Winter Test: Initial results are positive, Next Stage: Opening up to more guests

written by John Mueller | January 18, 2020

This winter the resort has not been open to the general public. However, we have had staff working at the Lodge most every day, and have been keeping areas of the resort warm.  This includes having heat on and water running, electricity turned on, and snow being removed for a select number of cabins, the hotel, and the Lodge building.  In addition, we have had a select number of guests stay in the cabins.

This is part of the plan for testing see how the resort infrastructure, the equipment, and the staff hold up to the cold weather and the snow.  Since November, we have gone through several cold spells where the temperatures have been in the single digits, and several snow storms (today is an excellent example, as we have had close to 12 inches of snow — see pictures below).

That said, we are now into our 3rd month of this test. The maintenance crew has done a wonderful job keeping the snow removed around the Lodge and the cabins (you can follow along via the webcams). The six cabins and the six hotel rooms have done well.  We have been able to keep them warm with a combination of forced-air and baseboard heating, along with fire in the fireplaces, albeit we continue to work on improving the heating efficiency of the historical structures. Storm window on the cabins help with insulating the cabins.

The water has continued to run, and we did not experience any broken pipes during these months due to freezing — this is even when we had temperatures in the single digits.  This was one of our main concerns as the water system had not been tested in the winter for 10 years; and when it was tested, it had only been run for two winters (2009 and 2010).

We have been on top of the snow removal with our equipment. We added a new tractor to the mix that has a snow blower — giving us two snow blower attachments that we can use to keep the snow at bay (one on the new tractor, and one on the older skidster). Along with the county plowing Golf Course Road, this gives us the ability to ensure people can access to and around the resort property.

Several guests rented cabins in December and in early January. They enjoyed their stay, and appreciated the serene atmosphere the Lodge provides people that appreciate the wilderness and the snow in the Keweenaw.  

Here are several quotes from the guests that stayed in December and January:

  • “Enjoying Copper Harbor. We dropped our things at the cabin [ before heading out]. Love it. We will be back and forth [ between the Lodge and Copper Harbor ]. Thanks for the opportunity to stay [ at the Lodge during the winter ].”

  • “So cozy! We had an amazing stay, the fireplace was awesome, we were so snug and the views of the mountain from the golf course were stunning! Hope to be able to stay again for longer this winter.”

  • “We can’t thank you enough for letting us stay in your cabin this week. We had a wonderful time! Everything was perfect and your property is beautiful! My husband was thrilled with the firewood and had a fire going every night….The cabin was cozy and comfortable; we couldn’t have been happier.”

Along with the tests we did last winter (Nov 2018 – March 2019), the past 3 months have given us more answers to our initial questions about winter operations. The results have been positive so far in this journey — step-by-step we are determining what will work in the winter time at the Lodge.  

The next step with the winter test is to increase the load on the infrastructure. As such, we are opening up the cabins to more guests to stay this winter. This increase in usage of the cabins during the winter time will provide us more data on how well the resort can hold up during the snowy season.

If you would like to stay in a cabin this winter, call us at 906-289-4403, extension 1. Or email us at reservations@keweenawresort.com and provide your phone number so we can call you back.

Realize that we do not have the Lodge, guest services, and food and beverage operations open to the general public at this time.  The Lodge building is not open, but is heated to keep water running through the building. Thus, the dining services are not in operations, and the Lodge Life Shop is not accessible to the general public. As well, the front desk is closed — guests do not check in at the Lodge, as they go straight to their cabins when they arrived to the property (check-in is arranged on the phone or online).

Note: If you are wanting to rent cabins in the summer / fall, those reservations can be made online via our online reservation system. 

[ Photos of cabins 3, 4, and 11 were taken by Chris Guibert. ]