Grand View opens boutique hotel, part of major expansion

NISSWA -- A Rochester mother was recently watching her children swim in the new indoor pool at the Grand View Lodge.

“This place has changed a lot since the last time I was here 17 years ago when I was a nanny for a family from Edina,” she said while looking around the new NorthPark facility.

Grand View has actually changed a great deal in the past year since a series of projects have been completed that are part of a $55 million expansion for the lodge located on the north shore of Gull Lake.

“We now have a capacity of hosting 1,600 guests at one time,” said Frank Soukup, Grand View’s director of marketing. “I believe that makes us the largest traditional resort in Minnesota.”

Grand View Lodge, which is one of the oldest resorts in the state, features many modern amenities with the addition of the two-story North hotel, the NorthPark recreation center, the Fairway Pines and Garden Cottages, the wedding chapel and additional outdoor recreational opportunities for guests.

The recently completed North hotel features 60 guest rooms with sliding glass doors that allow ambient light and fresh air to fill the rooms, along with in-room amenities, including a king-sized bed or two queen beds, sitting area with workspace, master bathrooms and an open closet concept.

The hotel’s avant-garde design offers millennial families an aesthetically pleasing place to rest their heads after a busy day. The décor takes its cues from natural elements nearby, incorporating a dark, red oak shelving unit with a granite overlaid check-in desk, large stone fireplace and wood furnishings encouraging a style throughout the property that reflects back to the authentic roots of the original 1916 lodge and its rich history.

The hotel lobby features a social lobby lounge with Brew (coffee bar by morning and bar by night) featuring coffee, craft brews, signature craft cocktails and fine wines.

The North hotel’s Reflection Room offers the perfect spot to lounge, host a breakout, or entertain with a private chef dinner, wine or beer tasting while on the other side of the hall lies a more intimate “library” with fireplace and bookshelves. The facility also has four high-tech meeting spaces, including a 1,936-square-foot conference room.

The NorthPark recreation center, located just east of the hotel, features indoor and outdoor lap pools, an outdoor Jacuzzi, fitness studio, gym and kids club. Another expansion project planned for the near future is the Glacial Waters Spa facility adding eight new treatment rooms, an expanded women’s locker room and new relaxation area.

An additional lodging project is the construction of Craftsman-style cottages overlooking The Pines Golf Course in the Fairway Pines community and additional cottages built in the former Garden Golf Course area.

All of the expansion projects fit well with the other features that have made Grand View Lodge popular, like the eight distinct culinary concepts, the 2,500 feet of sandy beaches, several tennis courts and 54 holes of championship golf.

The expansion project is also expected to generate 60 to 100 more year-round and seasonal jobs at the resort.

Owned by Cote Family Destinations, Grand View Lodge is part of the same portfolio that operates two of the county's top summer camps, Camp Lincoln for boys and Camp Lake Hubert for girls, also in Nisswa. The resort reports both camps will see improvements as part of this expansion project.

Camp Lincoln is getting a new indoor recreation center, which will house a 1,000-square-foot fitness room, 600-square-foot cardio room and an indoor basketball court. Camp Lake Hubert will see enhancements to its kitchen and dining facilities.