The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Anyone ever been?

**EMG** · May-01-10, 02:47 PM

My wife and I spent a weekend there once in the mid-90's. Extravagantly overpriced but well worth doing - once!

**DetroitSTAR** · May-01-10, 03:03 PM

I like the presidential suite [[2nd floor balcony above the main entrance) more than the governors suite [[3nd floor above main entrance). There are a magnificent collection of pictures of presidents visiting the island, and letters thanking the hotel for their hospitality.

Here is the view from the balcony of the presidential suite to the west. There are exactly 100 wicker chairs on the porch.
http://tinypic.com/r/ta1maq/5
http://tinypic.com/r/29uovwi/5

**Patrick** · May-01-10, 03:11 PM

I have been to the island maybe 15 times and have never stayed at the Grand. It seemed to formal for me,but maybe I will give the place a shot in this lifetime. It was always Mission Point or Lilac Tree, which is right in town. Mackinac is one of the most overlooked vacation jewels in the United States.

**EMG** · May-01-10, 07:37 PM

It definitely is formal, and it definitely is outrageously expensive especially considering how tiny the rooms are. But I think especially if you've never been, you won't be sorry if you experience it once even if only for a night or two. It's right up there with a dinner at The Lark as a worthwhile once-in-a-lifetime splurge.

**DetroitSTAR** · May-01-10, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by EMG

It definitely is formal, and it definitely is outrageously expensive especially considering how tiny the rooms are. But I think especially if you've never been, you won't be sorry if you experience it once even if only for a night or two. It's right up there with a dinner at The Lark as a worthwhile once-in-a-lifetime splurge.

I think that when you consider that all meals are included in the price, it is then very reasonable. A dinner the quality of the Grand Hotel would generally run about 60/person or more, plus the lunch buffet is absolutely spectacular and is probably a $20 itself. I wont say the whole experience is "affordable" but I wouldn't consider it overpriced for a summer-only resort, which is usually more expensive anyway.

I've never payed to stay there--though that will change when my fiance and I get married there later this summer.

**wolverine** · May-02-10, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

Do they still charge $10.00 to go on the porch at the Grand?

They do, but another way to get on for free exists.

**torbusto** · May-02-10, 09:20 AM

I agree DetroitSTAR. People must think it's nuts to pay what they charge for a room but they forget the breakfast and dinner is included and is so much food that for lunch [[which one pays on their own) you just need a snack or something.

Does it get very chilly up there in June? I figured the lows would be in the 60's at night but then again it is up North so I don't know.
http://tinyurl.com/TheGrandHotel

**DetroitSTAR** · May-02-10, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by torbusto

I agree DetroitSTAR. People must think it's nuts to pay what they charge for a room but they forget the breakfast and dinner is included and is so much food that for lunch [[which one pays on their own) you just need a snack or something.

Does it get very chilly up there in June? I figured the lows would be in the 60's at night but then again it is up North so I don't know.
http://tinyurl.com/TheGrandHotel

Torbusto, I think a lot of people feel that they are entitled to discounts or affordable prices. I think the word "luxury" is something lost on people today. It's not the fault of the people, but because of the recent economic issues certan luxuries have become more reasonably priced. Island getaways do not fit this model though, because the hotel only has 5 months to make their money unlike year 'round operations.

**torbusto** · May-02-10, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitSTAR

Torbusto, I think a lot of people feel that they are entitled to discounts or affordable prices. I think the word "luxury" is something lost on people today. It's not the fault of the people, but because of the recent economic issues certan luxuries have become more reasonably priced. Island getaways do not fit this model though, because the hotel only has 5 months to make their money unlike year 'round operations.

Good point. I think from the time I spent up there shooting the video for 1/2 a day
it is worth saving up to do it at least for a couple of nights.

I'm 40 born and raised in Detroit and it was my first time there and on the drive back to Detroit was wondering why I had never been before.

LodgeDodger · May-02-10, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

Do they still charge $10.00 to go on the porch at the Grand?

Pay the $10 and they'll apply it to lunch or drinks at the bar.

Check the Grand Hotel web site for specials. They have some special weekend pricing here and there.

**agirlintheD** · May-02-10, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by LodgeDodger

Pay the $10 and they'll apply it to lunch or drinks at the bar.

Check the Grand Hotel web site for specials. They have some special weekend pricing here and there.

Oh, I don't have a problem paying the fee...I was just asking if it was still being charged. Haven't been to the Grand in a few years...was unaware if any changes had taken place. Yes, I could have looked it up myself, but since the thread was started, I knew someone would have a quick answer.

**xphillipjrx** · May-02-10, 10:41 PM

Nice video.

**Gistok** · May-03-10, 01:24 AM

The porch of the Grand Hotel is 660 ft. long.

The film "Somewhere in Time" seems to have quite a cult following. They have a Somewhere in Time weekend at the hotel every year. Some years Jane Seymour shows up.

**stonechipped** · May-03-10, 07:07 AM

Stayed at the Grand in the mid 80's what struck me back then was there were no televisons or radios that I could remember? I'm sure that has all changed now, but what a night laying there with the window wide open listening to the hoof beats of the horses till I fell asleep....Expensive but well worth it one time.

**DetroitSTAR** · May-03-10, 07:54 AM

Stonechipped, The Grand now has 10 inch tv's in each room that get about 15 channels. This is one hotel though, where I actually look forward to being cut off from the world!

**PaulTHowell** · May-07-10, 09:30 AM

Greetings, all!

My 1st post!

I worked at the Grand in the summer of '82, as a houseboy. I kept the maids cleaning the rooms supplied , ran non-food room service calls, and vacuumned the hallway.

Working on the Island was generally a good experience. It was far more undeveloped back then. Socially, it was like a college campus without the classes. After the last ferry left, it was party time.

I understand they renovate the rooms on a regular basis, but there where some, especially along the back of the building, that we called "phonebooths". Three guesses why, and they weren't cheap. I remember an occasion when they overbooked, and so they put two older ladies in the parlor of the Presidential suite, which had only a half bath. They were livid when I rolled in the iron folding cots and explained that they were their beds. I didn't blame them at all.

I must say the single event that stands out was running into Bill Kennedy there. I had been a big fan of "Bill Kennedy at the Movies". He was getting on in years, but it was nice to see him.

Another unusual thing was that every year, they would send a bus down to Miami to pick up a number of Jamaicans to work as waiters. One waiter I talked to told me "I'm no d*** Jamaican, I'm from Detroit". I think he was the exception.

Anyway, take care all, and God bless!

LodgeDodger · May-07-10, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitSTAR

Stonechipped, The Grand now has 10 inch tv's in each room that get about 15 channels. This is one hotel though, where I actually look forward to being cut off from the world!

Same here. When I first started staying there, televisions were only available on request. betterhalf and I never watch television while staying on Mackinac. To break from routine is part of the charm.

**Sandhouse** · May-07-10, 11:58 AM

Few people are aware of it, but the Grand Hotel is the last survivor of a whole family of giant wood resort hotels that used to line Lake Michigan. Others were almost at the scale of the Grand, but all vanished in huge fires early in the 20th Century. [[The Grand has elaborate fire precautions.) The Grand was a joint project of the Michigan Central and Pere Marquette railroads; these hotels served as traffic builders in the pre-automobile era when the upper classes of Detroit and Chicago would travel up north for several weeks at a time. [[Compare the Grand's architecture with the Pere Marquette's Petoskey station, now a museum.)

I suffer from reverse snobbism that makes me nervous in wealth preserves like this, but I like Mackinac Island. The small rooms are the price you pay for a true sample of late-nineteenth-century vacationing. The whole point of Mackinac Island is to experience travel without the convenience of the automobile: just look on the hassle of getting your luggage transferred from a ferry to a horse-drawn wagon as an authentic piece of the past. The ferry/freight docks are the only examples of this kind of building I have ever seen, although they used to be a fixture of every waterfront. And your kids will remember the sight and smell of the ubiquitous horseschitt.

**mauser** · May-10-10, 07:40 AM

I am going in two weeks, look for way too many photos when I return. Staying in GH again, and yeah, it isnt that special or anything, but pretty cool if you arent a fancy pants about hotels.

**Novine** · May-10-10, 01:23 PM

"Another unusual thing was that every year, they would send a bus down to Miami to pick up a number of Jamaicans to work as waiters."

Wasn't there an article about this in the past year or so how a group of the regular staff who come up every year from Jamaica were caught up in one of the immigration disputes? As usual it generated the usual "why can't Americans do these jobs?" commentary but the word from management is that the Jamaican staff were the only ones willing to make a career of working at the hotel and had developed the skills and training that simply couldn't be picked up by the college kids who provide much of the Island's summer workforce [[most of the Jamaican staff work resorts in Jamaica during our winter months). Some discussion of that here:

http://businomics.typepad.com/busino...surplus-o.html

lincoln8740 · May-13-10, 02:12 PM

I thought this thread was going to evolve into a bunch of trip advisor reviews. I love how hotels on there have 50 "worst place ever" reviews and 50 "best place ever" reviews

gets very confusing

**torbusto** · May-13-10, 07:36 PM

nope lincoln8740,

It was just my way of asking people what they had thought about their time or experience at The Grand Hotel. As I was there for a day shooting this video for the Detroit Free Press

http://tinyurl.com/TheGrandHotel

I wanted to get peoples impressions. The hotel was just about to open up for the tourist season and being my first time there just wanted others thoughts.

Still planning on going up in June with my family for a weekend but will only stay for one night at the Grand Hotel as it is really expensive but something I have to do once.

Eric

**sirrealone** · May-14-10, 06:07 AM

We always stay at the Main Street Inn and Suites. It's pretty new, it's right by the docks and in town, the rooms are great, and they're very reasonably priced. If you're looking for a nice spot, check them out. We're going later this year and it'll be our fourth time I think.

We usually do bike rides and make a stop at the Grand Hotel and walk the lobby and the grounds, and yes there are ways to circumvent the $10 fee.

**REL** · May-17-10, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

The film "Somewhere in Time" seems to have quite a cult following. They have a Somewhere in Time weekend at the hotel every year. Some years Jane Seymour shows up.

.........Creepy!!