My Whole Family — From 8 to 65 — Loved This Historic Michigan Hotel, Set on a Car-free Island

As soon as you board the ferry to Mackinac Island from mainland Michigan, you already feel relaxed. There’s a nice breeze, the blue waters of Lake Huron reflect the sunlight, and after about 15 minutes, you can already see the green island and the distinguished white façade of Grand Hotel Mackinac Island, a National Historic Landmark, beckoning you.

When I arrived with my family — kids and their grandparents included — we were greeted at the dock, and our luggage was loaded onto a bright red carriage being pulled by two horses. This wasn’t a quirk of the hotel — there are no cars allowed on Mackinac Island, and horses and carriages (and bicycles) filled Main Street off the dock.

This step back in time is only the beginning, we soon learned: The hotel, which dates back to 1887, embraces its illustrious past in many ways. The first-floor hallways are lined with old photographs of prominent guests, there’s an entire room devoted to the old movies that were filmed there, it has the longest porch in the world at 660 feet, and there is a nightly formal dinner (with dress code) in the Main Dining Room followed by dancing in the Terrace Room to the music of a live orchestra. You’ll see all this and more if you take the behind-the-scenes tour by hotel historian Bob Tagatz (yes, the hotel employs its own historian) — yet another way the hotel celebrates its legacy.

If wearing a jacket to dinner and visiting a museum displaying antique carriages doesn’t excite you, there are plenty of more modern amusements, from a mini golf course to pickleball, plus 12 other drinking and dining outlets. After all, if the hotel was good enough for President John F. Kennedy, Robert De Niro, Mark Twain, Madonna, and Barbara Walters, it might be good enough for you, too.

The hotel is seasonal and only open from early May to late October. Check the website each year for opening and closing dates.

Here’s my review of Grand Hotel.

The Rooms

Because I was with my husband, two kids, and my parents, we had two separate rooms — one with two queens for us and one with a king for my parents, both sporting a different design. In fact, of the hotel’s 388 rooms, no two are designed alike. Mine featured walls wallpapered with lilac clusters; a wallpapered ceiling with a different, multi-colored floral design; a lilac-colored carpet; and curtains with a white and lilac enlarged wicker pattern. The 1950s-style furnishings included white-painted wooden poster beds with a cluster of red geraniums painted on the headboards and a matching wardrobe, nightstands, and desk. The room was on the small side, but it did have an outdoor terrace with a table and chairs. Bathrooms are outfitted with fluffy towels emblazoned with the hotel’s name and geranium-scented pink and white bath products made specially for the hotel. While each room’s layout and design are different, they all have a brick of chocolate fudge inside a box that looks like the hotel — Mackinac Island is known for its handmade fudge — waiting on a table.

The iconic interior design firm Dorothy Draper & Co. (which designed the entire hotel) envisioned all of the hotel’s distinctly designed accommodations. (The firm is known for using multiple patterns and bright colors.) Initially led by the legendary Carleton Varney, the recent resort renovations and refreshes in 2023 and 2024 were brought to fruition by his son, Sebastian Varney, and firm principal designer Rudy Saunders.

In addition to the regular rooms and suites, there are more than 40 Signature Suites, including those with historical themes, like the First Lady Suite collection. Each was designed in collaboration with the respective First Lady, reflecting her personality with colors, décor, and memorabilia. The primary-colored Masco Cottage has four bedrooms with private bathrooms, a full kitchen, a living and dining room area, a media parlor, and a private hot tub.

Food and Drink

There are no fewer than 13 drinking and dining establishments at the resort. The grandest is the traditional Main Dining Room, which offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a classic setting with green and white striped chairs and tablecloths. Evening brings a formal dress code (jackets for men are required) and a live orchestra to accompany the rotating five-course menu. Be sure to save room for the Grand Pecan Ball with fudge sauce, which debuted in 1947 and has become the hotel’s signature dessert.

Other upscale restaurants include the steakhouse-style Jockey Club and the Bavarian-style Woods Restaurant, but there are also casual options like the Mackinac Island Pizza Company, making Detroit-style square pizza, and the Gate House, which offers a pub-like setting and dishes like fish and chips and burgers. Afternoons can mean ice cream sundaes at the Scottie-dog-themed Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor or afternoon tea in the opulent Parlor. For drinks, there’s the cozy Audubon Bar, which has an interesting prohibition past (ask about the secret storage areas), the Geranium Bar for pre-dinner cocktails, and the historic Cupola Bar (recently renovated) is a must. Located on the hotel’s top floor, inside the building’s circular cupola, it offers 360-degree views of the Straits of Mackinac and excellent classic cocktails. Evenings often feature singers at the grand piano taking requests.

The hotel offers a meal plan, which includes meals at the Main Dining Room, Jockey Club, Gate House, and in-room dining.

Activities and Experiences

While the hotel offers a range of typical resort activities, like swimming, golf, and lawn games, there are also plenty of unexpected activities, from lectures that focus on the hotel’s history, design, and as the filming location for several cult-classic movies to evening dancing with live entertainment to trivia nights. There are also a variety of themed tours around the hotel and the island, focused on history, horse culture, and architecture. The Woodlands Activity Center is great for families with experiences like mini golf, pickleball, shuffleboard, BMX bike tracks, and bike rentals for exploring the island. Ask the staff where the hidden-in-the-woods secret garden is, and be sure to stroll through it at some point during your visit — the elaborate design changes yearly. Head to the stables for a horseback or horse and buggy ride — we took one around the island with a top-hatted guide and his adorable bull terrier who sat calmly up front. The stables also has a museum with 30 preserved antique carriages and sleighs. The hotel’s event calendar lists between 15 and 25 activities on any given day.

The Spa

The pink and white Astor Salon & Spa offers facials, massages, body treatments, reflexology, reiki, and cranial sacral therapy sessions. It also has a full hair and nail salon.

Family-friendly Offerings

The hotel feels made for families, and my multi-gen one felt right at home — with my 2-year-old and 8-year-old as happy as the 65-plusers. With all the activities on offer and a chock-full event calendar, it’s hard to find time to just sit by the Esther Williams Pool (so-named for the movie star who shot a film here in 1946), which is also great for kids and adults, thanks to a waterslide and poolside bar. The Woodlands Activity Center also often hosts special activities for kids, like rock painting and scavenger hunts, so be sure to check the daily calendar.

In the evening, you can don your finest and head down to the porch to flag down one of the hotel photographers and get a family photo (available for purchase at check-out) before relaxing on one of the many white rocking chairs before dinner. While I thought the evening dress code would be hard with my kids, my husband grumbled most about wearing a jacket and tie. All restaurants offer kids’ menus, and the old-fashioned ice cream parlor will surely be a hit.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The hotel is very old, so its accessibility is somewhat deficient, but it is there. Even just getting up to the porch and main entrance requires going up stairs; however, there is a wheelchair-accessible entrance on one end, near the ice cream parlor, and by the reception desk, which is underneath the porch and one level down from the lobby. There are elevators but they are pretty old and slow, and we often found ourselves frustrated with waiting and just taking the stairs (we were lucky to have that option). There are nine ADA-compliant guestrooms.

Of course, one of the most sustainable things about the hotel and the island is its lack of motor vehicles. Most food at the hotel is island- or Michigan-grown; the hotel composts; and they implemented a water reuse system that provides water for air conditioning, golf course irrigation, boilers, and swimming pool via a closed-loop system. The hotel is working toward introducing bulk bath products and only provides boxed or glass water bottles.

Location

Grand Hotel is on Lake Huron, on the southeastern part of Mackinac Island. You can take a 15-25-minute ferry from either St. Ignace or Mackinac City or a seven-minute flight from St. Ignace, but no major airlines fly to the island. The boat docks are about a 20-minute walk from the hotel, or the hotel can arrange a horse-drawn carriage to pick up you and your luggage.