Cedar Valley Resort — Hotel in Whalan

Went here for a women's retreat and stayed in the Whitetail room. I wanted to love it, really I did! But there were things that we just couldn't overlook. First of all, the couple running the place was extremely nice! BUT, we got there the day after a freezing rain and the walks were so slippery we had to bring in all our luggage by going through the landscaping near the car to the porch railing and hand it over. (I'm newly recovered from foot surgery, still limping, and couldn't risk the fall). We had lots of stuff --all the food and crafts for the weekend. [Suggestion: There could easily be a couple of stairs on that side to facilitate foot traffic to the door.]

Inside there were 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Two bedrooms had twin over full bunk beds along with the Queen bed, so saying this cabin sleeps 14 is misleading. Only kids would be comfortable on those beds. True to the listing, NO TOWELS are provided. That's craziness. They have to wash the sheets (I hope!) why not provide towels?

The main room was large and had a huge table with backless stools on the ends and benches along the sides. Nice table for crafts! Horrible seating. Although I'd say this would all be just fine for a youth group--both the beds and the seating.

The living room had two (uncomfortable) couches and two chairs and we rearranged them to face the TV over the fireplace because why wouldn't they already be like that? The blower on the fireplace was broken and we could have used the heat but it looked pretty anyway! The furnace worked fantastic, btw, our mid January stay was plenty warm.

We enjoyed the bird and squirrel feeder right outside our huge picture window.

Not good for women because not cozy/cushy in general, but I bet guys or a youth group would have thought nothing of anything...

Ampersand Families is a small nonprofit organization based out of Roseville, MN that serves older youth in foster care. Our contract allows us to host 3 retreats for our families every year, and our spring retreat was held at Cedar Valley Resort. The weather was a bit chilly but the youth still had a great time biking on the bike trails, playing lawn games, and using their imaginations on the playground. There was plenty of space for them to run around and play flashlight tag and ghost in the graveyard too. All of our meals were hosted in the Retreat Center. We got catering and deli food delivered from the local restaurants/grocery stores, and we served it out of the kitchen. The kitchen was gorgeous and had everything we needed (and more!). It was a beautiful space to eat, socialize, and set up crafts.

There was a fireplace in every building, including the Retreat Center, and a firepit and grill outside each as well. We had a campfire one evening to roast our own hot dogs and smores, and we also fired up a grill to cook the hamburgers we brought.

Everyone reported having a great time, and it was a pleasure to stay there. The owners are all super accommodating and kind. We would love to come back in the future. As long as an organization has the staff and materials to do their own programming and meals, this is a great place to host retreats...

My son and I went down to Cedar Valley March 17 to March 20 for some catch and release trout fishing. This was a last minute decision as our Lake of the Woods trip was canceled due to ice conditions. The fishing was tough this week, but we did end up catching and releasing 4 trout (1 rainbow, 1 brown and 2 brook). We saw, just couldn't get them to bite, well over 200 trout. So much fun. There are tons of creeks in the area. The owner of Root River Rod Co., shared a ton of Intel with me and set us up with local, handmade flies.

What an amazing place Cedar Valley is. The grounds are perfectly manicured. The views are stunning settled into bluff country. The river is a quick walk from every cabin and you can hear it which brings a level of calm and tranquility.

We stayed in Bear, and the place was massive and had everything we needed. The beds were comfortable, the fireplace was used daily, and the porch was perfect. The kitchen has all you need. And, everything was ultra clean. No deferred maintenance anywhere on the grounds.

If you enjoy wildlife, it abounds. We saw deer everyday. Bird feeders are always full and active sunrise to sunset.

The owner, John, was a top notch host and super helpful, as the the rest of the staff. We absolutely loved Cedar Valley and it will now become an...