First hotel built on Lake Minnetonka in 100 years now open
A former office building on the shore of Lake Minnetonka has been transformed into the first hotel built on the lake in a hundred years.
"I kept looking back at the historical photographs and there were 40 hotels on the lake, there was a boat out there that held 1200 people and I said 'our grandparents knew how to party," said the owner of Shoreline Hotel Kelly Olsen.
The Shoreline Hotel and Cabana Anna restaurant officially opened May 1st, with a ribbon cutting ceremony in Spring Park. The new hotel is the only lakefront hotel in the Twin Cities metro area.
The project is the vision of Olsen, who purchased the aging three story office complex and spent three years converting the space into a 27-room hotel. The property also includes a chef driven restaurant and a 32-slip marina.
"It's been three years since I got it under contract. It was a long construction process but now we're finally here," said Olsen.
Twenty-three of the hotel's rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows facing Lake Minnetonka, with 17 of those offering private decks. Guests will have access to a sand beach, paddle boards along with boat parking and lakeside amenities.
Cabana Anna's, the onsite restaurant, is named in honor of Olsen's grandmother Anna.
"I named the restaurant after my grandmother and she lived to be 104," said Olsen. "She was really vibrant into her older age. So I started to think about what are those things that make people live to an older age. So Cabana Anna's is really near and dear to my heart."
Offering a menu of fresh seafood and comfort food. The restaurant also features a vertical grow wall for herbs and greens.
"As this journey started, Kelly and I got together and started talking about this opportunity a year ago," said Executive Chef of Cabana Anna's, Josh Brown. "I'm really excited at what her vision and idea she has for the restaurant and the community she wants to build here."
Brown and Olsen went to the same highschool and have crossed paths on occasion.
"I'd love to see this place become a place to celebrate birthdays, a place that grows their family together and their kids start coming here," said Brown.
Olsen, who became widowed in 2008, said the project was rooted in her desire to to help others slow down and reconnect.
"I lost my first husband in a car accident with a drunk driver in 2008, and after I lost him, I kept thinking about those moments that were special to us," said Olsen. "I was reflecting on vacations we took or travel we did. Even just the staycations we did at home."
The Shoreline Hotel and Cabana Anna's Restaurant are located at 4165 Shoreline Drive in Spring Park.
For more information about the hotel and upcoming events, you can visit their website here.
