort. So, if you want to take the family or the boat and find a nice beech where you can anchor the boat and go for a swim, this spot is perfect!
All in all, we were very happy with the resort, and we will be back the next time our family vacation takes us back to Mille Lacs. read more