We stayed at this hotel for the weekend to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. We never stayed at this hotel before because it is so far away from everything. But we decided to give it a try. We waited on line to check in for a long time. The people behind the front desk seemed bored and did not greed us at all. I thought this was not a good sign. We settled in our room. The room was ok, the view was not what we had asked for, so we asked to switch. Since they were busy they said they would get back to us. While we were waiting to change rooms, I have a small baby and she is starting to walk, so I sat on the floor with her so I could hold her while she was moving around. I looked under the bed and found somekind of gift wrap with a hair stuck on it. Disgusting! At that point, I got up and decided that maybe it was not a good idea to sit on the floor. I picked up my baby and called the front desk again to see if they had found another room for us and I told them the floors were dirty that we need to move. After waiting for over an hour, we finally moved. I did not even get a chance to check the room or shower because we were runing late and my parents were on their way. We decided to go out for dinner at their restaurant. We went the frontier restaurant. We were well received by the hostess. We sat down to eat and the waitress was very nice. I asked for her recommendation and ordered the lobster spaghetti. She said the food was delicious. When the food came I noticed that the spagethi looked like some kind of thick chinese noodles and nothing italian as we were expecting. The sauce was really thick and fishy and pretty much lacked any taste what so ever, with the exception of the fishy taste. I thought their menu said they use fresh herbs. Well so maybe they forgot the herbs, well I am pretty sure they forgot the herbs because the salad was pretty blend too. Three bits into the food and started not to feel so good. The lobster was quite under cooked and it started to leave an after taste in my mouth. I did not even finish my meal. The waitress asked if everything was ok and I couldnt even talk. when we got back to our room, I was not feeling that good and decided to take a shower. When I opened the curtains I noticed there was some dark hair in the shower. We are all pretty blonde so it could have not been us. At that point as I was already feeling noxious from the dinner I had, and I ended up getting sick. My husband went to the store to get me some medicine. I finally fell asleep. The next day we packed the little we unpacked from our bags and left. I don't think we are coming back again.

My husband and I went for an anniversary/birthday getaway. I made the reservation 2 months in advance. First lesson - don't assume early booking means a great room. We were told upon check in that our room faced the parking lot. I asked to be switched to a different room and was told they were full and couldn't do it. We were checking in early. I told the woman that I didn't care if we couldn't get room access immediately, but I wanted a better room. (My thought was that if a large number of people hadn't checked in yet, then a room could be switched unless they had a special request). Well there was one room with a golf course view. As long as you didn't turn your head to the left, you wouldn't see the parking lot. I took this. Next time, I need to remember to be specific. Before I get to lesson 2, I have to say if you're here, try Beil's Bakery in town. It was great and if you're looking to save money on breakfast for a large family, it's even better. We were told about it on the way up, I guess it used to be on the north side of Chicago (being from the south side, I hadn't heard of it). Back to lesson 2. Check the whirlpool tub to make sure the jets are working. Mine wasn't and that's a big part of choosing this resort. (yes, I did bring my own can of Lysol to clean it ahead of time just to be sure it was germ free). So what did I like about Lake Lawn? The rustic look of the rooms, the porch with rocking chairs (although I will book earlier in the fall season. It was too cold to use these). The bed was very comfortable and staff was nice. I liked the bar on site. We had a good time in there and had a burger and the fried shrimp. I'd order the burger again. I'd have to say the best meal of the weekend was Dog N Suds on the way there and the way back. (just threw that in for fun). So we had a good weekend, but I'll try to remember my lessons to make it better the next time.

For a second year my spouse and I have sneaked away for a few days in mid October to the Lake Lawn Resort, near Lake Geneva at Delavan, WI. We've enjoyed the rooms we've had in this just-renovated in 2011 resort dating back to the 19th c. --this structure complex to the 1960s or 1970s. It's quiet on a Sunday and Monday evening: just what we wanted. The food is good and the service very good. The value, too, is excellent plus. This is a great location for taking in the nearby towns and their stores: the J. Roberts men's store in Elkhart, Bibliomaniacs used book store in Delavan, and the Chocolate Impressions (?) specialty chocolate shop with new hings to test and report back on. We were able to be served at the Hapfs orchard southeast of Lake Geneva, too, though apples are scarce this year, and we were delighted with our finds and also a few pumpkins. The Lake Lawn, renovated only a year ago, is a wonderful, hidden treasure an hour and a half from Chicago and less from Milwaukee. Quiet in October after Friday and Saturday and its staff wonderfully glad to see us in the restaurants. With all the places to visit nearby this is a great get-away with a super base of operations at Lake Lawn! The prices were incredibly reasonable by Chicago standards.

What a fabulous surprise! A friend invited me to this women's retreat in Wisconsin. I didn't really know what to expect. I couldn't have been more pleased. The grounds are large. The buildings ramble in front of the lake with views from almost everywhere. We could easily get from our room to the meeting rooms and restaurants without ever going outside. Yet, the long corridors connecting the buildings are all glass, with views! Our room was very comfortable. We had 4 women in a loft style room. The room had two floors with 4 beds (2 queen and 2 twin) plus 1.5 baths. The downstairs bath had a rainhead shower with very soft water. The tub had jets (I wish I had used it). It was a very, very spacious bath. Our balcony had rocking chairs facing the lake, where I could see the gorgeous sun rises.

As a photographer, I enjoyed taking photos of the sunrises and sunsets, not to mention the ducks, birds and areas of the grounds. They had it nicely decorated for autumn.

Everyone was nice that worked there. Workers I passed in the hallways always said "hello".

I would return!