Grand View Lodge Holiday

After several years of flying out of the state over the Christmas holiday, we decided to stay local and drive two hours north to Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minnesota! Grand View has been on my list for several years and I was excited to finally visit this legendary lodge I’ve admired so many photos of!

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Given that we travel and are away on Christmas, it is important to find ‘touristy’ places that are open. We had good luck in Winter Park, CO and Las Vegas which caters to visitors yet didn’t have as much luck in Tuscan, Arizona which isn’t a destination hot spot. Therefore, it was important to find a resort that would be open during the Christmas holiday. We were still somewhat limited yet made the most of what was open and offered!

As with every trip we take, it is an active one! Therefore, my highlights will cover several  activities you can do around the resort! Here we go with suggestions for a great trip!

• Spend time walking around the resort and getting familiar with what is available. We walked down to the lake and walked on {frozen} water, peaked into the Waterfront Indoor Pool, chatted with a couple in the Igloo, and made our way to the new NorthPark Rec Center before returning to our hotel room to get ready for the big game that evening! We lucked out with great winter weather; there was plenty of snow and mild conditions. The only thing missing was the sun!
• Get your sweat on early in the day at the NorthPark Rec Center. We brought our cycling shoes and enjoyed using the new bikes every morning. If cycling isn’t your thing, they have several other machines available. 
• Snowshoe, cross-country ski, or winter hike through the 8km of groomed trails located within The Pines Golf Course. 
• Relax in the thirty-person outdoor hot tub! I swam a few laps in the pool as well and took a few trips down the waterslide! So fun!
• Chill out and enjoy a late afternoon nap or quiet time. After a busy morning through mid afternoon, there is nothing I enjoy better than a nap to recharge for the evening. 
• Everyday needs a happy hour…on vacation! I’m not a big drinker yet did enjoy happy hour while playing Pandemic before dinner. Pandemic is a great board game for two-four people because instead of playing against each other, you need to collaborate with each other!
• Take an evening stroll on your final night. The resort walkway is lit up making for a romantic walk around the resort…soak it in!
• If available, take advantage of the horse-drawn sleigh ride. Remember to bundle up and have your phone on a selfie stick ready to take photos of the horses and scenery!

Let’s talk lodging. We stayed in the historic main lodge. There are twelve rooms situated above the main registration, dining and gathering areas. On the positive side, we were close to everything and didn’t use our vehicle once. On the negative side, we heard when breakfast started everyday and when the last person left the pub. If we did it again, we’d stay in the new North Hotel or in a cabin studio as we realized everything is close to each other!

Let’s talk food. We did the Grand Holidays package that included the breakfast buffet every morning. The buffet was lovely yet too much food. If we did it again, we’d splurge for the buffet on a single morning and bring our own breakfast or purchase smaller items in the coffee bar. One of the main negatives to staying over Christmas was that all of the resort restaurants were closed and the only dining options were the pub and buffet. We did the pub on the first night to watch the Vikings game and did the buffet on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Again, good food choices yet too much food.  

To wrap up, I’d highly recommend a holiday {or anytime} getaway to Grand View Lodge!

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