Grand Traverse Resort and Spa

Liz and the whole team at the Grand Traverse Resort worked so hard to make our wedding day perfection! The resort offers everything in house from the salon to have hair to the stunning ballrooms, to finally the sweet water grill for morning after brunch! I wouldn't change a... Read More thing about my wedding day and that is thanks to the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa! Thank you!

As the Mother of the Bride, and a business professional, I highly, highly recommend Liz Brooks at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa for a wedding venue. Professional, knowledgeable, accessible at all times, punctual, and now a close friend. Liz made my daughter's wedding a... Read More day/weekend to remember for our guest, and everyone involved. It was so perfect and I am willing to refer Liz Brooks in person. Just ask the "I do" office at the resort. She out performed her responsibilities and truly went above and beyond for us. I would be glad to discuss the perfect wedding to anyone interested. I can only hope the Resort knows the value of Liz Brooks...

My husband and I were married here this June and it was amazing. Our ceremony was held outside under the Yellow Pavilion and our reception was also outside under the plaza tent. The setting was perfect and there were multiple loctaions available for some beautiful pictures... Read More since it is on a very pristine golf course. There Pavilion tent really didn't need any decoration - the yellow glow does it all . We chose this venue because it was affordable, it came with a guaranteed backup space if weather was bad, and we got Liz as a wedding coordinator. It was a one stop shop kind of wedding and it was perfect. Liz worked with us every step of the way and was a joy to work with - she helped me feel at ease during the wedding weekend and is very trustworthy. I can't tell you how impressed i was with the staff who worked our wedding - everyone was friendly and amazing. The night was seamless. The rooms were also amazing. This resort is well oiled machine for weddings and it showed. If you choose this as your venue - you won't be disappointed!

We had the best wedding ever and we have our coordinator Liz Kondik to thank! Not only was Liz very responsive via email, but she also made sure everything went smoothly the day of the wedding. We had our ceremony on the 17th floor w/ beautiful views and the reception in the... Read More tower ballroom where Liz ensured everything was set up perfectly! I am more than happy with the venue, hotel rooms, staff, activities, and just overall experience. If we could do it again, we would!

Getting married is a pretty great thing, but getting married at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa is even better! Everything, I mean everything, was absolutely perfect! The venue looked fabulous! The food tasted amazing! The staff was so welcoming! My husband and I couldn't have... Read More imagined a better place to get married :)

What an absolutely awesome experience. Liz and Jenelle at Grand Traverse resort made the entire experience seamless for us. They helped us plan and coordinate everything and made sure it was truly a special, and worry-free day. They were always very responsive. The bell staff at... Read More the resort bent over backward to make sure we (bride and groom), and our guests were happy. They truly know the concept of customer service. All of the accommodations were great. It really felt like you were out of town and on a resort. I highly recommend checking them out for your wedding. The food turned our AWESOME. Although you spend a little more than usual for it, it is TOTALLY worth it. I suggest the wings, and prime rib when choosing your food! We also had an afterparty in one of the ballrooms. We got the Nacho Bar and the guests were RAVING about it. Do that over the pizza and be creative. We golfed at the Spruce course and it was very well managed. We never had to wait at a hole once and it was beautiful.

The Team at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa made our special day magical! Liz Brooks provided service beyond our expectations and we couldn't have been happier with our entire evening.

I was overwhelmed with the quality, thoroughness and KINDNESS with which Liz Brooks at The Grand Traverse coordinated and catered our daughter's wedding at the Garvey Farms Wedding Barn. Once our couple chose this incredible venue for their destination wedding and reception (we... Read More live in Texas!), this mother of the bride began to panic. So many things to decide and contractors to hire! Yikes. When I met Liz, all the panic melted away, and I began to believe that I could actually attend this important event as a Celebrant and not as a Guardian of the Plan and Enforcers of all things that should be happening! Liz was so professional in all of our coordination, even when the Bride request some last minute changes! The Resort was the perfect location for the Welcome Dinner hosted by the Groom's parents, which allowed all of our guests to enjoy an evening on the beach with a beautiful Michigan Sunset as a bonus. The food was delicious and the entire weekend was delightful. Free transport provided by the Resort made the wedding events easy. The Boys enjoyed golf, the Girls enjoyed the luxurious accommodations and Young Folks enjoyed easy access to the Casino for later night entertainment:) Overall a weekend that exceeded our expectations, starting with the warm and capable care provided by Liz and her staff. I highly recommend this Northern Michigan location AND The Grand Traverse Resort!!

My husband and I were married at the Grand Traverse Resort on August 20, 2016. We had our reception at the larger white Plaza tent and were supposed to be married at their beach location at The Shores, however the weather had other ideas. Thank goodness for the rain plan that... Read More was in place for us at the GTR. We found out with just hours to spare that there was no way we were going to be married outside, so Liz and her team arranged the 17th floor atrium for our ceremony and while it wasn't the bright, sunny glistening Lake Michigan wedding we had imagined for a year, the room overlooked the bay and it was so intimate.. we were able to see all 130 of our guests' faces without squinting, and they could see us and most importantly, we were able to hear each others' vows and our guests heard them as well.. it was as if everyone of our guests had a front row seat and the feedback we received from our guests corroborated that sentiment. It was perfect and dare I say more perfect than the beach may have been, as the beach isn't quite as private. We had to take our photos indoors, but the resort has some fun elements in the building that made it ok (including the cool staircase in the restaurant upstairs) and with the right photographer, anything will be ok! During all of the last minute changes to the perfect wedding we had dreamed about for a year, Liz was there every step of the way making sure we were OK and making sure she could do whatever it took to make us happy within whatever she was able to control. The rain lifted just in time for our reception.. and as we walked in, it was everything we ever hoped for. The draping/lighting provided by the Resort was gorgeous. We used a lot of outside vendors and our own manpower for a lot of the decor, but as far as the Resort's part- everyone raved about the food and Stephanie made our cake exactly as we had pictured it.. which was a little off the wall, so we weren't able to tast test it.. as we chose a funfetti naked cake.. and it ended up being absolutely delicious. The Resort staff during our reception were fantastic and extremely polite and made sure everyone was happy at all times. During the planning process, (which already had an added level of difficulty since we live in Dallas, Texas) Liz answered all of our questions promptly, gracefully handled my changing my mind on large elements more than once, and made us feel like our wedding was the only one she was working on... even though it definitely was not. I considered making this a 4 star review only due to some of the Resort's practices but that wouldn't be fair to Liz because she is definitely worthy of 5 stars. I will say that as others mentioned, the Resort itself is kind of in the business of nickel and diming you and can be pretty pricey in regards to rooms, hospitality suites, guest bag delivery, etc. However as long as you make sure to read your contracts before signing them (as far as room blocks go, etc) and make the effort to negotiate certain terms and fees, you will have more control of those things and know what you're getting yourself into at the end of the day with no surprises. Overall, I would definitely suggest Liz and the GTR for your wedding. We wish we could do it again and again because our day was so fantastic!

My husband & I got married at the Grand Traverse Resort And Spa, September 3rd,2016. Because my family lives out of state, having our ceremony & reception at the resort was perfect for us. Between the beautiful hotel rooms, friendly & helpful staff & beauitful location (on the... Read More East Bay) it was the right choice for our wedding. I could go on & on about how amazing the resort was , but I need to give credit where it's deserved. Our wedding planner Liz Brooks went above & beyond to make sure our special day went absolutely perfect. We worked with Liz for 2 years on this wedding & I can honestly say not once did she ever drop the ball on anything. When we felt something wasn't right, or was perhaps out of budget, she worked with us to make sure we were in a good place & that we were happy with everything. Her communications skills were to a tee, & her eye for detail & the small things you'd over look were amazing. She was organized & up to date with where we were with things as the big day grew closer. We hit a few bumps in the road with different vendors of ours & when we didn't know what to do, Liz was there to save us. The day of the wedding she stayed with us till dinner time at the ceremony to make sure things were up to our liking. That in itself speaks volumes. To make things short, our wedding wouldn't of happened without Liz. If you're looking for someone who truly has your best interest & desires to make sure your wedding day is everything & more, I would highly, highly recommend Liz Brooks & The Grand Traverse Resort for your wedding day.

We had our wedding at the resort in August 2016. We cannot say enough about our wedding coordinator, Liz Brooks. She was amazing to work with and very responsive. She did everything she could to help our day run smoothly and make me feel at ease. The entire resort staff was... Read More wonderful. As far as the resort itself, it could accommodate all of our guests and has beautiful views. We got married in the white tent, and it was stunning after we decorated it. But it is very expensive. Before booking, make sure to read the fine print on the food menu and contract. That being said, all of our guests had a wonderful time. During the day, people went to the beach, downtown TC, or the resort gym. And after our wedding, we went to Jacks Sports Bar. It really was a perfect day. If you are looking for a northern Michigan wedding, you should check this place out.

Note: This review is not about Liz, their wedding coordinator, just about everything else outside of her control- about the Resort's major policies that really need to be reviewed and revised by their executives. Here were the biggest problems: - The "discounted" room rate was... Read More still outrageous and I really felt bad that my guests had to pay SO much. - The Resort only cares about $$ and will nickel and dime you for every little thing. NOTHING is included (except working with Liz who is a true gem and probably the best thing they have going for them in regards to their wedding services.) - Blocking rooms = TOTAL nightmare. What they don't tell you upfront is that basically any rooms from your block that doesn't get booked- YOU have to pay for them!!! INSANE! (They will cover like 10% of the unbooked rooms, but YOU pay for the rest.) I have never heard of this!! So my groom & 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 & rude! And even when we did block rooms, it kept getting 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! -Reserving the venue: 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. They actually booked another wedding 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. Plus there were all these tables & chairs set up in the space for the reception that was taking place that night, so it made our rehearsal confusing & hard for my bridal party to envision where to walk & what to do. 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! - Impossible for early-check in times- even for the bridal party?!! 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 our wedding- no early check in times! SO inconvenient & stressful for our guests. I had to deal with all my family members complaining about not getting into their rooms until 4pm when my wedding started at 3pm! Another horrible policy! The wedding should get priority. I'm sure there's a way they can make it happen since other hotels do it! - Other little details to review with their staff working the reception: we spent over a GRAND on beautiful plate chargers! Well, that was pretty stupid of us because the staff removed them immediately- they cleared them from the tables along with the salad plates!! WHY would they take them away SO early on?! We got them for a reason- to use them & have people see them! They should have left them at the tables for the main dinner course & only removed them after DESSERT! I tried to tell a busser to stop but by that time, it was too late & they had already been removed from too many tables. I'm really mad I wasted my money on them now thanks to the staff who did that.

From my very first interaction with Liz, I knew I was in good hands!! She always went above and beyond and had very good attention to detail! I knew I could always trust her and she made working with the staff at the Resort and all the planning so much more easier. I truly felt... Read More lucky to have her help and am grateful for all of her hard work! I couldn't have done it without her!! Liz is simply the best and the GT Resort is very lucky to have her on their team! The Resort was beautiful but I would say the main reason I would recommend it to future bride and grooms would be because of *LIZ* specifically.

My husband and I had our wedding weekend at the Grand Traverse Resort in June. We couldn't have asked for anything better or more beautiful! Liz and the staff did an amazing job to listen to what we wanted and help truly make it our special day! We had a welcome party under... Read More the Pavillion and in the Manitou room on Friday, had our wedding at their beach property, reception at the Garvey Barn and breakfast on the 17th floor on Sunday. All events and locations were perfect! The hospitality room connected to our suite also made a great spot for me and my girls to get ready as well as a spot for us to visit with guests! Liz made sure everything was just how we wanted it and Kelly, our bartender, was awesome! Beautiful scenery, wonderful staff, great resort and an amazing wedding weekend at Grand Traverse Resort! -The Janik's-

Absolutely wonderful experience! Liz (and staff) did an exceptional job from the moment I first spoke with her. We had the ceremony outside under the yellow awning, beautiful (flowers and grounds are gorgeous)! Our reception was held in the Michigan Ballroom and was... Read More COMPLETELY transformed into the most beautiful, enchanting room we have ever seen! It was gorgeous! The food was EXCELLENT! The service at the reception couldn't have been any better. We also utilized the "Parlor Room" for girls to get ready, WOW is all I can say!! We had numerous people tell us it was the most beautiful and best food they have ever seen/had at a wedding. Worth every penny! Great job Liz!!! Keep up the good work!!

My wife and I got married at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa on Oct 10, 2015. All the staff involved from Liz (our coordinator) to Brett who helped coordinate housing for all the out of towners, to Dawn at the Spa, Stephanie for the cake, and Roger at the golf course were a... Read More pleasure to work with. Our wedding was small (60) but we planned it in two months, and trying to pull something like that together for even 60 people over that time period took a lot of coordination. Everything went flawlessly, we had our ceremony outside in the pavillion which was nice, and our reception on the 17th floor of the tower at sunset which was beautiful. I did this all "site unseen" but never stressed about it as Liz was able to paint a good picture of what we were going to get. The price was right for sure, and all our guests enjoyed themselves. They delivered exactly what we envisioned. I have no complaints and would recommend this as a wedding location to anyone I know.

Amazing wedding weekend--married on the beach, and beautiful barn for reception: Liz and her team made our dream HAPPEN. Absolutely amazing weekend, and everything was done to perfection--I cant thank Liz enough. People are still talking about how fantastic our food and cake... Read More were, and what an amazing beautiful place GTR is. We will be back every year to see our beloved Liz and reminisce on a magical weekend.

The Grand Traverse Resort's 17th Level exceeded our expectations for our son's rehearsal dinner in late September. The food, the service, the gorgeous room with floor to ceiling windows AND the exquisite view made the evening spectacular! I compliment Liz -- she helped so much.... Read More She was great with communications, suggestions, and answering questions,.. I had not seen the room until the day of the dinner (not living nearby), yet everything was perfect. They were even very accommodating about food allergies. Our guests all loved the food from appetizers to dessert, VERY delicious! Wonderful memories were made that evening looking over the red sky as the sun set over Grand Traverse Bay. Thank you Liz and Thank you Grand Traverse Resort!

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa was so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! From the beginning planning stages to the very last detail, Liz Brooks (Special Events Manager) helped me with everything. She is super friendly and very knowledgeable. I had a destination... Read More wedding (I live in California), so I was a little nervous at first not being physically there to plan everything. With all the help from the staff and their recommended vendors, my wedding was absolutely perfect. I can honestly say everything went off without a hitch! I would recommend GTRS to anyone and have not one bad thing to say about them.

Grand Traverse Resort did an AMAZING job with our wedding! From the day we booked our wedding at the resort to the last moment we were at the reception, everything went according to plan. We were married Labor Day weekend with our ceremony in the Pavilion on the grounds, which... Read More was perfectly shaded, as it was the hottest day on record.Our reception was outdoors in the Plaza Tent, which was also walking distance from the ceremony. There were 3 other weddings there that weekend but Liz Brooks, the wedding/special events coordinator always made me feel like I was the only bride. She was always available by phone and returned all my emails very promptly. The weekend of the wedding she and Alex (event design coordinator) made themselves available in person to meet. The Friday before our wedding we had a large welcome party/dinner for all our guests and Liz and Alex made sure to stop by at the end to check in and make sure I was happy with everything. The night of the wedding Liz stopped by my husband and I during dinner to check in with us and make sure we were pleased with everything. Alex also did a great job coordinating all the décor. We were able to decorate the plaza tent form scratch and get the feel we wanted. All our guests had an amazing time and for a lot of them it was their first time up to Grand Traverse Resort/Traverse City and they couldn't stop talking about the beauty of it up there. The staff was awesome, even the bell hop guys and driving the shuttles around to where we all needed to be. Everyone was happy to help and truly made our wedding a memorable experience. Many guest said it was the best wedding they had ever been too. We were blessed to find such an amazing place at Grand Traverse!

Grand Traverse Resort did an amazing job with our wedding! We were married Labor Day weekend with our ceremony down at the beach club deck and the reception in the Tower Ballroom. There were 3 other weddings there that weekend but Liz Brooks, the wedding/special events... Read More coordinator always made me feel like I was the only bride. She was always available by phone and returned all my emails very promptly. The weekend of the wedding she and Alex (event design coordinator) made themselves available in person to meet. The day before our wedding we had a large cocktail party/dinner for all our guests and Liz and Alex made sure to stop by at the end to check in and make sure I was happy with everything. The night of the wedding Liz stopped by my husband and I during dinner to check in with us and make sure we were pleased with everything. Alex also did a great job coordinating all the décor. I had the ceiling and all the walls draped for the reception, which really gave the room a softer, romantic feel to it. I also wanted to rent some nice furniture and arrange it next to the dance floor and Alex was able to do that. All our guests had an amazing time and for a lot of them it was their first time up to Grand Traverse Resort/Traverse City and they couldn't stop talking about the beauty of it up there. The staff was awesome, even the bell hop guys and driving the shuttles around to where we all needed to be. Everyone was happy to help and truly made our wedding a memorable experience. Thank you to everyone at Grand Traverse!!

We had our wedding outside at the Shores Private Beach and the reception at the Plaza Tent. We couldn't have been more happy with the way everything turned out! We had a vision of what we wanted and with the help of Liz and Alex they made it possible and so easy to work with! I... Read More live 4 hours from Traverse City so I didn't see any of the decor or details until we walked in for our reception and I was totally blown away with how beautiful everything was! They definitely exceeded our expectations and we couldn't have been happier! Liz was absolutely amazing! She was so helpful and knew exactly what she was doing. She helped make decisions to keep us in our budget and made sure that our wedding day went as smooth as possible. I am so happy we chose Grand Traverse Resort for our wedding!

GTRS was amazing. We had our ceremony on Level 17 and our entire guest list stayed at the resort. First, I will say that Liz Brooks was absolutely a life saver... She was reliable in communicating and totally responsive; she had great ideas to stick to my budget; and on the... Read More day of the ceremony, she stepped up to make sure everything went smoothly. Most importantly, she never made me feel like my anxieties were unwarranted. Level 17 was amazing, beautiful, and perfect. We were worried about having an outdoor wedding in the fall (given the unpredictable weather conditions) but really wanted the "outdoor" feel -- Level 17 was perfect for that with the ceiling high windows, glass roofing, and open air architecture. It was clean, modern, and just right for us. The GTRS tower suite was stunning with recently upgraded modern décor and great views. I was also really impressed with the great prices of the condominiums and ALL of our family and friends stayed in the condominiums and shared accommodations without a problem... All condos had multiple beds and bathrooms. We all loved it and we will be going back for our wedding anniversaries for sure!

We had our wedding reception at the Plaza Tent and were SO happy with how everything turned out. We had a vision of having a certain design with the draping and lighting and they did exactly what we asked for and made the tent look absolutely beautiful. They also were able to... Read More add lights above the cocktail area which looked awesome at night, too. We loved working with Liz and Alex throughout the whole process. Liz, especially, was my go-to girl and was there to help me at every step of the way. She's a great person to have as the resort's coordinator. The only complaint we had about our whole experience was working with the lady in charge of room blocks. She was impossible to get ahold of and took over a week to respond back to e-mails and never answered her phone. I ended up going through Liz each time instead of dealing with that lady. But other than that, we were very very pleased with everything and had an amazing wedding weekend at the Grand Traverse Resort.

Beautiful location

Our experience with this resort was wonderful but his is definitely one of, if not the, most expensive venues in the Traverse City area. They handled everything for our reception from the food & alcohol to the cake to the draping and up lighting and the reception could not have... Read More been more perfect. The event planner, Liz Brooks, and event design planner, Alex Schauer, were both amazing and pulled everything together seamlessly, even coordinating transportation for our guests to our off-site ceremony. My entire bridal party had their hair done at the resort's spa the morning of the wedding and we were more than happy with the results (and for a very reasonable price.) We also had a complimentary Tower room for our honeymoon suite, which was absolutely stunning. As an added courtesy Liz had arranged for all of our gifts & cards to be taken up to the room just before we arrived at the reception. As long as you have room in your budget I highly recommend this venue!