Mackinac Gem, Grand Hotel, Named US's Top Historic Resort

Historic Hotels of America, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, named Michigan's own Grand Hotel as historic resort of the year for 2015. The hotel, one of the state's most famous landmarks, has presided elegantly over Mackinac Island since 1887 when it opened as a summer getaway for travelers arriving via lake steamer from Chicago, Montreal and Detroit.

The original rate—$3 to $5 a night—are 100% not in play today (a room will cost you $289 a person Sunday-Thursday, for example). The Grand Hotel isn't selling a Motel 6 experience, though. This place is for once-in-a-lifetime vacations.

While the price may give you pause, keep in mind that most reservations come complete with a full breakfast and a five-course dinner. Children under 11 also stay and eat free, and the hotel forbids tipping of any kind. It's still a splurgeâ€"we're not going to lieâ€"and more sticker shock comes into play in just two short weeks when the hotel will host an insanely opulent Halloween weekend.

The prices are ghoulishâ€"your weekend spook-tacular on the island will run $949 per couple ($849 single) for standard rooms or $1,265 per couple ($1,165 single) for lake views. The weekend includes a Friday night reception, a five-course dinner and an evening stroll through a haunted trail, followed by a party in the hotel's gate house including live bands They are also showing the movie Hocus Pocus, which we don't entirely understand, given that no one liked it 20 years ago, but maybe little children won't hate it. Saturday includes breakfast, a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, a pumpkin carving contest, another five-course dinner and a grand Halloween ball and costume party.

If you have midweek free time, and would like a free Grand Hotel experience, the hotel is also hosting a 30th anniversary reunion of the cast of Somewhere in Time, a time-traveling romance starring the late Christopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour, who is expected to attend this week's celebration. That event takes place Thursday and Friday, October 15-16, and will offer discussions, lectures and tours. Hotel guests are "encouraged to dress in the style of the film's 1912 setting," per the hotel website.

·Grand Hotel Overview [Grand Hotel]
·Mackinac's Grand Hotel named best historic resort by Historic Hotels of America [Crain's Detroit Business]
·Historic Hotels of America 2015 Awards of Excellence Winners Announced [Historic Hotels of America]
·'Somewhere in Time' cast to reunite at Grand Hotel [Detroit Free Press]