Suggestions Wanted for a Nice Resort Near Brainerd for a Family Vacation

I’m thinking about trying to book a 5-7 night stay for the family probably in mid July at a nice resort in the Brainerd area. Top considerations would be:
1.) Nice accommodations. My wife would like a decent exercise room for her daily workout. Not sure if we’d like a cabin-like place or simply a hotel room type of place.
2.) Things to do for the 13 and 16 year old kids like a pool, other activities.
3.) Decent places to eat.
4.) Nice beach.
5.) I’d like to take my boat (17 ft. Lund Explorer) up so we can do some boating and maybe a little fishing. Good fishing is not a major concern.

Basically just hang out, relax, and have some fun activities to keep us fairly busy. We don’t golf but would consider renting bikes if there’s some decent trials near by.

I’ve heard of resorts such as Ruttgers, Craguns, Maddens, Grandview, and Breezy Point but don’t know anything about them.

Thanks for the advice.

Boone

Grand Vu is beautiful! Little speedy but crosses everything off your list. Restaurants right at the resort too. Plus a golf course if ur into that

Those are all very nice resorts, but also pretty busy and quite golf centric.

I’d recommend Boyd Lodge up by Crosslake, located on both Rush and Lower Whitefish. I’m not sure if they have a fitness center (who works out while on vacation?) but they do have an outdoor pool and is very family oriented, with very nice accommodations.

We did Breezy Point last year and booked again for this year. The lake is beautiful and not crazy like Gull. Plenty to do at the resort and lots of food options nearby.

I like Grandview and Maddens but after staying at Breezy it was a bit more quiet and the lake is better than gull.

I think you can find everything you are looking for in Crosslake, MN.

You may even want to look for cabin rentals.

Kathy’s Salon rents bike.
The Crosslake Community Center has a top notch fitness center (day pass $5), pickle ball and tennis courts.

My count may be off but, I believe there are 23 restaurants and at least 3 that can be reached by boat.

There are 5 close golf courses.

A fun mini-golf course and shopping.

The town of Crosslake sits on the south end of the Whitefish Chain which is over 14,000 acres of water.

You can try your hand at Lake Trout, Whitefish, Walleye, Northern, Large and Smallmouth Bass, Crappie, Sunny, and more fishing.

Give it a serious look.

we were at kavanaughs on sylvan lake a couple years ago, fantastic. Great lake for boating, not real busy, clean resort

We also did Kavanaughs in 2017. Did a condo and it was nice. I didn’t think much of the boat launch but it worked.

Thanks for all the information. I’ll look into all the resorts that were suggested to find the one that I think would be the best fit for us.

Thanks Again,

Boone

I’ve stayed at Grandview and Madden’s. I won a trip from KFAN for a cabin and golf at Grandview and it was an awesome place. My Company books Madden’s every few years for a get together and that place is pretty ridiculous. I can pretty much tell you that both places are way out of my comfort zone money wise. Madden’s reminds me of the DIRTY DANCING movie with a bunch of snobby rich people. Maybe you’re into that? Grandview is a little more scaled back. Both offer tons of things to keep everyone busy. I would imagine a weekend stay at either is going to run you around a grand when all is said and done. I told a buddy that both those places are too nice for my family but I never had to pay.

check out trappers landing on leech! real laid back and lots to do