Vacation in Brainard, MN? Experts please!

[KLAIT]

This year, we were thinking about taking a different kind of vacation. A relaxing one! Since DS loves to fish, as well as grandma, we were thinking about finding a place to rent for a week or so near Brainard.

Any recommendations on which area and a place to stay that will not break the bank? Would prefer to not stay in a hotel..

Thanks for reading!

 

[zulaya]

Do a little digging on the internet and look to some of the smaller towns just outside of Brainerd. LIke Nisswa or Pequot Lakes, possibly even Baxter. My inlaws have a cabin in Nisswa so I know the area and it sounds like you would enjoy it, but I'd don't know enough about lodging to offer any concrete ideas.

Good luck

 

[golfgal]

There are about 150 different places to stay in and near Brainerd. Does anyone like to golf? That is one of the premier golfing hotspots in the upper midwest. There are some cute towns to do some shopping in and around. Many of the resorts in the area have cabins, hotel type rooms and larger homes to accommodate a lot of people.

Here is a listing of many of the resorts. Some of them are small, mom and pop type places.

http://www.brainerd.com/lodging/resorts/index.html

This is a great family reunion type place. This is a GREAT place to stay if you want a real homey, family atmosphere. They have a lot of stuff for the kids to do, including a kids golf course, child care, great beach, etc. It is all cabins, a few inn rooms and a lot of houses.
http://www.birchbaygolfresort.com/

Don't stay here
http://www.breezypointresort.com/

This is the premier resort in the area
http://www.grandviewlodge.com/

This one always has pretty good deal-we have been here
http://www.craguns.com/

Some friends stay here often and like it
http://www.ruttgers.com/

A couple other good choices
http://www.izatys.com/
http://www.maddens.com/page/174-5186.htm


One thing to know is that rates are less expensive if you stay before mid-June and after mid-August. Most of the family reunion size houses book a year or more in advance so check now for next summer or you won't get anything. Most of these have cabins that you could get next to each other, which is the way we go. I don't want to be on top of everyone all the time.

We have vacationed in Brainerd several times and it is a great family place to go!

 

[corie161]

Don't stay here
http://www.breezypointresort.com/

Can I ask why? I've never stayed here, but have entertained the idea.

To the OP. If you go to exploreminnesota.com you can do a resort search and find all that are available. The only ones I have been to are smaller resorts. One of them is Sullivan's which is on a really shallow lake so if you plan on shore fishing it doesn't work so well. It has cabins and a campground and an indoor pool, but it doesn't have much for scheduled activities for the kids.

 

[golfgal]

Can I ask why? I've never stayed here, but have entertained the idea.

To the OP. If you go to exploreminnesota.com you can do a resort search and find all that are available. The only ones I have been to are smaller resorts. One of them is Sullivan's which is on a really shallow lake so if you plan on shore fishing it doesn't work so well. It has cabins and a campground and an indoor pool, but it doesn't have much for scheduled activities for the kids.

We stayed there and had a horrible experience. First they tried to put us in the wrong rooms. We signed up for one type and the put us in a lower grade room. We went to the "assigned" rooms and someone was already staying in the room, their stuff was all over plus they were the wrong room (we were suppose to have a lake-view something or other and these were not lake view and really grubby rooms), We went back to the front desk and they were mad at US about someone else being in the rooms-even though they were NOT what we paid for. They finally got us into the right rooms. Then we were suppose to have an all-inclusive package, 3 meals/day and all the golf we could golf. Well then they tried to tell us that we only got breakfast and dinner, no lunch, even though it CLEARLY said on our reservation form that we got breakfast, lunch and dinner. It just kept going on from there. I would NEVER stay there again.

 

[Deb & Bill]

This really takes me back. We stayed in Nisswa way back when I finished 5th grade. Our family and my aunt and uncle's family all drove up to Nisswa from South of Chicago and stayed at Gull Lake (I think it was Gull Lake) for a week. On the first day, I was outside by the boat dock with my shoes off and got a terrible case of sunburn on the tops of my feet. I spent the next three days inside the cabin and couldn't go out.

I think this was about the first and only vacation my family ever took. I met a friend named Cookie Daigle up there (I think her parents owned the cabins) and we sure had fun as soon as my feet healed.