A friend and I stayed at Timmerman's Resort during a 5 day seminar this past November and we were attracted by the better than average reviews. I was able to find a very competitive rate to stay here and wanted to avoid the lower priced and lower rated hotels & motels I found online as well as the super expensive ones that would have killed my budget.
When we arrived to check in the first thing we noticed was that the chlorine smell from the pool was overwhelmingly powerful... Thankfully we got a room on the second floor protected from the odor by a stairway and a fire door. I think this is an area for us where the location lost a lot of points since we were planning on using the jaccuzzi and pool, but stayed away from it since we did not want to inhale poisonous gas or over-bleach our hair and skin if in fact the pool had been over chlorinated! It made me wonder maybe they need to improve the ventilation system, or figure out how to use it if it is operable (or use less cholrine in the pool).
The "resort" itself was perfect for our needs since all we did was use it for sleeping and checking email (FREE WI-FI for your latop!!!), but if I had a family I'm not sure that I would have been completely satisfied. The hotel rooms were a little on the small side, and everything looks at least one to several decades out of style. The tap water had a "funkiness" to it and when we were there and we had to purchase bottled water in town since the vending machines we found were out. I would not have used the tap water I saw for anything other than washing hands or bathing. Thankfully the beds were comfortable with clean sheets and the room seemed well kept. There is a huge party room with a bar (no bartender) and big screen projection TV with cable or satellite TV. There is also a game room with some older arcade games and a pool table. They also have a workout room with some exercise equipment in it. This place would be even better if the owners could attract a bigger number of people to it so they could afford to update it, and if they had some fun activities for people and their families to participate in. I would say if you want to bring your family here, bring enough kids to keep them all entertained, or plan on coming up with something for them to do if they are not self-starters.
Another area that we were a little let down on was the complimentary breakfast. It sounded good online to have that as an additional perk, but it was mostly processed food and if you wanted a waffle, you had to make it yourself! I was a little surprised by the self-serve part, I have not ever seen that before with pancakes and waffles, but understadable with the fewer number of people staying there. They did have a decent variety of cold cereals if you are into that, as well as some instant hot oats available. I was glad that there were bagels, muffins and cream cheese, as well as some orange juice, coffee, tea, maple syrup, jam packets, butter and a microwave. We assumed there would be more hot foods and things like eggs, bacon, hash browns, and sausage links when its referred to as a Continental breakfast. I can understand that they do not provide those things considering that they seemed to be operating on a tight budget and there were few people staying at the "resort". One reason that the complimentary breakfast was not a bigger let down is that there was a refrigerator in the room! For us, this was scored a lot of points. Another thing that was really helpful for us, although not related to the hotel was that we ended up going into Dubuque (IA side) everyday and we were able to find a Co-op that sold organic foods (YAY!) Even if the breakfast options were not at our higher standards, one could purchase something that is easily prepared and store it in their room for the morning and make it themselves in the buffet area. Not enough places I have stayed at include a fridge in the room, forcing you to either consume what ever they have offered, or go into town and pay for some restaraunt food.
The staff was very nice and could hold a conversation, although there was an older woman there who no matter how much I tried to do something to get her to really smile, it was a very tough sell (maybe my charm was not at peak levels when I was there) She seemed pretty unfulfilled working there, and it showed a little too much when trying to interact with her.
Overall, I would say with some work and investment from the owners, this would be an excellent place to stay in the future if that happens.

In the meantime~
Pros:
Affordable, Good value for the price, Very close to Dubuque, No shortage of room availablity, There are extra amenities (FREE WI-Fi, pool, jaccuzi, game room, exercise equipment, bar), fridge in room, Breakfast pantry is stocked and available for your own use. Staff was pretty good, for the most part. Local, Family-owned business (Support family owned and local biz first when you can!)

Cons: Chlorine smell was too strong for us to venture into the pool room, dated decor, sometimes felt like we could be on the set of the movie "The Shining" since the hotel felt a little "too empty", "Continental" breakfast was overstated, we would call it "self-serve breakfast pantry available for your use", Needs "something" to bring it back to its former glory days, Seems like it had once been a hang out for the "good 'ol boys club" which has long since died out.

Final Thought: Could have been a little better, could have been much worse!
Grade: B-

we paid only $54 a night through Orbitz and were resigned to the idea that it might not be the best experience due to other reviews we read. The hotel was updated, clean, comfortable, and pleasant. We didn't use the pool but scoped it out and it was really nice and clean. If I was SEARCHING for something to complain about it would be that the continental breakfast was finished by 9 a.m. and isn't worth waking up for, and the cleaning staff wanted to get into our room so badly to finish up for the day we had an awkward moment where she literally came in while we were still getting ready to leave, and cleaned around us while I was blow-drying my hair. This doesn't change the fact that I'd give our overall experience an 8 out of 10 for what we expected. It's not a fancy place, not a resort, but definately a Holiday Inn level experience for a lot less cash and a great location - just far enough away from Galena to save a heap of cash, but close enough to come back to the hotel and go out again later multiple times.

This place shouldn't be called a resort by any standards. It is very dated and needs many updates. The staff was okay, but one evening I was downstairs doing laundry and they turned the lights off on me. It was a bit scary. There were broken vending machines sitting in hallways (blocking exits). The pool is a wonderful size, and the jazuzzi is good and hot. The hotel just has a feel that it needs a very good cleaning and updating. Windows were so dirty in the hallway you couldn't see the golf course across the way! The beds in the room are comfortable. As my husband was paying by the week to stay there, they never came in to clean or vaccum. I actually had to request clean sheets (after him being there a week) and they said he wasn't on the list to receive them. Finally a manager gave him one flat sheet. The prices varied as well. I think they should be consistent with this. They told us one price on the phone, and when my husband arrived, it was a totally different amount (even though he had the reservation confirmation number.) I do believe Timmerman's saw it's heyday in the 80's, but with some tlc and elbow grease, this hotel COULD make a comeback.

In it's day, I'm sure that this hotel was quite something but now it should not be considered a resort. The place is a little dated. However, the staff was friendly and the rooms were clean. And, for the price, you couldn't beat it. We paid $49.95 for one night on Labor Day. We enjoyed the swimming pool. The jacuzzi was nice but smelled like bleach. The continental breakfast was dismal.