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Voyagaire Houseboats & Lodge

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7576 Gold Coast Road, Crane Lake, MN

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1 Room / 2 Adults

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This houseboat rental company is based at Voyagaire Lodge, which is literally one of those end-of-the-road places that is also a restaurant and rents lake homes. It’s among several houseboat outfitters within the national park that let families take lodging on the go.

Houseboats have to be docked in designated campsites within the park and can be tricky to navigate. Think of trying to steer the car carts versus normal ones in the grocery store. That said, they’re also an once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience and a good option for anyone who doesn’t want to rough it but craves backcountry beauty.

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by bikermoose

We rented a houseboat from Voyagaire Houseboats. Boy what a wonderful time from start to finish. Upon arrival we were greeted with smiles and kindness. They help load the houseboat and went over every aspect of running the boat and what to do if we needed assistance. Starting at Crane lake and ending at Kettle Falls, what a beautiful journey. Fishing was fantastic, a limit of walleyes every day, made for some fantastic eating! The houseboats handled great and the tow behind boat worked as expected. The bed was as good as any camper, better than a tent, nothing I didn’t expect. The houseboat was furnished with all the essentials you need for your trip. The houseboat campsites on Namakan were great with sand beaches and fire rings. Also did a rocky campsite which was probably a more northern woods view. When we returned the guys emptied our boat and had everything ready for packing up in less than 10 minutes. Checkout was painless and no surprises. Truly looking forward to going back next year.

by topdoghaus

First timers with my son and two grand children. Boat 'sleeps' 8 but I have camped in the past. sleeping, and daily activity are two different things. 3 adults and two children were perfect. We enjoyed tremendous scenery, fished a bit, swam and used the water slide alot. The boat was well stocked (except for a mixing bowl) and the staff, before departure, while on the water and disimbarking were exceptional. I would definately recommend this for a family fun adventure or a fishin expedition.

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Voyagaire Lodge

7576 Gold Coast Rd, Crane Lake , Minnesota 55725-8010 USA

• Independent

“Outdoor Adventure. Comforts of Home.”

For over fifty years, Voyagaire Lodge and Houseboats has delighted guests with the largest fleet of luxury houseboat rentals and houseboat vacations in Voyageurs National Park. Just five hours from Minneapolis/St. Paul, and located between Minnesota's beautiful boundary water canoe area and Superior National Forest, Voyagaire Lodge and Houseboats remains the only houseboat rental service perfectly situated on beautiful Crane Lake near the Canadian border. Wildlife. Wilderness. Adventure. Exploring the Minnesota wilderness makes for a great vacation. Voyagaire houseboat rentals can make a great vacation an adventure your family will never forget. Spend your family vacation exploring the wilderness in our houseboats and add to your most cherished memories. As America's youngest and only water-based national park, Voyageurs National Park is a stunning tapestry of interconnected waterways, ancient rock formations, and hundreds of uninhabited islands. These pristine lakes are surrounded with rugged boreal forests, home to an abundance of wildlife including bald eagles, moose, loons, black bear, and white-tailed deer.

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Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats

Review Highlights

“ The pontoon boat we rented for couple of days was new and ran great. ” in 2 reviews

“ You can order ice, beer, food items, and many other items by just picking up the radio . ” in 2 reviews

“ Waiting for me at the dock was the resort owner/manager ( Jim ), an EMT and a couple other crew members who were there waiting to help me. ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

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7576 Gold Coast Rd

Crane Lake, MN 55725

Amenities and More

About the business.

For more than 55 years Voyagaire Lodge and Houseboats has offered the largest and most modern fleet of luxury rental houseboats. Offering multiple sizes and ranges of amenities of houseboats, spacious lodge rooms, private lakehomes, fishing boats, and much more, Voyagaire has what your group needs for the perfect vacation. Voyagaire Lodge and Houseboats is the best way to experience the beautiful sights and sounds of Voyageurs National Park. …

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• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
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Overall rating

We had dinner at the restaurant and were very disappointed. I ordered the walleye which was terrific but the potatoes and carrots were cold. Service was slow and poor!

Very scammy. They push real hard to use their "hospitality service" but fail to disclose that the fee is $80 regardless of what they bring you (which of course you must also pay for) and how far from base you are. Also, we think they overcharged us for the gas we used because we did not travel very far from base and yet still ran out of gas. They likely did not top off our tanks when we left. The houseboats are old and pretty run down. The owner is very rude and just doesn't seem to care about customers. We also didn't appreciate the pushy young Christian pastor that works in the office. It was quite unprofessional (and arrogant) for him to work in his own religious beliefs in the trivia night questions. Again, this is a reflection of the shoddy management. However, our fishing guide, Aiden, was excellent! We really had fun with him and caught a lot walleye. I highly recommend him.

We had such a great stay here! We had a nice room with our own balcony that had a great view of the lake. The room was clean and very spacious. We brought our dog so the room with the balcony was perfect! She was also allowed on their deck so we could take her if we wanted to dine at the restaurant. The food was great! Everything we ordered for breakfast lunch and dinner was delicious. The last night we stayed, we ordered a pizza and ate it on our balcony and it was delicious, made with quality ingredients! The people that work at Voyagaire couldn't be friendlier. They made us (and our pooch) feel so welcome. We can't wait to come back!

Two very happy customers!

First, I'd like to say how wonderful the staff at both the lodge and the marina are. They are friendly and very kind and helpful. The food is really good and the bloody Mary's are delish! Second, we had this trip planned for well over a year with people coming from Ohio and California for this "luxury cruising at it's best". We rented the largest houseboat in the fleet, the Isabelle. The cost before flights, food and alcohol for a week was over $7000 dollars. We were to have a/c, a hot tub and a safe vessel to navigate. Instead we got a run down, way past her prime, dangerous derelict of a houseboat. Steering was almost completely gone. A really nice guy named Blackhawk worked on it for over an hour and said "it's a little better". A/C could not handle the 110° heat in the main galley which is entirely glass. There was suppose to be curtains but they were gone and never replaced. We had to throw the hot tub cover over the glass top to provide shade inside and used towels and blankets duct taped to the windows as curtains. In the bunk rooms it was at least 120°. Most screens on windows were torn allowing tons of mosquitoes and flies in. The hot tub didn't work even after my husband was instructed to "just touch these two wires together". No button just wires. The gas stove top leaked gas when not turned to a wonkie position and the wall heaters sparked when turned on. We lost over $100 in meat because the 2 "full size" refrigerators were NOT full size and food had to be stored in coolers. The upper deck was so hot you couldn't walk in it barefooted. The outdoor carpet had been scraped off and never replaced. In conclusion, two of our guests left after only 2 days and the rest if us came in a day early due to the condition of the houseboat. We did make our grievances known to the managers. We requested half off the price of the houseboat. They would only agree to 30%. Better than nothing but I'm still very disappointed as are my friends and relatives that traveled great distances to enjoy what Voyagaire advertised. It was nothing like they (Voyagaire) claims. Which is too bad. If they put some work into the boats they'd have a really great thing going. The Crane Gang

The beauty of Voyager Park can't be spoiled even by a run down old houseboat.

The Isabelle - she looks better from afar.

THEY ARE CARELESS WITH IMPORTANT THINGS! We do not recommend Voyagaire Houseboats! 3 reasons we will not return! 1- We were charged for a propeller we did not damage! Before going out on our houseboat, the deck-hand showed us the propeller blades that were a little rough around the edges but in good working condition. The deck-hand made written notes about the blades. We had a good 3-night trip, never hit rock, wood or debris and returned the boat in the same working condition. On returning, another deck-hand claimed we hit something and roughed up the propeller blades. So he charged us for 3 new blades. We had no pictures of the blades before the trip and we needed to get to church so we paid for the propeller and left. I wrote the owners the next day. They looked into the matter but will not show us the notes written on check-in and do not believe what we said about the blades. The owners concluded that "the props were in worse shape than when we left"; no proof/no pics, just their word against our word. I don't understand how the boat operated so well on our return trip if the propeller blades were in such "worse shape". Also Voyagaire does not print or send you a receipt after your trip. 2- The deck crew knowingly sent us out with a broken fuel gauge. When leaving a deck-hand told us the gas gauge was broken but we had nothing to worry about because we had 60 gallons in 2 separate fuel tanks. However, our motor died when the 20-gallon tank ran out of gas because we had no way of knowing that it was time to switch to the 40-gallon tank. We were left adrift in strong winds while trying to restart a finicky motor. The crew or owners were not much concerned about a broken fuel gauge but they were concerned about a propeller we didn't damage- they got $ from us for that. 3- The lake map on the boat is glued to a large board that can't be taken out on your smaller pull behind boat. We tried to buy another map at the office before we left but they were out. Plus most of the 'mooring' sites are unofficial (not built buy the park), difficult to find and in poorer condition. Voyagaire Houseboats can keep 2 stars because because they helped us print our houseboat park permit and the inside of the houseboat was decent enough. Years ago we used Rainy Lake Houseboats in International Falls and we had no problems that come close to the ones we described. 3 pieces of advice for future houseboat renters: 1st- go to Rainy Lake Houseboats also part of Voyageur National Park. 2nd- when you get to your houseboat take pictures of the motor, prop and anything off-kilter on your houseboat. 3rd- make sure you are provided with good maps that can be taken on your pull-along boat.

Clean rooms and grounds at a reasonable price. Friendly service. Solid food. Boats, kayaks and canoes available for rent from helpful staff. Conveniently located on Crane Lake, with boat access to the Kettle Falls, Ash River and the boundary waters. Bingo night is fun for the whole family. We enjoyed our stay and would come back if we are ever on this side of the country again. No complaints.

This houseboat trip was incredible! We rented the boat for 4 days in late Aug. We arrived the night before and stayed in the lodge. This small lodge and houseboat staff seriously had some of the best customer service I had ever seen. If you arrive the night before (recommend) and stay in the lodge they hold your cooler in a walk in fridge for you. The next morning you pull up your car and they unload everything out of it and place it in your boat. They walk through a whole orientation for you on navigating the area and the boat's mechanical systems. All houseboats come with a smaller boat they tow for emergencies. It's a law I think-anyways it comes with all the houseboats and is included with the price. We upgraded to a pontoon which I also recommend if you plan on taking kids. My wife who has never driven a boat was quickly trained on how to drive it by the staff. She loved it. The boat we rented was the sunseeker 540. It was an older boat with a few areas that needed attention (wall paper, paint etc.) But having known to expect this via other reviews we were ok with it. This is not a new boat nor is it super glamorous, so if you are a 5 star luxury queen then you best stay home and maybe look at booking a cruise. However although it was really basic it was very comfortable with all the necessary items to live in it for extended periods of time. Fridge, kitchen, living room, shower etc. Beds were also comfy. The boat comes with a nice size gas grill, hot tube jacuzzi on the deck, slide to the lake, oven, small TV DVD player, stereo with AUX input (speakers to inside or outside).It was all in good shape and working. Once you leave home base you're not on your own. They really hold your hand (if you need it) and patiently walk you through the process. They stay on board and help you drive the boat out (for a bit), get you oriented and then drive away on another boat when you feel good. They obviously won't stay the entire time but they do go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. As you start off on your trip you quickly see other houseboats around you. It becomes a little bit like a community pack with all the boats cruising with you(don't worry it's not to many) You can all communicate with each other. You give each other advice on what sites are available and what the conditions they see up ahead. Not to mention if you get lost you can follow another boat :) You can also radio home base for help, weather conditions etc. They maintain several bases throughout the area to get help to you immediately if you need it. They do provide you with huge detailed maps of the area with all the campsites they recommend. There are other notes from other visitors on the map that also help making a decision and places to avoid easy. Navigating the water ways can become a bit confusing at times but with the map and the boey system it's quite easy to understand as long as you pay attention. If you have a hard time navigating using maps maybe consider bringing a GPS device but make sure you know how to use it BEFORE you get there. Driving the boat takes up 100% of your attention and so you don't want to be fidgeting with something you don't know how to use while driving. I also recommend studying the maps before you get there. One last tip is have someone drive and navigate with you and double check each other. That seemed to work for us. The sites are easily found. They are sandy beaches. Some sites are better than others so finding the perfect one can be subjective. Soemtimes in smaller bays or tight spaces, my wife would take the pontoon boat and search for sites while I would hang back in calm waters and circle until she would say she found the "perfect one". I recommend finding one in a calm bay or cove and not exposed to wind. Some campsites have two beaches one facing one side and the other beach facing another side. We did preferred these. The lakes are swimable and are very clean. There are no jelly fish or sharks to worry about so that is a plus. No poisonous snakes just ticks and poison ivy to look out for. Although we were always gathering wood in thick brush and we found neither on us or the four kids in 5 days we were out there. We did however prespray our clothes with permetheren in advance. Home base also provides you with daily delivery service if you need it. You can order ice, beer, food items, and many other items by just picking up the radio. There is a small one time fee that was already included in your rental that pays for this service. It was great. We ran out of butter, hot dogs buns, beer and had them delivered over several days. The kids said they want to make this a yearly thing and I do have to agree it was really amazing. Also, some of the boats are getting upgraded every year so if you are lucky maybe you get one of these but know that even the older ones were comfortable. Like I said, it's nice to know they are trying to keep things top notch.

Scenery was beautiful, water was beautiful, staff was friendly. Boat had ALOT of issues for the price you pay. Bathroom stunk horrible from the moment we took off, the toilet doesn't seal or hold water to make a seal so it stunk the whole trip . we had to hold our breath and light a match each time we opened the door. The ladder to get up out of the water was sharp and you couldn't get up on it you had to crawl on the side. The map they give you mark spots which are not their, we spent a lot of time looking for a spot to set up for the night. Thank God we brought a fan because the ac didn't work it was hotter inside than out. No screens on the sliding doors for airflow. We all still had a wonderful time regardless, but we brought our parents and it wasn't as comfortable for them which I felt bad about.

A wonderful experience from beginning to end. Jim and Gretchen run a first class operation. The room was clean and comfortable. The building and grounds were spotless. The equipment was immaculate and well maintained. The food in the restaurant was excellent. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great time just hanging out at the bar talking with the staff and guests. This was definitely the best resort experience I have had cannot wait to do it again.

I think they have a good thing going here, but the houseboat we were on was haggard. I'll make this part short - our Sunseeker 540 was pricey. And old and smelly. It was not what we expected. The furnishings were heavily used (by families of dogs?) and only... tolerable. Outdated, worn, dingy. I was debating just pitching a tent when we reached land. We were excited about the hot tub and waterslide prior to seeing them, but then I resolved that a hottub filled with brown lakewater is not luxurious, and a run down the slide is not worth a bug-packed wedgie. When I'm at some sort of hospitality establishment, especially one that ain't cheap, I look around and assess how I would make it a more profitable business, and I couldn't help but think "You're doing it wrong" multiple times here. For example, the area boasts prime fishing conditions. Actually, when all you're doing is sailing from lake to lake, there's not much else to do but fish. But the main lodge does not have any bait available for purchase. And the lodge has a full kitchen and restaurant, however, they do not have any grab-and-go food, like sandwiches or prepared snacks/lunches, to take for the ride. Lucky for me I know how to fish and forage... and lucky that my boyfriend's mom packed the contents of their entire house (which only took her weeks of preparation...). However the service was great. The employees were all helpful and cheery. They were available on land or lake to offer assistance. They even provided on-boat entertainment like interactive trivia. Way to be cool humans, Voyagaire. Tip: Find the fly swatter on board and utilize it swiftly and profusely.

6 other reviews that are not currently recommended

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Sunseeker 460

• Five Double Beds
• One Bathroom
• 115hp Motor
• Built-In Generator
• Air Conditioning
• Microwave, Stovetop, Oven, Refridgerator, Coffee Maker
• Six-Person Hot Tub

Rental Rates

Visit us before Memorial Day (5/27) or after Labor Day (9/2) and save 25%

Visit us between Memorial Day – June 20th and save 10%

Discount will automatically be applied at checkout

Damage Protection

If you choose not to purchase protection, a damage deposit of $2,500.00 will be pre-authorized on your credit card before departure.

Sunseeker 530

• Six Double Beds + Two Twins
• Microwave, Stovetop, Oven, Refriderator, Coffee Maker
• TV, DVD Player, CD Player

Sunseeker 540

• Eight-Person Hot Tub

Sunseeker 570

• Six Double Beds
• Two Bathrooms

Park Permit

Voyageurs National Park requires all houseboats to have and display an overnight permit. The permits are not site-specific, just an overnight fee for being in Voyageurs National Park. You can click here to make a reservation and print your permit.

Tow Behind Requirement

Coast guard regulation requires all houseboat have a tow behind boat. If not bringing your own boat, we have them available for $79/night.

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