Pure Northern Michigan Relaxation Awaits Your Arrival! Resting on over 350 acres of Northern Michigan's stunning landscape, Thunder Bay Resort is the perfect retreat for your Weekend Escape! Complete with a state-of-the-art Full-Service RV park, Deluxe Lodging poised on our pristine 18-hole Golf Course and a 160 acre Elk Preserve, Thunder Bay Resort is truly a destination for all seasons. Charming Chalets, Spacious Villas and Deluxe Fairway Suites are the perfect place for your next Getaway. Our premier RV park has full amenities, including patio furniture, wi-fi and pull through parking. A short walk to The Grill will reward you with breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or drinks. Enjoy the outdoors? At Thunder Bay Resort, we look forward to satisfying your appetite for recreation! Playing Thunder Bay Resort's championship 18 hole Golf Course is a great way to spend the day. Seasonal Amenities also include Snowshoeing, Cross-Country Skiing, Biking, Hiking,and Horseshoes. Nestled within the beautiful backdrop of woods and river is Thunder Bay Resort’s Elk Antler Cabin, where you will enjoy our Elk Viewing Dinner Ride & Wine Tasting Event as the fairy tale ending to a perfect day!
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Hidden gem in a remote Northeastern Michigan location. Sit back and relax on a horse drawn sleigh ride through the woods with a hot drink you can purchase prior to the start of the ride. As you travel through the woods, a knowledgeable staff member (we were lucky to have Jack) will talk about the Elk, other types of animals in the area and the history of the resort. Once you arrive to the cabin, you are wined and dined, the Chef (Spencer) and the staff will make you feel at home and ensure you have a excellent experience. The staff are professional, knowledgeable and extremely helpful. If you have a distance to travel, you can stay the night in a clean room with many amenities including cross-country skiing. This a event everyone needs to experience.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What an amazing evening. Absolutely recommend to anyone looking for an informative and fun adventure. Was given as a gift to me and my husband and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Food was scrumptious and wine tasting was very good. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Staff is AWESOME!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from tbrelkview, Digital Specialist at Thunder Bay Resort
Responded 4 Mar 2020
Thanks for the excellent review! We also offer Murder Mystery Weekends throughout the year which are great for couples or groups of friends, we hope to see you again!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stayed at Thunder Bay Resort years ago for golf trips and always wanted to return for the elk viewing. So, this year my wife and I booked the "Elk Viewing Carriage Ride and Gourmet Dinner" event for our anniversary. Another couple, good friends, joined us. They came from down-state and stayed overnight at the resort.
Prior to the tour, we had drinks prepared to take with us from the little bar behind the check-in office. Adult versions of hot chocolate. There were plenty of wool blankets available to take along, as well. It was cold out with a light rain so we each took two blankets which did a good job of keeping us warm on the covered wagons (like the ones on Mackinaw Island). Zuesha, our hostess/tour guide, and Al our driver/tour guide were great!
We received a wealth of information about the elk in Michigan and the herd at Thunder Bay. The information was interesting and it was accompanied by numerous anecdotes and humorous stories, told in the style of true Northern Michiganders. We saw many elk wandering in the preserve and got to meet Thunder Jack, the huge bull that rules over the harem. He is impressive and, we were within a just few feet of him!
The gourmet 5-course dinner was served in a beautiful and charming log cabin in the woods. Each course was prepared at the cabin and each course was delicious. We were served tastings of several wines as well as three different dinner wines. All the wines were local Michigan wines and each one was unique. We were also served Michigan Cherry coffee which was very good. We were able to buy some to take home with us. The wines were also available for sale back at the office.
There was absolutely no "sales pitch" like former reviewers complained about. We were briefly informed about products that were available for sale after dinner and that was it. We had a leisurely dinner and got to enjoy our friends, and talk with the other guests. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience. My only regret is that I waited so long to do it. We all had a wonderful time, and we would love to return again and introduce more friends and family to this wonderful Michigan experience.
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is not a “you get what you pay for” but simply a natural consequence of supply and demand. Where else can you be pulled through the snowy woods in a wagon by big, beautiful horses, with a delicious hot drink in your hand and warm wool blankets on your lap, passing so close to majestic elk that you can almost touch them, to a cabin for a wine tasting and a four course dinner? It’s a lovely picture and a genius idea to lure tourists to northern Michigan in the winter. BUT, you need to know it’s quite expensive, the same menu is served every day, every year and the food is average, at best and the wine is horrible. In addition, the accommodations are a step up from camping, very old, outdated rooms, kind of clean, with tolerable mattresses. The best thing about the rooms are the toiletries from Beekman 1802. And, you need to know the elk are owned by the resort owner and you will see them behind fences. Lastly, during dinner the owner tries to sell you some elk antler potion to cure any malady you may suffer from. I’ve been there, did it. Paid way more than it was worth. Won’t need to do it again.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was just so strange. The owner is so so nice, but it’s just all very old, dated, and tired. The elk we saw were behind a fence. They were interesting to see.
I refused to use the shower it had so much mold around it. The beds were uncomfortable and there were terrible lines across the tiny tv screen. The coffee pot was dirty and gross.
The food was really not good, there’s no place else around to get anything, and the wine that was served with dinner was so awful I almost spit it out. There was BudLite or Labatts for beer. There was a full bar but only the bottoms of two liters of pop to mix with.
And then the sales pitch about the antler velvet supplement. Nutritional supplement sales right there during dinner. That was just kind of odd.
It was fine if you are just really DYING to see an elk and you do t care about anything else. So sorry to be so unkind!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wow. This guy gives you a mosquito infested tour of sad looking animals trapped inside pens, then tells you how great he treats them, then feeds you "ok" food. But the worst part is a mandatory high pressure sales pitch where you and your entire table is expected to buy his elk antler velvet "snake oil" that he says cures everything including cancer. You can't get away, you have no transportation to leave, you can't make his stop talking... Everyone is looking at each other like, "why is he still talking?" He makes is sound like his farm is on the edge of survival, and if you buy the "snake oil" they can eat one more meal and not die.... He buys the stuff from China!!! Sad. At least when people wanted you to buy time share condos for a "scam" you got free food and stuff for listening to their sales pitch. Don't waste your money, not worth the price of admission.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Unless you want to a high pressure sales pitch to buy elk antler "snake oil" stay away.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a golf resort that knows in advance occupancy and still doesn’t plan accordingly to staff their dinning room properly. We are a group of 12 and they couldn’t handle but one group of 14 for dinner. We had to leave the premises for an offsite restaurant to have dinner for our group of 12. I will never recommend this resort again for anyone with their lack of customer focus and commitment to their guests. I don’t blame the staff, I blame management for not caring and delivering value to its customers. Just plain sorry
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So disappointed to see that these villas (that's villas, plural, not villa's, as they are incorrectly spelled on their website, but I digress...)
These haven't been updated since they were built in the 1990s. Same furniture, fixtures, lighting, etc.,and everything felt and looked dirty.
The restaurant had decent food, but they haven't updated anything in the restaurant in the past 30 years! So sad to see that the restaurant and lodging has suffered terribly over time.
The kicker? As we got ready to settle in for the night, we spotted not one, but two bed bugs.
We demanded a refund and headed to the Holiday Inn Express. Fortunately, the staff gave us a complete refund.
Takeaway: Don't waste your time or money.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed one night in a room that was clean and typical for a hotel. The bed was a little hard but all else was great. Began our evening with a carriage ride through the elk sanctuary. Saw several elk. Dinner was served in a cabin in the back using several courses. Cooked in a wood stove. Food was good and came with wine samples of various types. I preferred the ice wine that was served with the dessert. Great service. Very kind. Golf course surrounded the rooms area. Quiet. We had a nice buffet breakfast in the morning. Saying it was a business trip as I was on a bus with about 50 people.
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Date of stay: July 2022
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Elk viewing from a horse drawn wagon
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Zuesha Lunsford, Marketing at Thunder Bay Resort
Responded 20 Mar 2023
Thank you for taking time to write your positive review of Thunder Bay Resort!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I have been staying at Thunder Bay Resort off and on over the years. First I came here with my young family but when my wife decided she didn't enjoy marital relations I began bringing my weekend girlfriends. Initially it turned out to be a great place for a quick tryst or a steamy rendezvous in the freezing cold winter. However it seems that the cheapest holiday inn Express is a better place to stay. The mold in the bathrooms is awful, the drains are clogged worse that an old fat guys arteries and dont get me started on what appears to be on the bedding. The guests who stayed in the room prior to my last visit must have been "alternative" as there was some sort of clear lubricant or jelly on the floor and bedding.
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are currently on winter hours for the Clubhouse Grill which are Friday 4-9pm Saturday 8am-9pm and Sunday 8am-1pm (breakfast only). We are currently closed during the week. During the spring, summer and fall we are open during the week.
Our event starting times vary based on what time of the year it is. Currently we are starting at 5:30pm, 6:00pm or 6:30pm depending on the day that is chosen. Majority for June 2019 are 6:00pm. If you call our reservations desk they will be able to provide times for specific days. They can be reached at 800-729-9375.
I believe there is some cover on the carriers but i don;\'t know if they can be completely enclosed.
I believe you need to call the resort to make certain.
There are more places to choose from in the Hillman area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
thunder bay hotel hillman
LOCATION
United StatesMichiganHillman
NUMBER OF ROOMS
34
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