Maverick Reviving Bloomingdale’s Former Indian Lakes Resort

Maverick Hotels and Restaurants aims to breathe new life into the former Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, which closed and went up for sale in 2021.

The Chicago-based company will perform an extensive renovation of the sprawling hotel and golf course at 250 West Schick Road, rebranding it as Prairie Lakes Resort, the Daily Herald reported.

Maverick wants to maintain some design elements already in place, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired architecture, characterized by a unique geometric design with hexagon-shaped hotel rooms tiered and stacked on each other.

Maverick plans to invest $30 million to revamp all hotel rooms, reopen the spa and restaurants and upgrade amenities, including a 10,000-square-foot addition for meetings and events. Prairie Lakes will have 241 guest rooms and 60 suites.

The firm plans to make a separate investment to overhaul the golf course and reestablish the site as a premier golf destination. Village leaders and golf course architect Dave Esler are finalizing a vision to transform the 27-hole layout into an 18-hole course and a nine-hole par-3 course with golf academy holes that are separated by a driving range.

“The beautiful thing about that resort is that it’s so versatile,” Maverick CEO Robert Habeeb told the outlet. “We see the potential for business conferences and meetings. We see golf outings. It’s a haven for weddings. We have a really inspired vision on establishing Prairie Lakes as a wedding mecca.”

Indian Lakes helped turn Bloomingdale into a weekend resort town after it opened in the 1980s, attracting visitors from all over Illinois and hosting large-scale events, including celebrity fundraisers headlined by actress Meryl Streep and rock band The Go-Go’s. The village bought the resort for more than $8 million in 2020 to protect it from a major redevelopment.

With plans to reopen the main building in early 2024, Maverick is optimistic about the timing, and business and leisure travel continuing to rebound from the pandemic.

— Quinn Donoghue