Zippel Bay Resort — Hotel in Baudette

After an exhausting 14 hour journey to our destination, after planning for weeks for this excursion, we arrived at Zippel Bay Resort very enthusiastic. The front desk did not share our enthusiastic and uttered only 'cabin 8', This may have been overly stated, because it was a shed with an air-conditioner hanging out of the side, bunk beds, a musty futon, and a fly infestation that even a horror movie could not fathom. Thinking perhaps a mistake had been made, we returned to the front desk, only to have it explained that it was our mistake, because we asked for a two bed room, and that is what we received. Hmm. Obviously a language barrier must exist between Ohio and Minnesota because we had stated repeatedly that we need a two BEDROOM cabin. Now, we are brothers, and having had bunk beds 45 years ago, we can share a room, so we accepted this error, not feeling that we had any choice in the matter. (note, after 45 years we realized that neither of us could leap into the upper bunk without a ladder or assistant of some kind, therefore one of us were sentenced to the futon, and a night full of sinus problems and walking like Quasimodo the entire next day.) We had been told numerous times by Mrs Owner that we can fish off the dock too and no need to bring any tackle -- THAT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO SELL IT TO YOU AT TRIPLE THE PRICE OF ANY HIGH END SPORTING GOODS STORE! We had the tackle, we had the ability to bring it with us, but we were insured, again by Mrs. Owner, that they have plenty of equipment. When we brought up that fact, we were told by Mr. Owner that 'you can't catch fish off the dock" in a tone of ridiculousness and a blast of burped bourbon. So apparently there was another communication error, After they began to sense the fact that we were not leaving, they motioned to some rods that were probably left by some other poor sole that had tried to vacation here but had abandoned them as he ran away screaming. The line was worth one cast and the lures we were forced to buy we put into the suitcase. We were told we could rent a boat for more fishing, but we had to pay a guide and there is no equipment unless we buy it. So basically we could pay for a boat ride if we were so inclined We were not. The charter did allow us some fishing as the subcontracted service was well equipped, but the fishing itself was lackluster and after having to pay for the Resort to prepare it, and then give away the rest because there was no way to get it home (note, they told us they would package it for shipping, as it turned out this was also a communication error, they put it in a baggy and we could figure the rest out.) There was not a decent meal, and between the misdirecting statements from Mrs. Owner and the bullying obnoxious behavior of Mr. Owner, we told them we were leaving early and we were not paying for services and a room that we were no longer going to use. It was plainly stated that 'we would not get out of the county before the sheriff would have us' This threat was taken seriously, and insured that we will never enter this area again. We lost a great deal of money on the trip and were treated as if we bothering them with any questions. They did service the customer, if the service you want is to have your wallet reamed and you spirit crushed. This was nothing less than horrible and if this represented the state of Minnesota, then run as far as you can! In fact 14 hours from there and fish in Lake Erie, where they want your business! ---...

PROS You can buy licenses at the resort. Dock space comes with the rental. The docks have power at shore (bring extension cords). There are enclosed fish cleaning houses with sinks/water sprayers and surfaces with buckets. They’ll dispose of the fish waste. Minnows are good ones and $6/scoop on site so decent price. There’s a boat launch ramp at the resort, plenty of car and trailer parking.

CONS We made our reservation for 3 nights the night before arriving since we were waiting on the weather, but also only called this place because it was recommended to us - but by someone who stayed in the nice cabins… so that’s on us for not shopping around more. The trailer house was stated as the only available, the tiny cabins at the waterfront were mostly busy but many cabins of all sizes appeared fairly empty which was confusing to us. It was stated at the reservation booking it was a trailer house but I couldn’t find any pics on the website or in reviews so I figured at $150/night it’d be newer/nicer but wow was I very mistaken. It was probably from the 1980s or older, used and abused, the furniture was just as old, box tv with the constant hum (satellite tv), perma-dirty floors - someone else’s hair was all over the bathroom floor and shower, only 2 windows opened in the whole thing, beds are like camp cot thin (1 bunk 1 double) and shelled out, it was extremely musty-moldy and I’ve been respiratory sick this week after (I am sensitive to mold, though). The docks are in rough shape - the garden edging style bumpers are mostly broken along the dock sides (bring your own buoys) with screws sticking out. No cell phone service in the trailer no wifi, really no phone service away from the waterfront area. Normal drip coffee wasn’t included in our nightly fee as I’d have expected at that price, it’s an additional $3/cup, no refills.

OTHER We did not eat here, we went to see other resorts over on the rainy River so I’m not sure how the food is. The channel is protected which is nice but it’s shallow and narrow, about a 15 min putt (for slower more careful boaters) out to the lake. Last weekend in Aug - fishing was fantastic, went to the north side and fished the reefs w/jig and minnow most casts got one, avg size walleyes 14-16” with some jumbo perch occasionally. Biggest walleye was 23” though (lots in the no keep slot size) but we didn’t troll the flats much like the guides seemed...

We do a regular fishing trip with friends for New Years, our trip to Zippel Bay Resort was our 3 annual. We had reservations for a sleeper house at another resort that had to be canceled due to the condition of the ice. Last minute we made reservations at Zippel Bay Resort as we did not want to cancel our trip and the ice was much more stable there. We arrived and the lodge and cabins looked beautiful. Needless to say that was about the only great thing about our stay at this resort. We were given a pass on to the ice and a map to our fish house, being able to drive our own vehicle out to our house as we didn't have to unpack and transfer and we had a little storage that was protected and outside of the fish house. The house was smelly and dirty. There was a pile of what had to be blood from cleaning fish on the floor, there was grime on the counter tops where we needed to prepare food and the outhouse was also smelly and dirty with a very poorly closing door. In previous years we had houses with the attached restroom which was nice to have especially when you're dealing with 40mph winds and sub zero temps. We arrived Thursday afternoon and and began running out of bait on Saturday morning. We called the lodge to see if they could send out some more bait for us when they come check on us as in these sorts of setups they usually check on your a couple times a day. After 2 hours we needed to call back again and were told that bait would be coming. Finally by 4 pm we made a final call to which we were told we had our own vehicle and could come and get our own bait. Talk about poor customer service. We were in that house for nearly two days before anyone came to check on us, when they finally checked to see when we would be checking out we had the opportunity to inform them that the house was very dirty and the service was worse than poor. They offered us a different house and had they checked on us once or twice before but we were planning on leaving the next day and changing houses was not worth the effort and wasn't going to change our feeling about this resort. We will not be returning to Zippel Bay Resort for our annual ice fishing trip again. As for the fishing? They stuck us really deep and we caught mostly small saugars that was...