When you set foot on Mackinac Island, which retains most of the character of its Victorian founding, you’re instantly in another time. And that’s not a figure of speech: the island has no motorized transportation, or even any buildings on Main Street that were constructed after the 1930s. The provincial island, which is only accessible to outsiders via ferry during the spring and summer, is an isolated paradise whose crowning jewel is the large hotel on the hill called The Grand. The epic front porch, the “longest in the world,” looks out across the water and the 390 colorful rooms are each adorned with different linens, curtains and furniture. Prepare yourself for a one-of-a-kind experience when you stay at the Grand Hotel.
Atmosphere is everything
You can’t get much more Victorian than this. A horse-drawn carriage ferries visitors from the waterfront to the hotel entrance, where guests are greeted in a cheery lobby with dated - by at least 100 years - floral carpeting and creaky floors underneath. The floral theme continues with the wallpaper, drapes and flowers themselves, tempered only by the plaid wing-backed chairs and chaise lounges. Winding your way up the grand staircases and through the off-balance hallways (don’t expect any elevators here!) you’ll find framed drawings of historical political figures, as seen on back issues of Harper’s Bazaar from the early 1900s.
Everything about this place is bright and busy and charming and clashing all at the same time, in a way that your midwestern great-grandmother would have thought exceedingly sophisticated. Think Jane Austen’s version of an upper-class home, except one with 390 rooms!
Patterns on the inside
Each guest room is unlike any other. What they all have in common is an uncommon number of patterns! Bright carpeting, plaid bed sheets, floral curtains, upholstered chairs, striped wallpaper - if it sounds overwhelming, that’s because it sometimes is. But somehow, The Grand can make even the strictest minimalist embrace its outgoing ethic. But the hotel isn’t completely stuck in the past: rooms also include air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, cable television and a coffee maker. Bathroom shampoos and soaps are specially made and packaged for the hotel, too.
Besides regular guest rooms with double beds, which start at 304 USD, the hotel also offers suites and cottages on the premises, which are larger and more private. Room rates include a full breakfast, lunch buffet and a five-course dinner, all of which are exquisitely prepared, if a little on the heavy side. The full-fat-and-butter style of cooking is pretty true to the period, despite what Dr. Atkins and the gluten-free brigade might tell us these days.
What happens at The Grand...
Activities like biking, horse riding and golfing are spread around all over the island, really. If you’d like to stay on the property, tennis and pickleball courts, as well as a fitness room, are great exercise amenities. The giant swimming pool, sauna and whirlpools in the front yard are great during the warmest days of summer, but croquet and bocce ball on the grass are much more true to the Victorian spirit. Just a walk around the gardens is pretty grand itself: the lush gardens with over 150 varieties of flowers are well worth getting lost.
Inside, music flows through the dining halls and bars at all hours. A piano serenades daily luncheons, and you can find a harp, jazz band, or orchestra at some of the smaller dining areas and bars throughout the hotel. Check out dancing in the Terrace Room or at the neighboring Gatehouse if your feet like the shimmy.
An experience unto itself
A stay at the Grand Hotel is a true resort getaway. Escape from the everyday as well as the present day in one of the most truly historic Victorian hotels in America. From the luxurious dining to the full-scale charisma of the charming rooms, the hotel transports visitors to the spirit of the island and puts you in the 1880s mindset that’s required of a pleasant stay on it. Put your cell phone to bed and escape from reality. After all, why else would you come to Mackinac Island?
History
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