LAC DU FLAMBEAU, WI – This summer brings more people to northern Wisconsin resorts. Some are being affected by the rise in inflation and staffing shortages.
Darcy McEnroe and her husband are owners of Timber Bay Resort on White Sand Lake in Lac du Flambeau. They have owned and operated the resort for over 23 years. She said she has seen her summer bookings fill up. However, McEnroe said 96% of guests return each year, sometimes causing her to turn away guests due to full bookings.
Timber Bay Resort has felt the effects of recent inflation.
McEnroe said the cost of supplies has increased. The cost of cleaning supplies has increased as well as costs of propane for the water heaters and stoves in the cabins.
McEnroe had to increase her wages for cleaning crews as well.
“Even though our cabin costs haven’t gone up, the cost to run the resort and pay for those that help has increased significantly,” said McEnroe.
Darcy wants to keep the resort open to families to vacation and make it an affordable place to stay, so there are some sacrifices she has to make.
She said she has to work more shifts at her other job as a nurse, sometimes even 50 plus hours a week just to cover some of the deficits. While also maintaining and working at the resort.
Some resorts \also have been affected in other ways such as staff shortages.
Susan Heil and her husband own the Booth Lake Landing Resort in Minocqua.
They said that having a consistent cleaning crew has been difficult due to the worker shortages.
Every Saturday, they need to prepare the cabins for next week’s visitors.
They usually have a cleaning staff of five but even that is hard to fill nowadays, she said.
“It’s a struggle. It’s a struggle to get cleaning help,” she said.
When she tried to fill the position of one more staff member, even that was a challenge.
“I needed one more [worker] and I hired three different people and none of them showed up,” said Heil.
Cost of labor has also increased for most of these resorts.
Brigit Haucke has owned and operated Nitschke’s Northern Resort in Minocqua for over 20 years.
The resort has had to make some changes due to staffing shortages, one notable change is check-in to give more time for the cleaning crew to clean the cabins. The check-in window was moved from 3PM to 5PM according to Haucke.
She said that many of her customers have been coming for many years and are understanding.
“The guests are really gracious and understanding,” she said. “We’re not the only place struggling with staffing,” she said.