If someone were to tell you they got a "cabin" 4hrs "up north", you might wonder what the hell…read moreyou're in for. But when my boyfriend's fam books Clear Lake Resort for their fishing/hunting/very Minnesotan excursions, I am relieved and tag along. We recently stayed in Deer Cabin. It has three bedrooms, 4 beds, a damn-near-full kitchen, full bathroom (stand-up shower), living room area with electric fireplace, satellite TV, a deck with charcoal grill, and fire pit. And the kicker, it was $85/night! It sleeps 6-7 comfortably so that could be ~$15/pp/night! Resort amenities include a main lodge w foosball, pool table, board games, wifi and TV. There's a fish cleaning house, basketball hoop, volleyball, and several hiking/ snowmobiling trails too. And since it's right on Clear Lake, you can bring non-motorized activities, and they might even have some for rent. The owners live on the property and their family is so kind and accommodating. And we love their dogs! (They will be playful w you outside but never enter the cabins). Not everything is top-of-the-line and updated, but it's the perfect place for outdoors-lovers for the right price, location, and hospitality.

My partner and I stayed here for three nights in June of 2014. Bob and Kelly were very friendly and…read moreaccommodating. We stayed in the bear cabin and almost couldn't bare to leave (pun definitely intended)! The cabin was a nice two bedroom with a lake view. If you are looking for a REALLY FANCY place I would not recommend staying here. However if you are looking for REALLY NICE accommodations and great service at an exceptionally affordable rate, look no further. The photos on the website do not lie and we were very happy with our cabin. *The water has a sulfur-like smell to it, but this is the case for most of the area and the resort has better smelling water than some other places in the area.

This was a surprisingly nice hotel. Was not expecting such a new BW. The gal at the front desk was…read morevery friendly and helpful. Offered us free bottles of water (many Marriotts where we are platinum members don't do this) and helpful advice. The whole place including our room was in great shape and very stylishly decorated. The room was bigger than expected for this class of hotel. When I made the reservation I requested a quiet room on an upper floor and got it! The refrigerator was a larger size which was welcomed. A unique touch was the chest freezer on each floor with small pre-bagged ice vs those always broken ice machines. The free breakfast was standard for these types of hotels. Price was a tad high but it was week after holiday so lots of tourists like us. Highly recommended.

This is not a 4 star property, rather, the rating is based on expectations for this level…read moreaccommodation. Weird smell throughout. Hubs said it smells like cheap building materials. I'd say it was just odd, tho not so bad that we weren't nose blind to it shortly after arriving & didn't notice it while in the room. King room with plenty of space, outlets, lighting, temperature control & in-room amenities. The pad on the bed wasn't pulled tight or it wasn't sized correctly. I didn't sleep well because I could feel the lumps and ripples (princess & the pea moment). If I'd noticed BEFORE getting in bed, I'd have fixed it. I was flat-out beat tho & took the lazy way out. We, again, hit up breakfast. They had the standard spread of waffle maker, eggs (scrambled, omelet-like & boiled), sausage, potatoes & we greatly appreciated the seasonings & sauces available to give that same ole same ole a bit of pop. Parking was easy & we didn't use anything here besides the room & breakfast. We arrived late & left early the next morning, to officially start our tour. Note: We were 3rd of 4 in line to check in. The gal whipped out waters for #1, thanked him for being a Diamond member, told him what his points/bonus points were, explained ALL the hotel info - pool, gym, breakfast, check-out. # 2 gets up to the desk & the gal asks if they've stayed before, she replies not here but a lot of best westerns, giggle & gives hotel some info / #2 asks if there's Diamond Elite parking spaces (casual for hey, no mention of my loyalty, perhaps?) - response was "no, we're not that fancy" - no water given. We get up & the gal says, "did you catch all that or do you want it repeated?" We say we're good & she says most important thing is breakfast is at 6a - no waters for us. #4, took her back to interaction style of #1. It could be inconsistent or efficient, depending on how you look at it. (Had we asked for water, they no doubt would have given it. We had our own & it was perfectly visible at check-in.) Hubs is Diamond Elite. We booked direct with Best Western & didn't use points.

Such a charming resort! Well maintained cabins, affordable and very attentive family running the…read moreplace. The lake is absolutely idyllic! As long as you aren't looking for a place with pontoons and speedboats, you will love this place. Great hiking, biking and canoeing in the area and not too far from the cities.

We liked this hotel. It's very quiet, clean and right on 169 in Grand Rapids. Rooms are comfortable…read moreand well kept. Breakfast is included and they do a good job with that- eggs, sausage, toast, bagels, yogurt, hash browns, fresh fruit & so on. Heads up: the restaurant is closed on Sundays. They also have a discount for veterans but you have to make your reservation via phone direct to the hotel.

Note - This review is just for the restaurant…read more I stayed at the IM Hotel across the parking lot (owned by the same management team) and headed across the lot for a late dinner after checking in. Coming in after the dinner rush, the dining room was still showing battle scars from the clearly busy dinner crowd, but the staff was friendly and accommodating. Menu was small, but offered enough variety. I opted for a caesar salad, adding chicken. Salad was delicious and clearly used all fresh ingredients. Being a party of one, rather than take up a table I sat at the bar. Bartender was very friendly and helped offered tips for things to do while I was in town. Would recommend!

Another great experience at ENL! Always such hospitality for us old fisherman.Our needs are simple…read moreand the cabin is a great getaway with everything we need.We grill several meals and have a fish fry.Chatting and reminiscing,sharing memories is what our trip is all about.

We had a nightmare experience here. Dirty dishes in the cabinets, dirty refrigerator...also rusty…read moreand smelled. Old appliances. Dilapidated cabin #2. More bugs inside than outside. Dust especially in between the logs of the wall at the head of the bed....and cob webs. Drain in bathroom clogged, and after he snaked it he did not clean up. No tv in your cabin just at the lodge, good luck. No locks on the doors. Had to lock everything in the car every day. Everything is Ala carte, and they will charge you for everything. Other lodges have tvs in the cabin, have heated pools, have bar/restaurant and people do gather and it was a blast .

A really wonderful lakefront resort, with everything you might want. They have free water sport…read morerentals like stand up paddle boards, kayaks and canoes. They also have free bike rentals, a great sand volleyball court, horseshoes, basketball, tennis and pickle ball. And if the lake is warm enough, there is a waterslide in the lake which looked fun. We were here Memorial Day weekend, and the weather was beautiful our first day, so we took out the paddleboards, and that was fun. The weather got chilly quickly, so I didn't have the opportunity to try the rest of the amenities. The pool is currently closed for construction. (There is a nice pool at the YMCA in Grand Rapids which we used one day for a $10 day pass). We stayed in a two bedroom lakefront cabin which was nice, but fairly rustic, and one of the bedrooms had absolutely no storage, (no closet, shelves or dresser). Next time, I think we would stay in the lodge rooms, which are a bit more upscale, with fireplaces, full kitchens, Jacuzzi tub and nicer furnishings. They have a restaurant/bar on site with a an outdoor patio and nice view of the lake, which is convenient. They also have free coffee and muffins in the morning at the front desk and at Otis's.The staff and management were incredibly helpful, friendly and accommodating. I definitely recommend, and look forward to coming here again, hopefully when the weather is a little warmer!

Absolutely amazing stay here. Our entire family (grandkids included) enjoyed every moment. The…read morestaff, management and owners make you feel like their personal guest. Shout out to Tim, Brady, Alexi, Linda, Rocky and Kraig. In all my travels I've never had a friendlier stay!!

Wonderful couple that are hard working run this place. it's very quiet, laid back, everyones super…read morefriendly. Will be coming again.

This may not be the most upscale resort in the area but it one of the friendliest. Sally and George…read more(owners) are great with kids and love spending time with their visitors. My kids loved going to grab an ice cream cone and say to say "Hi" and chased their dog Lilly all over the place- she is adorable and spends time keeping everyone company. Overall this is a great place to take your kids and spend quality family time together. The fishing is great for both kids and adults and the resort offers a boats/pontoon for rent. Rates are reasonable and accommodations are perfect for a camping trip! (Shopping is the best in Walker, MN- about a half hour drive from the resort. - Cass Lake is sketchy!)

Every year I go up north with a couple of buddies to canoe/kayak the beautiful lakes of Minnesota…read more We have stayed at a good number of resorts. This year, we decided to try Barney's Resort & Lodge. The cabins were extraordinarily nice for the price! They were immaculately clean and looked like they had just been built. The living quarters were spacious and inviting. I enjoy cooking and very few cabins offer the kitchen amenities that the cabins at Barney's offered. The cabin we stayed in featured a gas range, full size refrigerator and almost every cooking utensil you could ask for including a full set of kitchen knives (which were razor sharp) and a crock pot! It is very nice to be able to cook what you want to without fretting that you forgot something important back home. Most "resorts" feature only 1 or 2 canoes that are available on a "first-come, first serve" basis. Not at Barney's! In addition to at least 2 canoes that I saw, there were also half-a-dozen kayaks including a DOUBLE kayak! This was especially convenient as there were 3 of us and 3 people in a canoe doesn't work out too well. This was perfect since it was exactly what we wanted to do all weekend and we never had any trouble getting access to this equipment. Barney's water access takes you to Little Sand Lake and Sand Lake with connections to other lakes in the chain. The area is strikingly beautiful with plenty of places to explore. Also, there were bald eagles everywhere - we actually lost count of how many we saw. We spotted numerous eagle's nests in trees just off-shore and eagles often flew over us as we navigated the waters. The only "negative", if there is such a thing, to Barney's is that the area immediately surrounding the cabins is not very rustic. However, the great value, fantastic accommodations and water access easily make up for this. I would highly recommend Barney's for your next "up north getaway!"