Newsroom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 28, 2010

Grand Hotel Opens for its 124th Season featuring highlights ranging from antiques to flat screen TVs to Sadie’s trophies

MACKINAC ISLAND, MI—Grand Hotel opens the doors for its 124th season of distinctive summer hospitality on May 5, combining new amenities to make guests’ experience even more comfortable with the timeless ambiance for which it has become world famous.

New attractions this year range from a special antique appraisal event in the middle of July to flat screen televisions, a new game room for both the young and the young-at-heart, and a new Trophy Room for Sadie, the Scottish Terrier who earned “Best In Show” honors at the 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in February. Sadie is owned by Grand Hotel Chairman R. D. Musser II and his wife, Amelia.

“Every year, we look for opportunities to incorporate new amenities here at Grand Hotel while maintaining the unique historic character which has continued to bring guests back for 124 years,” said Grand Hotel President R. D. (Dan) Musser III. “We’ve been able to maintain that effort this year with features that we think will add to our guests’ enjoyment of Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island.

“Because of the countless inquires we’ve received about Sadie’s success, those new features also include a trophy room that will be located just off the parlor area displaying her trophies from Westminster and from dozens of other shows around the country where she earned ‘Best In Show’ honors during the past year.”

Sadie’s Trophy Room will be located just off the west end of the hotel parlor in what formerly was known as the Card Room. Sadie scored an unusual double in February when she won “Best In Show” at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York just days after she had been named “Dog of the Year” for 2009 by the American Kennel Club. In 2009 she won “Best In Show” in 112 shows around the U.S., including such prestigious shows as Long Beach, California, and the Terrier Show in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Of special note for antique aficionados will be the “Grand Mackinac Antiques Appraisal Show” on July 15. Famed antique appraisers the Keno brothers, Leslie and Leigh, will assess the value of up to two antiques per guest at a special event in the Grand Hotel Theatre.

Participants also will be invited to the grand opening of the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum on the island and will be able to attend a lecture by Peter Rathbone, director of American paintings at Sotheby’s. The art museum will be located in the historic Indian Dormitory located below the fort near the water on the island.

Grand Hotel visitors will notice an improvement when logging on to www.grandhotel.com. The hotel’s Web site has been updated with a new design, better functionality and more accessibility to information for online-user guests. Additionally, flat-screen televisions that were purchased from Michigan-based retailer, Meijer are being added to rooms.

For children, or the young-at-heart, a game room called “Quattro’s Quarters” has been added to The Gate House restaurant, located down the hill from the hotel. Quattro’s Quarters is named for 10-year-old Dan Musser IV, who is nicknamed Quattro because he is the fourth generation Dan Musser. The room will feature classic arcade games, such as pinball and shuffle board, and Quattro’s favorite arcade game, “the claw.” Grand Hotel guests can request a handful of complimentary arcade tokens when they are seated at The Gate House.

Grand Hotel, which hosts conferences and conventions throughout its season, will open the season hosting the state’s key travel professionals for the 2010 Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference – Driving Tourism, starting with a reception on May 5.

Grand Hotel is offering a special package for those participating in the “Grand Mackinac Antiques Appraisal Show.” The package includes invitations to the exclusive Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum grand opening event, lectures from the Keno brothers and Peter Rathbone, accommodations, and a full breakfast and five-course dinner daily. The package price is $349 per couple, per night, $274 for a single, per night, and $299 per additional adult.

There are several other new packages and promotions for the 2010 season. A new Pure Michigan Package will be available on select dates throughout the season and will include free golf green fees in addition to a standard room, full breakfast and five-course dinner, and a half pound of Grand Hotel fudge.

For the first time, these packages are also offering free golf green fees: Mother’s Day Weekend (May 7-9), AAA Memorial Day Weekend (May 29-31), Lilac Festival Package (June 11-20), Games & Gardens Week (August 29 – September 2), Carleton Varney’s Antique Show & Design Fall Festival (September 10-12), Girlfriends Getaway Weekend (September 24-26), Murder Mystery Weekend (October 1-3), Somewhere in Time Weekend (October 15-17), and Ballroom Dancing Weekend (October 22-24).

For guests who are not reserving one of Grand Hotel’s 20-plus packages, the hotel has added value to the social reservation by including the Grand Luncheon Buffet with the daily meals. Traditionally, the hotel has offered what is known as the Modified American Plan, which included a full breakfast and five-course dinner.

“We continually seek ways to maximize our guests’ stay with us so they can have the complete Grand Hotel experience,” said Musser. “Adding the Grand Luncheon Buffet to social reservations will allow guests to enjoy more of our well-known cuisine and add value to our room rates.”

Grand Hotel is continually recognized for the quality of its hospitality. It was featured in an article in the August 2009 edition of Delta Airline’s in-flight magazine Sky entitled “Around the World in 40 Stays.” Grand Hotel also is listed as one of Travel & Leisure magazine’s Top 500 hotels in the world and has been named a winner of the AAA Four Diamond Award for the 16th consecutive year. The T+L 500 is a guide to the best hotels and includes overall descriptions and expert insight about each of the 500 hotels in three categories: Competitive Edge, Best Rooms to Book, and What Not to Miss.

Grand Hotel, the world’s largest summer hotel, has been one of America's premier summer vacation spots since it opened on July 10, 1887 to receive summer vacationers who arrived by lake steamer or by rail.

2010 marks the 77th consecutive year the hotel has been under the stewardship of the same family. In March 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression at a time when all the nation’s banks had been closed, W. Stewart Woodfill was the sole bidder in an auction to take the hotel out of receivership. His nephew, R. D. (Dan) Musser II, became president in 1960 and purchased the hotel from Woodfill in 1979.

President R. D. (Dan) Musser III and Vice President Mimi Musser Cunningham became the third generation of their family to take the helm of the hotel in 1989. Dan is responsible for all day-to-day operations of Grand Hotel, while Mimi is responsible for the management and buying for all nine Grand Hotel shops.

Throughout its history, Grand Hotel has hosted dignitaries from around the country and the world, including five U.S. Presidents (Harry S Truman, John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, George Bush, and Bill Clinton).

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