Michigan hotels had the best showing of any state in the Midwest when it came to Travel and Leisure’s World’s Best Awards this year. Hotel Iroquois, Grand Hotel, and Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island—where private motor vehicles are banned—along with Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, were rated among the best in the world and appeared in the top 10 best-rated Midwest hotels in the rankings.
The magazine asks readers for feedback annually on travel experiences around the globe—readers rate cities, hotels and resorts, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. For this year’s awards, a total of 700,000 votes were cast across more than 8,700 survey items, with hotels specifically rated on rooms/facilities, location, service, food, and value.
The awards’ top-rated Michigan hotel, the historic Hotel Iroquois is located on the lake with a private beach and downtown Mackinac Island a block away. With 45 guest rooms and suites, it offers waterfront dining including an al fresco patio.
Grand Hotel is one of the most recognizable landmarks on the island, visible from the water upon approach and known for having the world’s longest porch along with 383 rooms and suites. It offers a variety of options for groups of all sizes, including its Woodfill Conference Center with two stories and 16,000 square feet of meeting space.
“Grand Hotel has been a timeless, luxurious place to stay because of its long history, incredible construction story, and traditions [like] afternoon tea or night dances,” says Steph Castelein, managing director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau. It took 600 laborers 93 days to build the hotel in 1887.
Another property included among Travel and Leisure readers’ top 10 resorts in the Midwest, Mission Point Resort is on Lake Huron, featuring 18 acres with a variety of restaurants, an 18-hole putting course, and 241 guest rooms and suites. With 38,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, it can host groups of all sizes.
“Mission Point Resort is tailored toward more relaxed, yet plush accommodations,” Castelein explains, adding that the resort’s grounds are extensive.
The southeast Michigan destination also landing among the Midwest’s top-rated in the World’s Best Awards is Saint John’s Resort, which has been undergoing major expansion and renovations in the past few years. Most recently, Saint John’s reopened its golf offerings via the flagship The Cardinal 18-hole championship course, The Little Cardinal seven-hole short course, and the 2-acre Cardinal Putting Course. Its event space, known as The Monarch, will expand the current 17,000 square feet of indoor space to an additional 17,000 square feet outdoors—the expansion is slated for completion in mid to late May next year, according to Managing Director Eric Djordjevic.
“It’s going to essentially double our current event space from a square footage perspective, just over 100,000 square feet for the whole complex,” Djordjevic says. It is all part of the resort’s $70 million transformation, which includes a new ballroom, the newly renovated Five Steakhouse, Doyles Irish Pub, and Wine Grotto.
Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest, Illinois, took first place among top-rated resorts in the Midwest in this year’s awards.
