Shady Rest Resort and Campground — Hotel in Alexandria

I am returning next summer for a week in July. My parents have been coming and staying at Shady Rest for 14 years. When we first started coming we only needed 1 cabin but now we are up to 3. The resort is a family owned resort and they have always been wonderful to us. As a child, I spent most of the day at the beach or in the boat fishing with my dad and brother. This year I'm bringing my boy friend and his son to the resort. They've never been fishing or to a resort before so they can hardly wait. ||The cabins have always been clean, well kept up, wonderfully positioned overlooking the lake. The campfire by the cabin was always a favorite. My brother plays the guitar which made the whole experience perfect. The lake is very clean and clear. The beach has lots of sand however there are smaller rocks further out. It doesn't get too deep by the swim raft so there was no diving off of it. I learned to ski on the lake and look forward to it this next summer.||There is also a nice game room for the kids which may be a bit older but the kids love it. They don't really have many organized activities except a hay ride once or twice a week so we do keep ourselves busy by planning things to do, ||The one thing that stands out is how friendly everyone is, and not just the people working there. The owners always stop and visit, and even the campers who are there for the whole summer are great to be around. Many of those campers remember us over the years and have become friends. ||Overall I would highly...

My family has been coming to this resort for years (cabin, tenting, and a long time ago a seasonal rental mobile home). The resort offers plenty of things to do - playground, shuffleboard, basketball, tennis, horseshoes, volleyball (all equipment available free of charge) - along with lake activities such as swimming (beach with sun deck) and fishing (boat rentals - both pontoon and aluminum 14' fishing). The lake is sand bottom, clear, and has many different fish (perch, walleye, northern, sunny, bass). The resort also has a small store and game room with billards table, video games.||||Regarding the camping, the site we had was spacious with a fire pit and picnic table. The table's support frame was a bit bent, so the table rocked back and forth. However, it was sturdy enough to sit and eat. The bonfire was great (wood available to purchase)... and who doesn't love a roasted marshmallow or smore? It was quiet at night (quiet hours 10 pm to 8 am).||||As for the bathhouse, it left much to be desired. It was likely built in the late 1970s/early 1980s and hasn't been updated. There were spider webs in the corners, and be sure to bring shower shoes. While the decor is dated, all of the fixtures worked (two flush toilets, two bathroom sinks, two showers). Compared to the pit toilets in some state campgrounds, I prefer coming here.||||Overall, it was a fun weekend, and our sons have asked...

Once again we choose Shady Rest. This time we came up on Labor Day Weekend to get in a quick break with the kids before school starts. Very nice cabins, very clean, the kitchens had most of what we needed to prepare meals for our stay. Not a lot of counter space but good storage. The pots and pans were in good shape. The beds were comfortable and clean. The cabin overlooked the lake and we enjoyed a great sunset each night. We also had our own fire pit which was nice. The staff was very friendly and we heard plenty of fish stories. We didn't fish but we saw some pretty nice catches come in. The beach was sandy and the lake very clean. The swim raft was the favorite hang out. My wife and I love tennis and it was nice to have that available. The game room was nice but a bit old. It had a pool table, pac man, some other video games and an air hockey table that got plenty of use. It was a holiday weekend so I expected a lot of people and there were but it never got crazy noisy like some other places. Most people were pretty quiet by the time we were ready for bed. I highly recommend Shady Rest and...