Keweenaw Castle Resort owner looks back at 5 years of business

ALLOUEZ, Mich. (WLUC) – A short-term vacation rental business in Keweenaw County is celebrating five years of business.

Keweenaw Castle Resort Owner Nancy DeForge originally purchased the resort as a home for her family, including her mom. However, it was too remote for DeForge’s mother, and the left wing of the house became unused. This sparked the idea to create the business.

“It was a huge learning curve,” Deforge said. “We started off with pretty much open-ended, non-restrictive bookings, and now we’ve kind of tailored it down mostly to couples and special events. We host a lot of birthday celebrations and anniversary celebrations and milestones like that for couples.”

Today, the four-suite resort includes a massage room, a sauna, and a 14-person swim spa that was installed this year. According to DeForge, she started the business ‘from scratch,’ from the business name to what platforms to use.

“We didn’t even really know if there was demand in the Keweenaw and we quickly found that there’s a big demand,” DeForge continued. “We were having a lot of people come up who didn’t make reservations and didn’t have a place to stay initially, so that was also interesting.”

The resort is holding an anniversary sale this month. For the resort’s winter season, which runs through April, the last night of any three-, four-, or five-night stay will be free.

“It’s our perk and reward for our guests,” DeForge added. “There’s no code, it’s built into our system.”

To find out how to book and reserve at the resort, click here.

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