Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a popular destination for Texans. 

With nonstop flights into Traverse City from Dallas and Houston, and other fairly easy ways to get there, Northern Michigan is a delight for Texans as a coolcation. Driving through Northern Michigan, there are lakes everywhere you look! And with temperatures ranging from lows in the 60s to highs in the 70s, Texans soak up this opportunity to relax in a beautiful environment.

The horse drawn carriage that takes you up to Grand Hotel. Video Marika Flatt.

 

We took a flight from Austin to Chicago, then Chicago to Pellston, Michigan, which is an adorable two-gate airport that only has one baggage claim area. There, you will hop on a shuttle (approximately 20 minutes) to Mackinaw City, where you will board the Sheplers ferry (16 minutes), that takes you over to Mackinac Island. Once you deboard the ferry, you can hop on a horse drawn carriage that will take you up to Grand Hotel. Note: Mackinac Island is a car-less island!

From Horse-Drawn Carriages to High Tea: Grand Hotel is Mackinac Island’s Crown Jewel

The iconic Grand Hotel opened in 1887 and now sits as a national historic landmark. Their season runs from May through October, and they are closed the rest of the year. Each season has a theme bestowed up on it and the 2025 season is Timeless Tradition. You will see these timeless traditions sprinkled all throughout the grounds and the larger-than-life hotel, from their daily rituals to silly traditions, like Seersucker Sundays.

2026 will be the 140th Season at “America’s Summer Place”

Marika’s room at Grand Hotel. Video Marika Flatt.

The hotel opens its doors on the first Friday of May and closes the last Saturday of October each year (open only 177 days this year). Mid June through mid August is the busiest time with the Fourth of July sitting as the highest week of the season.

The hotel boasts a 94% occupancy rate in the 2025 season. All 388 guest rooms feature a unique design. Most guests make reservations through their website, choosing either a special experience (each weekend features a different event, such as Superhero and Princess weekend, which is really popular with families with young children), or specific dates. Many families will book the following season right after they leave the previous season.

The hotel is so famous that even the day visitors who flock over on the ferry will typically walk up the hill to see the Grand Hotel and some will even pay the $12 admission fee to have access to the lobby, parlor and the main dining hall.

This season celebrates the hotel’s 138th birthday and has them in the middle of a five-year restoration process (which Grand Hotel President David Jurcak, a Texan himself who grew up in Plano, tells me is really more of a 9 to 11 year renovation project).

One of the timeless traditions featured at Grand Hotel is the Dorothy Draper design found throughout. Known for pink and white or green and white stripes, and flowers of the brightest colors, this fanciful interior design is easily recognizable.

A walk-through the bottom two floors of Grand Hotel will showcase the famous geranium carpet from Ireland, the renovated Baroque bar off the parlor floor, the Manoogian Art Gallery (where all of the art featured comes from the home of a former owner who now has a house on Mackinac Island), Peacock Alley, the Terrace Room where the orchestra plays seven nights a week starting at 9:30 p.m. Fun fact: the Terrace Room was the first room to get air conditioning in the hotel because that’s where the dancing took place.

Bring back the grand wide hotel hallways of yesterday. Video Marika Flatt

The parlor floor also features the Geranium Bar which provides beverage service to the famous front porch, the longest front porch in the world at 600 feet. Another timeless tradition is bingo in the bar when it’s raining.

Another fun note about the famous front porch: the geraniums that line the porch are offered for guests to take home during the closing season weekend. The guest might keep this famous flower alive for years at their own home as a unique souvenir.

Grand Dining

The little coffee shop in the lobby opens at 7 a.m. and serves various breakfast fare and also stocks the hotel’s very own Big Porch Ale beer from Bell’s Brewery.

Also down on the bottom floor is the salon and spa and Sadie‘s ice cream parlor. Sadie’s is named after one of the previous owner’s (Mr. Musser owned the hotel from 1933 to 2019) award-winning dog. Sadie won three major dog shows and over 100 Best in Show awards.

The Pontic Room at Grand Hotel. Video Marika Flatt

The main dining room, one of the more iconic locations of Grand Hotel, can seat 750 people in the tulip decorated hall. There are team members who have worked as servers in the dining room for over three decades (on their name tags, it will show how many years they’ve worked at the hotel.)

Trip tip: Ask to be seated in the Pontiac Room, which sits at the back of the main dining hall and serves as a quiet location for dining in this refined garden room.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all served daily in the main dining room. The tradition for dinner is based on a slow meal, featuring a five-course dinner that should last approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. Guests will find that phones are highly discouraged during this time meant for connection with loved ones. Longtime visitors look forward to trying out the three rotating menus (red, yellow, and green) featured each night.

Afternoon tea, enjoyed in the parlor, includes a refined dining experience to the sounds of a live pianist or harpist. Ages ago, afternoon tea was celebrated as a pre-evening meal and a fashionable social event to stem hunger prior to dinner. You’ll get your choice of starting with either hot tea or iced tea and either a non-alcoholic sparkling juice or a glass of sherry. The various tiers of the beautiful tea service include small sandwiches, such as egg salad, scones, and various beautiful desserts.

Gate House is a casual restaurant at the bottom of the hill, offering indoor and outdoor seating and live music. Their slogan is, where you’re always on island time. I highly recommend starting with the classic northern poutine and then enjoying Andrea fresh fish or a tasty salad with grilled chicken. If you’re like us, you’ll want to spend the entire evening on the patio, listening to the band while enjoying a bottle of wine or an old-fashioned. We loved the slogans on the back of servers’ tshirts like: Where every meal feels like a vacation and We have no cars, but we have fries.

The Jockey Club is a patio restaurant sitting right next-door to Grand Hotel. Most diners were observing the hotel’s evening dress code, and the view of the golf course is relaxing and spectacular. A chilled bottle of Chardonnay pairs very well with a starter of whipped burrata, followed by beef short ribs or a lobster pasta. Make sure you wrap up the meal with Grand Hotel‘s famous dessert: a pecan ball.

Age Old Evening Tradition

Here’s a breakdown of the beloved ritual that is the nightly dinner tradition. Note: There is a very precise dress code for each evening. (Trip tip: Men, do not forget your tie!) As President David Jurcak says, “Every night is a celebration at The Grand Hotel!”

5:30 p.m. Summer Place Social hour, to include live musicians such as a pianist or a harpist.

6:30 p.m. The main dining room opens for dinner service.

8:30 p.m. Demitasse, which is an old tradition of having a special time for post-dinner coffee. 

9:30 p.m. Doors open to the Terrace Room to enjoy dancing to The Grand Hotel Orchestra until at least 11 p.m., if not later.

Other features at Grand Hotel…

The secret garden really is kept secret. A walk amid the front yard of the hotel will provide a clue to the beautiful garden popping with color.

Check out cruiser bikes at the Woodlands Activity Center, which can be done hourly with a minimum of two hours. Two hours is a great amount of time to ride this circumference of the island on the beautiful 8.2 mile paved trail.

Spend an afternoon at the beautiful Esther Williams swimming pool. For a special treat, reserve a cabana near the adult pool, which will include fresh fruit, chilled boxed water, and even your very own famous Mackinac Island fudge.

Fun trivia facts about Grand Hotel…

• While we were there, another guest had been there every season since 1938!
• Multigenerational families love to come to The Grand Hotel for many reasons, one of which is that when kids are around the age of 12 or 13 they can safely roam the island because it is such a safe location.
• In the 2025 season, The Grand Hotel employs 960 staff members from 34 countries and 25 states. Many of the staff come from Jamaica, the Philippines, Mexico, and Central America.
• Mr. Dan Musser, who owned the hotel from 1933 to 2019, started at the switchboard taking reservations, then worked as a lifeguard at the Esther Williams pool, and later owned the hotel. Another owner, Mr. Woodfill started as a desk clerk and later bought the hotel.
• The first year for The Grand Hotel to actually make a profit wasn’t until 1950 and was a result of fans coming to see the hotel after the movie “This Time for Keeps” starring Olympic swimmer turned actress Esther Williams, who the pool was later named after. The Grand Hotel historian Bob Tagatz says “Hollywood saved The Grand Hotel.”
• Another movie filmed at The Grand Hotel is “Somewhere in Time”, released in 1980, starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. This time travel film allowed Christopher Reeves to “escape the cape” (as he was quoted), paying him a simple $3 million and Jane Seymour only $50,000 for the film. Now Jane Seymour gets $50,000 just to attend the special “Somewhere in Time” weekend this year.
• The hotel has not closed its doors during season for 139 years. Even in its toughest time, during World War II, they offered rooms for five dollars a night to keep the doors open.
• Other daily rituals include the Siren Salute (a toast to the beginning of the afternoon, which happens at noon, punctuated by the sound of a siren), duck races at the pool, afternoon tea, summer social hour, and the first dance.

Consider reserving your own charming vacation at Grand Hotel during their 2026 season!

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Cover photo Marika Flatt.

Marika Flatt, Outstanding Austin Communicator 2021, is the Travel Editor of Texas Lifestyle Magazine. She began her travel writing career in 2002, and can be seen as a contributor on TV shows across Texas, such as KVUE, Daytime (FOX), San Antonio Living, Good Morning Texas, and KXAN!  Marika spent five years as the voice of the “Weekend Trip Tip” on NPR’s Texas Standard pre-Covid. She was captivated by the charm of the iconic Mackinac Island. Follow Marika on Instagram.