Grand Hotel

My husband and I stayed at The Grand Hotel this past week for 3 nights. At just under $800 a night we were expecting an excellent experience- unfortunately, this was not the case. We stayed in room 100 which was an end room. To our dismay there was no balcony to enjoy the amazing lake view. Instead, a sitting room with windows that would not stay open and slide right back down. We also got a queen bed after requesting a king- no big deal there was no guarantee at booking. There were a lot of people this specific week due to the lilac festival- most of which I’m sure had a fantastic group rate (for example an entire marching band was there as they performed in the parade). I was hoping that the Grand would do more to accommodate guests who were paying $800 a night as opposed to those who were paying a discounted group rate especially to keep future business. This was not the case. Despite our dissatisfaction at the lack of balcony and queen sized bed, we didn’t think it was a deal breaker for returning……just bad luck on a full week. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the dissatisfaction. If you enjoy cold showers that don’t drain- this is your place! I ended up not shaving my legs and waiting to wash my face in the sink with hot water. If you’re expecting immaculate rooms- also not the case. While it was definitely clean the walls had marks that could’ve easily been touched up with paint, the tiny 4 ft couch in the sitting room was stained, and the TV signal did not work one of the nights we were there. Also, you can not lay in bed and watch TV in room 100 because the TV is in the small sitting room. The food…….one word AWFUL. The night we were there it was a fixed 5 course menu. Which would’ve been fine if the food was not terrible. The appetizer we chose was oysters Rockefeller- it came- 1 oyster per person. Tasted awful. Salad- 3 bites of a Caesar for my husband and I wouldn’t eat the 3 cubes (1/2 in sized) in my salad because the oyster was so awful I didn’t trust the fish being served. Soup- watered down chowder with a few cubes of potatoe. Main entrees were edible. Desert was not fantastic. While we were waiting on our luggage which took over 3 hours we decided to have a cocktail and sit on the porch (the best part of The Grand), at $40 a cocktail (Grey Goose) definitely overpriced you are paying for the experience of The Grand. The luggage issue- another learning curve. While we were told that it could take 3 hours- we certainly didn’t expect it to! It did…..and because of the dress policy we had to wait on dinner because our nice clothes were in our suitcase. We were among 20 people on the ferry over- and the hotel in 13 minutes from the dock. So there was not a ton of people or luggage to deal with. On the way out- we were told that it could take three hours for our luggage to get to the ferry- which would’ve meant sitting at the dock in Mackinac City for three hours waiting for our suitcases to get there so we could drive ho

This was our fifth visit to the Grand Hotel as it has been a tradition to spend a weekend on Mackinaw Island around Halloween; however, this may be our last based on a noticeable decline in quality and service during our last visit. As with everything it seems these days, prices keep going up, but the quality has diminished. I was surprised at how busy it remains in this economy but seems if you treat it more like a theme park and budget appropriately, you might not be as disappointed knowing you will be spending a small fortune for the novelty of the iconic building and setting. Pros: • Beautiful setting, building and interiors • Fun to dress up and get pictures taken • Copula bar service and food was very good and has a beautiful view of the sunset Cons: • Breakfast service is nonexistent, and food was just old and gross; waited 30 minutes for a coffee that never came • Rodents in the ice cream parlor documented in videos • Bags now take 3 hours to get to the ferry and arrived soaking wet • Photos are dark with cheap frames compared to previous years and cost 1.5X more • You no longer get the cute round shampoo/conditioner bottles • I reached out to customer service, and they said they would get back to me but never did In conclusion if its your first time to the island, it is still a wonderful place to check out and if you treat it like a theme park you may not be as disappointed but no need to go back.