HOTELS Grand Hotel - A Journey to America's Last Great Summer Palace

Grand Hotel - A Journey to America's Last Great Summer Palace

Location:

Mackinac Island USA North America
HeritageLuxuryPalace

On a tiny island in Lake Huron, where the clip-clop of horse hooves replaces the rumble of engines and fudge shops line cobblestone streets like something from a Dickens novel, sits one of America's most gloriously anachronistic hotels. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island isn't just a place to rest your head – it's a full-scale assault on the 21st century, complete with mandatory formal wear.

Built in 1887 by a consortium of railway and steamship companies who clearly understood the art of destination marketing, this sprawling Victorian palace was designed to lure sweltering city dwellers away from America's industrial hellscapes. What they created was something far more enduring: a place where the Gilded Age refuses to die.

Book Online

PRICE FROM $455

Grand Hotel During Fall

Photos by Grand Hotel

This is where five US presidents have holidayed, where Thomas Edison once demonstrated his phonograph on the world's longest hotel porch, and where Christopher Reeve travelled back in time – quite literally, as the 1980 film Somewhere in Time was shot here.

Grand Hotel Exterior Aerial

The island itself feels like stepping into a snow globe. Cars have been banned since the 1930s, leaving the 3.8-square-mile outcrop to bicycles, pedestrians, and an army of Clydesdale horses whose daily constitutional involves hauling everything from wedding parties to bin lorries.

Grand Hotel on the Mackinac Island

The year-round population of 600 swells to thousands during the summer months, most of whom seem perpetually sticky-fingered from the island's legendary fudge shops.

Grand Hotel Garden with a Fountain

But it's the Grand Hotel that truly arrests the senses. Rising like a cream-colored wedding cake from its bluff overlooking the Straits of Mackinac, the building is an exercise in magnificent excess.

Grand Hotel Parlor

Parlor

Step inside and you're confronted with what can only be described as decorative anarchy. Hot pink velvet armchairs jostle with emerald green wallpaper, while red gingham sofas sit alongside mirrors that would make Liberace weep with envy.

Grand Hotel Parlor Vibrant Colors

This is the handiwork of Carleton Varney, protégé of legendary designer Dorothy Draper, who has spent decades ensuring that no surface remains unadorned and no color palette too bold.

Grand Hotel Main Dining Room

Main Dining Room

The dining room is a study in old-world grandeur, with five-course meals served by waiters who glide between tables with the precision of ballet dancers. The breakfast buffet is legendary - a sprawling affair that includes everything from Wagyu corned beef hash to gluten-free pancakes, all included in the room rate alongside dinner.

Grand Hotel Baroque Bar

Baroque Bar

The hotel's commitment to its Victorian fantasy extends to the smallest details. You receive actual keys rather than plastic cards, fresh flowers appear daily in every room, and turndown service includes chocolates placed precisely on pillows. The signature scent of geraniums – the hotel's chosen flower – wafts through corridors and is bottled into toiletries that you either love or find overwhelmingly floral.

Grand Hotel Dorothy Draper Home Store

Dorothy Draper Home Store

The hotel's retail operation includes a Dorothy Draper Home Store, where you can purchase pieces of Varney's distinctive design aesthetic to take home. Whether you actually want your living room to look like a Victorian fever dream is between you and your interior decorator, but the store offers everything from signature chintz patterns to reproduction furniture.

Grand Hotel Carleton Varney Suite Living Room

Carleton Varney Suite

The hotel's 397 rooms are each unique – a fact that staff mention with the pride of parents discussing their particularly gifted children. Some guests report opening their doors to discover four-poster beds that could house a small family, while others find themselves in suites named after former First Ladies, complete with décor inspired by their particular tastes.

Grand Hotel Carleton Varney Suite Bedroom

Among the hotel's premium accommodations, the Carleton Varney Suite pays homage to the designer himself, while the recently redesigned Woodfill Suite celebrates former owner W. Stewart Woodfill with what's described as "old Hollywood style with a Mackinac cottage twist."

Grand Hotel Woodfill Suite Living Room

Woodfill Suite

Both suites feature the kind of space and attention to detail that justify their premium pricing, assuming you're the sort of person who considers a view of the Mackinac Bridge a reasonable substitute for a mortgage payment.

Grand Hotel Woodfill Suite Bedroom
Grand Hotel Front Porch

Front Porch

The famous front porch stretches for 660 feet - long enough to house a small village - and is populated by an endless parade of rocking chairs that seem to hypnotise you into a state of blissful lethargy. The porch serves as the hotel's social hub, where you engage in that most radical of modern activities: talking to strangers without first checking their social media profiles.

Grand Hotel Carriage Ride

Carriage Ride

Transportation on Mackinac Island operates on a strictly 19th-century basis. Cars have been banned since the 1930s, making horse-drawn carriages not a tourist novelty but actual public transport. The Grand Hotel maintains its own fleet of carriages for guest transfers and island tours, complete with drivers who've mastered the art of combining historical commentary with gentle mockery of mainland life. It's touristy, certainly, but when the alternative is walking uphill with luggage, even the most cynical visitor tends to appreciate the service.

Grand Hotel Esther Williams Swimming Pool

Esther Williams Swimming Pool

Named after the aquatic movie star who filmed "This Time for Keeps" here in 1947, the Esther Williams Swimming Pool stretches 220 feet and serves as the hotel's aquatic centerpiece.

Grand Hotel Outdoor Swimming Pool

Recent renovations have transformed the area into what management diplomatically calls a "family-friendly aquatic retreat," which is hotel speak for "we've made it less intimidating for children who aren't used to swimming pools that could double as aircraft carriers." The surrounding deck offers prime lounging territory, though you'll need to stake your claim early during peak season.

Grand Hotel Woodlands Activity Center

Woodlands Activity Center

For families who find croquet and lawn bowling insufficiently stimulating, the Woodlands Activity Center offers miniature golf, a nature center, and recreation courts. The center also houses an expanded bicycle rental operation, essential for exploring the island's car-free roads.

Grand Hotel The Jewel Golf Course

The Jewel Golf Course

The Jewel, as it's known, offers 18 holes of pristine Michigan countryside, with the front nine closer to the hotel and the back nine requiring an electric golf cart ride. Presidents have played here - Gerald Ford famously enjoyed a round in 1975.


Book Online

PRICE FROM $455


286 Grand Ave, Mackinac Island, MI 49757, United States


Related hotels

Grandhotel Giessbach - Turrets, Waterfalls and Three Million Francs: A Swiss Fairy Tale

Grandhotel Giessbach - Turrets, Waterfalls and Three Million Francs: A Swiss Fairy Tale

High above Lake Brienz, where waterfalls crash down mountainsides and the sound of rushing water mingles with the rattle of Europe's oldest funicular railway, sits a hotel that nearly became a car park. Well, not quite a car park, but something almost as tragic: a concrete "jumbo chalet" complex that …

Kozmo Hotel - Budapest's Architectural Gem with the Country's Second Biggest Staircase

Kozmo Hotel - Budapest's Architectural Gem with the Country's Second Biggest Staircase

The former telephone exchange building on Budapest's Horváth Mihály Square awaits guests in its former glory, with five-star opulence and Hungary's second-largest staircase. The inner districts of Budapest hide many architectural treasures waiting to be discovered. One of these is undoubtedly this beautiful red-brick, stucco-decorated historic building, which hides further …

Párisi Udvar Hotel - Budapest's Moorish/Art Nouveau Palace

Párisi Udvar Hotel - Budapest's Moorish/Art Nouveau Palace

Budapest is a city full of stunning buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Párisi Udvar, built in 1912, is arguably the most beautiful hotel in the city, inside and out. The Párisi Udvar is an amazing building in every sense: it's a journey through time, blending …

Six Senses Fort Barwara - Seven Centuries Later, Rajasthan's Fortress Opens Its Gates Again

Six Senses Fort Barwara - Seven Centuries Later, Rajasthan's Fortress Opens Its Gates Again

Deep in Rajasthan's dusty heart, where the Aravalli Hills rise like ancient guardians from the desert floor, something rather extraordinary has happened to a 700-year-old fort. What was once home to real royalty now hosts a different sort of aristocracy: the well-heeled traveler with a taste for the theatrical. Six …

El Fenn Hotel - How Two Friends Built Marrakech's Most Theatrical Hotel

El Fenn Hotel - How Two Friends Built Marrakech's Most Theatrical Hotel

What started as a house-hunting expedition in 2002 has morphed into one of Morocco's most photographed properties. Howell James and Vanessa Branson thought they were buying a holiday home in Marrakech's ancient medina. Instead, they accidentally acquired a string of crumbling buildings that would become El Fenn – a maximalist …

ROMEO Hotel Roma - Inside Zaha Hadid's Final Hotel Project

ROMEO Hotel Roma - Inside Zaha Hadid's Final Hotel Project

Walk through Rome's historic center, past centuries-old churches and crumbling ruins, and you'll eventually find yourself confronted by an unusual sight: a pair of doormen who look more like nightclub bouncers than hotel staff. Welcome to Romeo Roma, where getting through the front door requires more than just wandering in …

Omni Mount Washington Resort - Paranormal Activities in New England's Largest Wooden Building

Omni Mount Washington Resort - Paranormal Activities in New England's Largest Wooden Building

The Omni Mount Washington Hotel is an unusually cool resort, considering its enormous size. It is famous for its rich history, palatial architecture, remote setting, breathtaking views, reports of ghost sightings, and tons of indoor and outdoor sports activities. The resort is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, …

Parador de Carmona - Boutique Hotel Inside a Moorish Castle

Parador de Carmona - Boutique Hotel Inside a Moorish Castle

The Parador de Carmona is a haven of peace for those who want to stay in a quiet place full of history, eat Spanish classic dishes, and enjoy an extremely beautiful view of the Carmona Valley. Parador de Carmona, situated in a charming town just 30 km from Seville, is …

Dad Hotel - Yazdi Palace in Iran's Ancient Desert Town

Dad Hotel - Yazdi Palace in Iran's Ancient Desert Town

The newly renovated Dad Hotel has been welcoming travelers and tourists since 2006. It is one of the prettiest hotels in Yazd and has a fascinating history. Originally constructed in 1927 by Haj Abdul Khaliq Dad, this building was used by his goods transportation company to store freight and accommodate …

La Sultana - The Luxurious Sultan's Fortress of Marrakech

La Sultana - The Luxurious Sultan's Fortress of Marrakech

La Sultana is the next level of riads in Marrakech. By combining five different buildings with five distinguished styles inside a Kasbah (fortress), this 28-room boutique hotel is bursting with charm and character. Morocco's unique riads - traditional high-class mansions with common areas and private rooms - are reason enough …