Grand Traverse Resort & Spa Reviews

I (Rachel from Adventure Photo Stories) Had the pleasure of photographing G+T's wedding last year wat the resort and the amenities were stunning. It was a small affair but very luxurious with an outdoor ceremony and reception dinner party on level 17 overlooking the restaurant and golf course. The food was amazing! Fox+fern designed the event and Bloom Floral Design created stunning installations. Such a dream!

I loved having my wedding at GTR. Having a resort of this size and this experience made me feel so comfortable. Liz was a complete rock star and was there for me every step of the way!! 10/10 would use again!
Thank you!!!

Liz and her team at GTR made our entire experience absolutely worry free! Would DEFINITELY recommend the venue over and over again!

If you are looking for a romantic and fun beach setting for a reasonable price this is the place for you! They do have a number of venues on their campus, but we used the beach for both our ceremony and reception. We fell in love with Liz after meeting with her in person. None of the other venues were able to live up to her and the Grand Traverse. Liz is everything you need in an event coordinator. She is very organized and was willing to work with us to create the wedding of our dreams. The culinary team was also very helpful and willing to make some modifications we requested. It was especially appreciated that they were more than happy to accomodate a few specialty diets of our guests. We were a little nervous about other guests with the resort being bothersome, but we literally didn’t even notice them during our event. The day of staff blew our minds. They were so attentive and flexible, especially when our photos ran longer than expected. We utilized the hotel rooms and condos for our room block, and a tower room the night of our wedding. We were so pleased with all. We also utilized a hospitality suite for the bridal party to get ready on the day of the wedding. It was soooo helpful to have the extra space and to have a large enough room that all of us could get ready together (fitting a full hair, makeup, and photography team). I could go on forever about how much love and appreciation we have for this amazing team, but bottom line you would be crazy to it at least book a meeting to see what they can do for you!

Where do I even begin? We are still getting texts almost daily from guests telling us that our wedding was the most fun, beautiful and well-organized event they've been to. This is all thanks to the AMAZING Liz Kondik and her wonderful team. I don't have enough good things to say about our experience with GTR. Working with and getting to know Liz during our wedding planning process made our celebration that much more special. Staff at every corner of the resort's hospitality teams were helpful, generous, cheerful and welcoming. We would happily recommend GTR and Liz to anyone and everyone looking for a truly unforgettable and FUN wedding. Those who have the opportunity to work with this property and team are truly so lucky. Wish we could do it every year! Liz & team - we can't thank you enough!!

I am absolutely estatic about the weekend (8-11-18) we spent at GTR for my daughters wedding. It was perfect!! Liz (wedding coordinator) and all of the staff at GTR made her wedding absolutely perfect. I thought it might be a little expensive but overall I spent no more than the wedding of my first daughter 10 years ago. The beach venue was beautiful and ALL staff was professional and courteous. Highly recommend GTR

The reason why my experience with the grand traverse resort was amazing was based off of Liz and Jenelle, the wedding coordinator and wedding designer. They were both amazing. Specifically Liz, she was always willing to help and made me feel amazing up to the minute I walked back down the aisle as a married woman! She is amazing and I highly suggest her.

We could not have selected a better venue for our wedding in April 2018. Liz and Jenelle were fantastic to work with and they took the time to understand who we are as a couple, what our vision was and helped us with everything. There was not a detail that was missed and that made for such an incredible experience for our closest family and friends. Our wedding was a true celebration of our love and we didn't spend a single second worrying about anything because they had it taken care of. GTR is now a special place for our family and we cannot wait to go back to visit!

I got married on Level 17 of the Grand Traverse Resort tower and it was everything I could have hoped for. This area is typically a meeting space but was completely transformed for my ceremony. I only had 11 guests, so Chelsea and Molly used drapes creatively to make the space feel more intimate. The space was unrecognizable! Everyone was very responsive and helpful - they communicated with vendors and took care of all set up and tear down. I would highly recommend getting married here!

We recently had our wedding at the GTR and we could not be more thrilled with the outcome! We can't stop saying good things about our experience. One of the reasons why we choose the GTR was because of it's location and convenience. My dream was always to have my wedding on a beach. I looked at several other locations in northern Michigan and even downstate. I was looking for a place that was picturesque, affordable, and professional. While other facilities had a few of those qualities, the GTR had them all! We utilized the Beachclub for both our ceremony and reception. The entire staff were AMAZING! They were supportive, attentive, friendly, and accommodating. Janelle Whipple made sure the decorations were beautiful and Liz Kondik made the entire process seem easy and not stressful! The GTR was also a perfect place for out of town guests. We had many out of state and even out of country friends and family and being all in one spot made it more convenient for all of us to spend quality time together. Plus the GTR is close to downtown, wineries, and golf courses, and other uniquely northern Michigan things. Our guests were able to enjoy all of these things before and after the wedding. We also used many of the restaurants and bars located right at the GTR for a meet and greet, coffees, family dinners, rehearsal dinner, and farewell brunch. Our guests keep saying it was the best wedding they had ever been to (we agree!). My only wish is that I could do it all over again! If you are looking for views, professionalism, ease, and a place that has it all, look no further than the GTR!

From the very first call with Liz Brooks to the bellman who packed our can after check-out, we were treated like royalty. The entire staff pays attention to every detail and we felt like were their only bride and groom. The ballroom was breathtaking and everyone raved about the food including our gorgeous wedding cake. At the end of the reception when the bar was about to close, the bartender brought my husband and I two fresh drinks and bid us good night-small gesture but very nice touch. Our accommodations were luxurious and the view spectacular. We especially loved the personalized Mr. & Mrs. pillowcases, champagne and toasting glasses they left as a gift. All we can say is WOW!

Sandra was my hair and makeup artist for our wedding and I had a great time working with her. We met first for a trial. Although I liked the general idea of the trial, we decided to go in a slightly different direction the day of the wedding. I wound up loving my hair and makeup the day of the wedding. I don't typically wear a ton of makeup, and Sandra was able to provide me with a natural look that stayed fresh all day. I'm happy to say that I looked beautiful in my photos throughout the whole evening. Also, I have very fine hair, but she was able to provide me with a great updo that was just what I was seeking. My hair stayed up all night and looked perfect even after the after-party had ended :) In addition, my bridal party had their hair done at the spa the day of the wedding. All of them loved their hair, and again, everyone's hair stayed up all night. In addition, as I don't live in the area, Sandra was able to provide me with some great local suggestions for a post-wedding treat. I had a great experience and would recommend her for any bride. My only complaint is that it was a little difficult to get in contact with someone at the spa. I had to call a few times before I was able to book my appointment. However, after that, my experience was great. I had to reschedule my trial due to a personal conflict and had no problems doing so.

My wedding at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa was fantastic! Our wedding coordinator, Liz Kondik, was wonderful. She provided great suggestions and always responded in a timely manner. She was helpful and very attentive.
Our ceremony took place on the 17th floor and it was gorgeous! Our reception was held in the Tower Ballroom, which was a perfect size for 125 people. The Tower guest rooms were very luxurious and comfortable. Overall my experience at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa was very memorable.

Our event planner, Liz, for the GTRS ceremony site was easy to work with and really nice. We also used GTRS transportation, and our shuttle driver, Jason, was awesome. We did not do reception w/GTRS.
(A few other people I came into contact with were so-so on the communication part. For instance, I didn't get a good vibe from the cake lady they have at GTRS as communication was poor, so I went with another cake place.)

Pros: Liz, the wedding coordinator was AMAZING. Super helpful, professional, responsive and detail oriented. The food was really good, the cake was really good, and the venue looked amazing!
Cons: The Resort only cares about $$ and will nickel and dime you for every little thing. Also, blocking rooms was a TOTAL nightmare. What they don't tell you upfront is that basically any rooms from your block that don't get booked- YOU have to pay for them!!! INSANE! I have never heard of this!!! So my groom and I were forced to call our wedding guests (which basically everyone was from out of town) to see if they would be wanting to stay there- SO inconvenient and also rude! And even when we did block rooms, it kept getting all messed up, we lost some rooms, then had some added again, it was a fiasco. The policy of having to pay for rooms not booked- give me a break! HORRIBLE policy!!
Also, even though we paid the Resort tens of thousands of dollars to have our wedding there, that only got us our venue for JUST the day OF the wedding. So our space was not automatically reserved the day before, for our rehearsal. So they actually booked another wedding on the Friday night, in our ceremony space, the day before our wedding! So we had to have our rehearsal at 2pm!! Which really sucked! Who has ever heard of a 2pm rehearsal time?! It was super inconvenient because almost the whole wedding party was getting in on Friday so most of them had to get up and leave at like 5am to make it to the rehearsal. When you pay big bucks like that, you should get the space the day before. Every other venue in TC allows you to have the space for the entire weekend! Another reason the early rehearsal time sucked was because,even though we gave the resort SO much $$, not to mention the 30 rooms that were booked there solely because of us- no early check in times! SO inconvenient & stressful for our guests- another horrible policy! The wedding should get priority- like every other hotel does.