Spa Places in the News

Mountain Grand™ Lodge and Spa & Avalanche Bay™ Indoor Waterpark, Boyne Mountain’s $70 million resort development, opens doors Friday, May 27th, 2005

Boyne Falls, Mich. -- Boyne USA Resorts and New Frontiers Capital, LLC announced the final construction phase of the all-new Mountain Grand™ Lodge and Spa and Avalanche BayTM Indoor Waterpark, the new luxury resort – the largest and most significant new development for expanding Michigan’s travel and tourism business located at Boyne Mountain.

“It’s coming together very nicely,” said Randy Dzierzawski, president of New Frontiers Capital, LLC. “We’re starting irrigation and landscaping of the property in the next two weeks. About 70 percent of the 18,000 square feet of an elaborate concrete overlay system for the fieldstone-type flooring throughout the property is done and the carpet has been laid in the guest rooms.”

“As with any construction project of this magnitude the people make all the difference,” said Sam Clark, project manager of Clark Construction Company with operations in Petoskey and Lansing, Michigan. “We’ve had the fortune of working with the exact same extended team of employees and contractors over the entire length of the project. This makes a big, positive impact on the resort’s quality and craftsmanship.”

Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa is a four-star luxury condominium hotel that serves as the centerpiece of the Swiss-Austrian themed resort. Together with Avalanche Bay, the property offers a complete resort experience, featuring a variety of indoor and outdoor activities for every season along with the benefits of an attached 88,000 square foot indoor waterpark and an 18,000 square foot spa, making this vacation getaway weatherproof.

“The exciting difference about this project is the investment that is being made in the details and finishes,” Dzierzawski added. “Resort guests will immediately notice the attention to detail, with items like custom carpeting, wrought-iron work, hand-carved chairs, hand-hewn timbers in the expansive lobby and mantels in our guest rooms. There’s nothing like it in Michigan.”

Each of the 220 rooms and suites gets an individual touch with vintage posters, custom-made snow globes and cuckoo clocks – the latter sophisticated enough to not disturb guests while sleeping. The exclusive bedding package includes plush comforters, down pillows, custom bed skirts, unique headboards and 13-inch, coil-on-coil mattresses specifically created for the Mountain Grand Lodge and superior to those marketed by other luxury properties.

All guest accommodations are equipped with flat-screen TVs. Larger suites feature pine-braided, four-poster beds and select floor plans feature high-definition, 42-inch plasma TVs over the fireplace. Bathrooms have been outfitted in granite-topped, custom-made furniture vanities from British Traditions and floors of hand-pressed Mexican tile.

The 18,000 square foot Solace Spa housed in the Mountain Grand Lodge features an extensive menu of services inspired by the four seasons of Northern Michigan. The facility includes 19 treatment rooms and sets a new Midwest standard in spa experiences.

Avalanche Bay marks another major construction milestone with the installation of its Clock Tower, the prominent entrance of the Swiss-Austrian themed waterpark. Upon completion, the giant clock tower’s chime and the mountain rumble of the Splasherhorn play structure signal the release of an 800-gallon avalanche of water on the guests below.

With 88,000 square feet of rides, slides, waves and pools, Avalanche Bay Indoor Waterpark will deliver an aquatic experience for all ages. Boyne Mountain anticipates raising the bar for waterpark enthusiasts with its thematic treatment, toboggan and tube slides, Rip Zone surf simulator (the region’s first), climbing walls and towers, spacious locker and family changing areas and a mega-arcade with over 100 games.

“The thematic treatment is hitting full swing,” said Ted Dobbs, Clark Construction’s project manager for Avalanche Bay. “We’re now seeing the arrival and installation of the South Wall, a 25 foot-climbing wall, the many wonderful oversized park characters, including Fritz, the St. Bernard mascot, and the finish work on the sophisticated moving murals on the walls. In the next two weeks, the waterpark will really begin to take its final shape as the pools start to fill and the exterior of the building is completed.”

The new Mountain Grand TM Lodge and Spa & Avalanche BayTM Indoor Waterpark offer four seasons of activities: snowsports, golf, spa, indoor and outdoor water recreation and convention services. Mountain Grand Lodge and Avalanche Bay are owned and operated by Boyne USA Resorts and New Frontiers Capital, LLC in partnership as Boyne Mountain Management, LLC and Boyne Mountain Recreation, LLC. For more information and photos visit www.mountaingrandlodge.com and www.avalanchebay.com .

Boyne USA Resorts, a Michigan-based corporation, is the largest privately owned four-season resort company in North America. Boyne USA Resorts owns and operates numerous mountain and golf resorts throughout the United States and Canada including Boyne Mountain, Boyne Highlands, The Inn at Bay Harbor – A Renaissance Golf Resort in Michigan, Big Sky Resort in Montana, Brighton in Utah, Crystal Mountain in Washington, Gatlinburg Sky Lift in Tennessee and Cypress Mountain near Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information, visit www.boyne.com.

New Frontiers Capital, LLC is owned by the Forsythe-Indeck Group of companies and specializes in sports, entertainment and recreation developments throughout North America.

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