My father's family used to come here on vacation when he was a boy many years ago. We came back…read morewith him this year and discovered for ourselves what a gem this place is! Betty Espland is daughter of the original owners and keeps the place very neat and welcoming. The cost is very reasonable, the cabins are older but larger, and well stocked with cooking equipment. Beds are quite comfortable, we've slept really well! Bring your own towels, soaps, and garbage bags though. Full size fridge, and gas stove, with newer microwave and coffee maker. Lot of lakefront yard! There are two kayaks free to use, and a canoe and three rowboats - all in great working order, with paddles and life jackets too. Decent swimming off the dock, but be warned for kids there is not really any "beach" and it is pretty rocky (wear water shoes!) and has a steep dropoff. Betty also has a pontoon that can be rented but should be reserved ahead of time so she can get it in the water. We LOVE this place, and Betty the owner, and I am sure I will be back again many times in years to come - the tradition has been renewed for our family! :)

September 2025, spent a week in cabin 10. Rented a cabin with boat and motor. The staff and…read morefacility were truly exceptional. Cabin and boat were all ready for us when we arrived and staff members gave us really great advise as to where we should fish. My Wife has a heart condition and we are both getting older, so was very nice for us to stay in a nice and clean cabin, and only have a short walk to the dock with our boat all ready for us. Did ok fishing and went home with our limit at the end of the week, plus eating several meals of fish while we were there. The only minor issues were the well water had a bad smell which is common in northern Minnesota, so we drank bottled water, and the boat motor was a little under powered , but worked fine without issue... Overall wonderful experience. Due to age and health we may never be able to vacation in the northland again, thank you for making our last trip so nice and memorable.

Soooo friendly. These folks are doing very good work. Step foot on the grounds and you can feel…read morethe positivity and sense of duty and honor. Very good people.

We rode bicycles from Tower to Ely and stayed at MarJo's. The motel was spotless with organized…read morecontainers for recycling, garbage and wet towels. The mini frig and coffee maker provided all we needed. Quiet setting on a river channel to lake Vermilion and quick access to the bike trail. Lots of bang for your buck and Sandy was very accommodatIng. I'll come back whenever I can. Connie Pederson

Super cute, small, but cozy and well kept motel! Very happy with our stay. From the beginning the…read moreowner was very friendly and professional while making the reservation over the phone. We arrived late and used the code given to enter our room with no problems. It was -17 degrees out that night and we arrived to a warm and clean room. Has older tv but cable box provides ample channels, microwave, mini fridge, and small coffee maker with coffee provided. Also had a hand written message from housekeeper and informational papers in the room. Bathroom was spotless and shower was nice and hot! It honestly was one of the best motel stays my husband and I have had. Didn't hear any noise from the neighbors either. Very cute! Free WiFi!

Stopped in Ely for the evening and after dinner settled on the Lakeland motel. It was a pleasant…read morestay. It's not a motel but cabins and ours was nice. It was like a mini-house with a bed in the front, a eating area with a table, a bedroom in the back and a bathroom. It was clean and decorated northwoods style. Our room came with all the usual fixins including soap, towels, but it did not have shampoo. Staff was friendly. The only negative we had was the cabin we were in was right in front along the road. With the window open the road noise was alittle annoying.

So our tent got eaten by a bear in the Boundary Waters and we had to come back into Ely to avoid…read morethe swarm of man-eating mosquitoes. We found this place was the cheapest of all the motels, but there's definitely a reason why. First of all, the shower barely gets warm enough, and the owners provide soap but are too cheap to leave shampoo. But the most annoying part was that the owners, who live in a house attached to the office, like to set up lawn chairs directly in front of your room and invite their friends over to yak it up right just inches away from the paper-thin walls. Several times we looked out the window at night to see their huge hillbilly backsides pressed up right against the glass, and it felt like they were shouting right into our ears . We were too tired to leave the room and were forced to listen to their conversation for hours. Then, later on, the two of us were hanging out in the parking lot, not even talking very loudly, and noticed that the creepy owner woman was peering out at us through her door. It felt like staying in a very strict dorm where the RA is allowed to make all the noise he wants and treats the students like cattle. Not cool.

Hey, after a week on a northern lake, how hard could it be to earn a 5-star review?…read more Well, unless you've checked out a lot of northern Minnesota resorts, you might not see the difference. Most of them are woefully outdated -- with few plans for improvement -- or astoundingly expensive. My wife did the research for this place, so I wasn't sure what to expect when she put in on my calendar and said, "We're going." (She's an Iron Ranger and likes her lake life). We reserved a "duplex" cabin up on the ridge above the lake, shared with retired owners. Talk about nice -- it was well-appointed (the owners are artists), clean, tidy, and comfortable. I enjoyed it so much that I heartily endorsed a return visit this summer. The main lodge has a few video games, but is a great place to chill and read. The owners are relaxed but hard-working and attentive. The beach is a bit tiny (good for little ones), and overall the resort was quiet enough that I never was irritated with neighbors. A highlight of our visit was a pontoon rental that we navigated through the lakes to the edge of the Boundary Waters (actually, about 50 yards into the BWCA before I realized that I shouldn't be there and promptly turned around). Lovely, medium-sized lakes with a lot of great scenery (at least for flat northern Minnesota). We're coming back with our 9-year old grandson to rent an older cabin right on the water where he can step outside to fish at 6 in the morning without worrying about him. Oh, and bring your bicycles so you can ride the Mesabi Trail out to Tower. Surprisingly hilly in places, but a beautiful trail. We positioned two cars to avoid a round-trip.

This was our third stay with Sandy and Kerry Davis at WIBR! Their cabins are nice, and if you…read moreneed anything, all have to do is ask. The power actually went out one night while we were there, and they had a back up generator so that the well would stay running to supply us with water! We were able to cook on the grill and had flashlights, so we fared just fine. They have pontoon rentals (extra charge) , canoes and paddle boats that are included in the rental. They have a swimming beach on the lake. We have always enjoyed our stays here. Will likely go again in the future.

After several visits over the years, I could give a 3- or 4-star review, depending on where you sit…read moreand which server you get. Sitting on the deck is ideal, but very difficult to obtain at dinnertime. The main dining room is okay, but I'm not a big fan of the rustic look (and I certainly don't agree that it is "rustic, yet elegant" as noted on their website. If you arrive at peak time then you might be relegated to a table in the lobby, which just isn't my idea of a nice dinner venue. The menu is a bit variable also -- there are some very good offerings and several so-so dishes. I've found that the specials and fish dishes tend to be better. Note that you really need to call for a reservation; ideally 3-7 days before you want to go. There aren't very many higher-quality restaurants in Ely and they get busy very quickly during peak season.

Perfect place to stay while in Ely. Looking forward to our next visit this summer of 2026 ! Always…read morea treat to be at Burnside Lodge . Looking forward to being there this summer. It's the nicest place to stay that I know of in northern Minnesota.

Our first time to Lake Vermilion, and we were delighted with Glenmore Resort. Nothing fancy, just…read morea nice rustic spot with clean cabins, great hospitality and excellent fishing, great sunsets and Eagles and Loons abound. Definitely coming back.

"VERY DISAPPOINTED - MUST READ"…read more We stayed here with some friends July 9-16. Between our group, there were two cabins rented. Some of our friends even rented a pontoon for a day. The owners of this resort are LeRoy and Nancy, and they are VERY RUDE. At check in, our friends - a husband, wife, and 19 year old daughter - were told by Nancy not to trash the place?! What is that suppose to mean? Who says that to a nice looking family. As they were settling in, LeRoy just walked into their cabin to get a broom he said he forgot in there. He didn't even knock, he just walked right in on them. They were shocked. The cabin we (2 couples) stayed in had curtains for bedroom doors, extremely small, for a cost of $1,435 for the week.We are seasoned travelers, and were very disappointed with the accommodations. At our check-in, we asked for cabin keys and they said they don't give any out, and that no one has ever had anything stolen yet. We asked if they would reimburse us if any of our tablets or phones were stolen, and they said no. When we insisted on a key, they had to try to find one. When they gave it to me, they said they weren't sure if it was the correct key or not for our cabin. We tried it on the regular door, and it worked. But the key did us no good, as the sliding patio door lock is broken, so that could never be locked. We ended up locking our valuables in our vehicles. My husband fixed the patio sliding door screen by screwing down on the lower track so that the screen was square and there wouldn't be a big gap at the top where the mosquitoes would come in. At one point, the patio screen came off the track, so we called LeRoy. He came over and put it back on the track and told us that it was not kid proof - we told him we don't have any kids here - and he said well you can't be hard on it. We told him we are are not being hard on it but just sliding it open, and that maybe he needs to replace the door. At check-in, LeRoy showed us where to park our truck and boat trailer, which we did. After getting settled, we got on our boat and went for a ride. Shortly thereafter, I got a call on my cell-phonel from LeRoy to see if we could come back and move our trailer as his lawn service came and he wants them to be able to cut where our trailer was parked. We were across the lake and told him we wouldn't be coming back right away. At one point LeRoy came to our cabin door and knocked on it to tell us something. My husband opened the door, and LeRoy's large dog just ran right in and ran around the cabin while we were fixing dinner. LeRoy just sat there and tried to call the dog over to him. These are just some of the things we experienced. At check-out, we discussed everything with the owners and told them that they have lost our future business and that of our friends. They need to learn how to run a resort, and treat their paying customers with respect. STAY AWAY FROM GLENMORE RESORT - Instead stay at Everette Bay Lodge. We stopped and met the owners while we were up there, and checked out their cabins. Very nice, and for the same cost. Stayed July 2016 1 of 5 stars Value 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality

Just got back June 29, 2024 and it was excellent!!! The staff, packs, food, and bunk house were…read moregreat and they provide great points of takeoff for a trek as well as planning. Hope to go back next summer! Good people. M Skelley, MD

We arrived at Packsack as fish out of water when it came to canoeing and camping in the Boundary…read moreWaters. Danielle and Nick set us up optimally with every single item we would need to navigate, survive, and thrive during our amazing trip. They kindly provided us with pro-tips, and answered all of our questions. Plus, there was a fun little surprise when we returned!