Konteka Black Bear Resort

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  The Konteka is a great place run by good and decent, down to earth people.  
  
  Very low key, low stress environment.  You can get a clean, inexpensive room, have a home-cooked meal, sit in the bar area and have a cold beverage, enjoy engaging connversation, watch bears getting fed day old bread (kinda scary for me) and see a great star show at night by walking outside and simply gazing up at the heavens.
  
  Just a hop, skip and jump from the Porkies.
  
  This a the place to stop and chill-lax after a long day of hiking.
  
  I highly recommend it!

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  Posted on 07.09.13 Iris H.

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  We were up near Ewen for a family event and had ended up spending part of the day near Lake Superior.  It was past lunchtime and we all needed grub.  A friend of mine had recommended Konteka the last time I was up here so I suggested that.  Really I didn't care how the food was I just wanted to see a bear.
  
  It's a motel/spa/gas station/restaurant/bar/bowling alley/convience store/gift shop all rolled into one.  Which is pretty neat considering in the Yoop there are three things to do, drink, hike, watch bears.  So...this offers some more options.  :)
  
  We got there around 1:00 and they still had their breakfast buffet up...looked a little meh to me but the boyfriend got it... it was pretty yucky. I don't recommend it.  I ordered a sirloin and shrimp with au gratin potatoes.  The sirloin was average, under seasoned and the shrimp were broiled and good but the taters were phenomenal!!!  My Dad ordered a cheeseburger... looked like it was a frozen patty they just threw under the broiler, with fries.  My uncle ordered the walleye and it was DELICIOUS.  I also ordered wine...because I was on a mini vacation dammit.
  
  Food was average.  Prices were a little higher than they should be.  The restaurant was clean.  The waitress was super sweet and helpful.  Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I didn't see any bears.  I did see really really REALLY fat seagulls though.
  
  I'd go back for a drink, maybe a sandwich...  again... cause I want to see the bears lol!
  This place is worth a shot.  It's really cute.

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  Posted on 05.09.13 Colleen W.

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  Food is decent (good for the price you pay) but eating dinner and watching the bears is pretty fun.
  
  The konteka also has a bowling ally, small bar and a convenience store. There isn't a lot to do in the area (except enjoy the breathtaking nature sites) and I've found that the konteka is a great little oasis to kick back and relax in.

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  Posted on 12.31.12 Brandi E.

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  Stayed here this summer. Rooms were outdated, but clean. Staff was friendly. Food was average. You must stop in to see the bears. We had a great time here.

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  Posted on 12.30.12 Kim L.

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  Food pretty meh, including the brown ice berg lettuce at the "salad bar." Everything else was something in mayo. We were drawn there by the advertisement to see a bear and we did see one, but not sure it was worth it. Dessert was good though - warm apple dumpling with ice cream - can't go wrong.

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  Posted on 09.03.11 Judy H.

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  Welcome to the Konteka Resort/ Restaurant/ Black Bear Lounge/Black Bear Lanes Motel/Spa, located in the Western Upper Peninsula, about six miles east of The Porcupine Mountain State Park and ski area. It's the only resort behind a shopping plaza where I  have had occasion to stay. And the only motel which has a huge ring binder of black bear pictures at the front desk for you to peruse. Black bear watching is apparently one of the main activities here.
  
  We ended up staying here one night on a recent fall color road trip, when we were unable to find other reasonably-priced accommodations on Lake Superior a few miles west. For a double room, this place was $56.00! And since Doug and I like staying in these kinds of places on road trips, I was fun, clean and very convenient. Although for just one night, we didn't take advantage of all the amenities, like the bowling or the spa, we decided it would be a great getaway spot for a group of friends, if we were coming up to ski, or hike the park. You can bowl, eat, drink, pamper yourself at the spa, and snooze without ever leaving the place. Which, I am sure, might come in real handy about January or February up there!
  
  We ate dinner and breakfast at their restaurant. Dinner was just bad and over-priced. The salad bar was on par with, say, a Greyhound Bus Station. There was a special table dessert and drink menu which was kind of hilarious (see pic in my pics). It offered "Marcarphone" cake and a drink called "Cream in da' Panties." How about those knucklehead  Yoopers and their knotty sense of humor, ey?
  
  The good news is breakfast the next day was quite good, and the service much faster. And the fun thing about dinner the night before was that the five or six tables of one or two people in this very large room all engaged in conversation with one another and were very friendly. Something you rarely see in the big city. And you don't have to worry about the dress code. I think we were the only ones there not in camouflaged hunting gear! In winter, I'm sure that snowmobile suits are just fine,too.
  
  To solve that dinner dilemma though, there is an Italian place across the parking lot in the plaza, which was highly  recommended by another innkeeper we chatted with before we found the place. Otherwise, probably not too many options in a town of a few hundred people.
  
  Besides visiting the "Porkies" and nearby Lake of The Clouds, there is also the village of Paulding near Watersmeet, which is famous for its supernatural underground lights, which are featured in some You Tube videos. And Watersmeet is famous for their basketball team called the "Nimrods." A local guy has also  written a guide to all the area waterfalls, so you can go "falls hopping."
  
  But I would love to return for a longer stay at Konteka. For either a ski trip in winter or hiking and waterfall excursions in summer or fall. , Fun, friendly people, and just a good value, out there in the middle of nowhere! How can you go wrong?

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  Posted on 10.15.08 Jack P.

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