I have stayed at Grand Hotel many times over the years. The hotel stay this year was generally very nice. The property continues to be improved year over year -- Thank You for reinvesting in it! Room was ready early on check in day, nice. A few small challenges to work on, though. The dining room staff was spotty on service around timeliness of visiting the table, not clearing away unused seating settings. Mr. Crutcher or Kenny would have not been happy. At the Jockey Club, the staff was slow to turn on the heaters and lower the canopy sides when the temperature got cold. These are small items. The biggest issue was, however, the luggage pick up on check out day. Called before 3 hours prior to ferry departure. When I left to walk to the ferry, my luggage was still by my door. Called the bell captain who explained, "they were busy". When I got to Mackinaw City. My luggage wasn't there. It finally came over later, on two separate ferries one-half hour apart. You should fix that. It's not like you don't know when rooms are turning over, and in what volume. Overall, good stay. Loved the pool area. Thanks! See you next year.…
The view, quality, dining and amenities are very good. The staffing shortages caused some waits beyond normal but not bad. The changes to the pool, etc. definitely reflect the change toward being more family-focused and more kids are dining at dinner than before, so not quite as exclusively adult and formal. Still a great experience and the golf was better than expected.
Better than we ever dreamed! My wife has wanted to stay at Mackinac Island her entire life. I had little interest in it but finally agreed. We both loved and are definitely doing it again! The slow pace “forced” on you by having to use the horses for everything is very relaxing….you must try it!
We have been enjoying The Grand for the last 25 years, with the exception of the two Covid years. And since than a lot has changed. The ownership has changed as well as of some of the standards we were use too. At 1200$ a night, the honor refrigerator is no longer stocked, yet it is still in the the room EMPTY , you no longer supply the personal sundries, like q-tips nail file, ect. all things you use too. All the portions seem to be a little smaller at dinner. The Grand has become just Great. and thats to bad. Room services never answered the phone, even though they have a late menu, we tried several times between 9:30 And 10:00 with no answer. We had a king bed with just 3 pillows that were completely flat and needed replacement. A little disappointed for sure.
The Grand is always exquisite - so beautiful with amazing views; but the new pool complex is unbelievable. There is an adult tub (above the huge family pool, which has a great slide by the way); and the adult pool is really warm and has a fantastic view of the bay. There are new lovely chairs as well. There is a new beautiful building with a lovely workout area. Top notch!
The reservations people were polite but grossly incompetent. Booked 4 rooms and wanted to cancel 1 room they cancelled entire reservation. Had to rebook and spent lot of time sorting it out. Staff excellent at hotel but inexperienced. Food excellent. Worth a visit again.
The experience was good but was very expensive-I rally thought it was over priced for what you got. You did a great job remodeling but the price for everything is way out of bounds. I really thought you should have the priced the stay so expensive-I believe you will notice this on your bookings
The setting is matchless. The attempt to recreate the past is intriguing. The attention to detail is wonderful. The food was presented in several courses with so much choice and variety. Everything was so tasty, except maybe the beef, but I'm from Texas.
A wonderful romantic trip!! Best birthday present ever!! Staying at The Grand Hotel is like stepping back in time. Gorgeous hotel and island. Loved the suite we were in! We will be back again! The best!
Stayed June 2022 for the Lilac Festival and an early celebration of our 20th anniversary. I'll try to make the summary of our experience short, but this is still a long review. While overall an enjoyable experience, there were numerous problems that I would never have expected to experience or observe for a resort of this caliber and given the rates. Our expectations were very high and the Grand fell short. I received a survey after our visit and I took the time to lay out what we enjoyed and where the Grand fell short. I received an email thanking me for the honest feedback and that the information was shared with the appropriate staff to avoid making the same mistakes. Hopefully this is so. Starting even with the reservations process there was an unusual issue, wherein I received notice that my reservation had been "changed". This was confusing and concerning as I had not changed anything. What i noticed is that the new reservation was $20 more with no explanation given. I reached out via email and was informed that this was the baggage fee. Of course, this should have been made clear up front when i paid, not added later as a surprise fee. When we arrived for check-in at about 6 pm, there was one person at the desk and dealing with other guests who were having an issue. It was taking some time and there was zero acknowledgement of our presence (a "we'll be with in you a moment" is customary everywhere). On check in, we were informed that it would take up to 3 hours for our bags to reach our rooms (later found out it is officially up to 2 hours but we were absolutely told 3 hours as were the guests in front of us). We were completely taken aback by this and reviewed our communications and the website to see if this was made clear anywhere. If there was information about this, we couldn't find it. The luggage has to travel from the ferry docks to the hotel via carriage, so some delay is understandable but we had been on the island a couple of hours by this point and knew the bags were in the hotel. Had we known of the delay, we'd have simply brought the bags with us and/or checked in immediately upon arrival to the island. We attempted to see if this could be expedited or how long it might actually take to get the bags but were told simply by the second person we were asked to talk to that we were in the queue (rather grumpily I'll add). The problem with the delay is that we needed our clothes for dinner in the main dining room. We went to our room and waited for a while, then decided to talk to the manager to try and understand how long we might have to wait (and should we scrap our dinner plans and just go to a casual restaurant?) The manager, fortunately, had our bags up to our room by the time we walked back. She also offered us a credit, which was much appreciated gesture. We had a balcony room with a spacious sitting area. Very nice room but the balcony needs work. There was a plastic fork on the floor when we walked in. The room otherwise appeared to be properly cleaned (although the balcony windows have not been cleaned in some time). The bathroom had been recently renovated (very tasteful) but the handle on the shower and the faucet were both loose. These should be easy fixes but apparently low priority (I forgot to mention it on check out but housekeeping should have reported it). The bed was very comfortable. Back to the balcony, great view, but not a very inviting place to relax at all. It had peeling paint, a wood table with peeling paint, and cheap aluminum and plastic strap furniture with no cushions. For the price we paid for this room I still can't get over this. Dinner in the main dining room is probably more about the experience than the meal. The courses before the entrees were just okay. I really enjoyed the beef but my wife did not enjoy the fish at all (very disappointing). I have a gluten sensitivity and they were able to accommodate that with no issues at all. Meanwhile, my folks were staying at Mission Point Resort on the island and had a meal less than half the price of ours that they said was one of the best they've had. The following night we were to have dinner at the Woods, but there was a mix up on the reservation and it was made 2 hours later than i recall making it. It could have conceivably been my mistake, but I really don't think it was because I had always intended to eat a little early and enjoy the evening elsewhere. I was informed of something about a 2-hour slot on the reservations form probably being the reason it was made 2 hours late (I didn't really understand it). There was an apology and an offer for a reservation at the Jockey Club. We declined and walked down to the village for dinner. Later that evening we went up to the Cupola Bar atop the Grand. This is a very neat place, with an amazing view of the Straits, but the service upstairs this night was exceedingly bad. Getting drinks was okay initially as it wasn't very busy, we then received a surprise bill before we were planning on leaving; ordered more drinks but they never came so I just went to the bar and got them myself; not seeing our waitress again (well, she was 20 feet away but never came to the table) until we decided to leave and ask for the bill. I don't blame the waitress, I just don't think she was properly experienced or trained. I felt bad for her because the other staff were noticeably agitated with her. The worst thing I witnessed happened to the table next to us. The server brought an extra order of sliders the guest said he did not order, and the extra order was taken back. About 5 minutes later, the server returns, argues that the guest did in fact order them and said he would bag them up for him. I was floored. The other guest was exceedingly patient and polite and kept the sliders. I would not have kept the sliders on principle. Even if this was an honest miscommunication, the guest is always correct in this situation (and I don't think he ordered them as they had other food as well). I also saw a member of the staff accept a tip here (and it is not as though it was just left on the table, it was a personal hand-off). There is no tipping inside the Grand and staff should know to politely refuse. The service was so bad, it was comical. It would have been comical anywhere, but to experience this at the Grand Hotel? The Grand is likely experiencing labor issues like everyone else and appears to just be throwing bodies at it. I'd rather they just be open about this to set expectations rather than pretend all is normal. Also, rumor among the locals (and we have a lot of family in the area) is that many staff quit after the new private equity ownership took over and started doing things "their way" rather than listening to what worked. The highlights of our visit were just enjoying the beauty of the hotel and grounds, the history of the place, and the evening entertainment (top notch). It is an amazing place, just wish the service and hotel processes reflected that. We did take a little time to tour the new pool. Had we had our kids with us, this would have been a highlight as well. They did a very nice job with the pool. There is also a new mini golf area (was opening the week after our visit) and the tennis courts are receiving a much needed revamp. I'm just not sure these capital projects should be taking priority over the service and rooms.…
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