{"id":1214,"date":"2012-06-03T14:05:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T21:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=1214"},"modified":"2012-06-04T09:24:28","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T16:24:28","slug":"shiels-picks-great-grand-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/1214\/shiels-picks-great-grand-hotels","title":{"rendered":"SHIELS’ PICKS: GREAT GRAND HOTELS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dictionary defines the word \u201cgrand\u201d as “impressive in size, appearance, or general effect; stately, majestic, or dignified; magnificent, splendid, noble or revered.”<\/em> The hotel industry, more than any, seems to have adopted and embraced the word grand. While the world\u2019s major cities often have historic hotels which are grand, some of these elaborate palaces have gone so far as to put the word in their name. Hyatt has even attached the word to the front of all its more upscale properties, including the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Grand hotels exist in Katmandu,\u00a0Iran,\u00a0Sapporo,\u00a0Sri Lanka,\u00a0Vienna, and other world destinations, but some memorable beauties are closer to home.<\/p>\n

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Grand Del Mar is a Mediterranean Manor on a canyon estate near San Diego. Photo Credit: Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

Grand Hotel, a white, wooden icon, looms over\u00a0Michigan\u2019s timeless\u00a0Mackinac Island\u00a0from a commanding bluff. Grand Hotel, celebrating its 125th\u00a0anniversary, sets the antique tone for the summertime tourist island where the only vehicles are horse-drawn, and guests, who dress for dinner, dine and dance to live orchestra music. The world\u2019s largest porch affords views of Great Lakes Michigan and Huron, and the delicate \u201cMighty Mac\u201d suspension bridge which both divides the lakes and connects the state\u2019s upper and lower peninsulas.<\/p>\n

\u201c100 years ago there were 1,200 of these grand, wooden hotels built in\u00a0Americaby railway companies to encourage tourism. Now there are only 12 left,\u201d said Bob Tagatz, who serves as Grand Hotel\u2019s historian and concierge.<\/p>\n

Grand Hotel should not be confused with Sault Ste. Marie\u2019s \u201cGrand Motel,\u201d a decidedly-less historic offering. Visit www.grandhotel.com<\/a>\u00a0or call (800) 33-GRAND.<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s other grand hotels include the Amway Grand, in\u00a0Grand Rapids, originally opened at The Paintlind in 1913 but refurbished and renamed in 1981. The hotel, in the middle of downtown, is decidedly corporate and businesslike, but does offer some reminders of its\u2019 elegant and plush history when guests walk into the original lobby through the Monroe Street entrance, but most use the Pearl Street valet entrance. Visit\u00a0www.AmwayGrand.com<\/a>\u00a0or call (616) 774-2000.<\/p>\n

The Grand Del Mar, a just north of San Diego, is a modern classic \u2013 a sprawling, tasteful palace of Mediterranean elegance featuring Addison \u2013 Southern California\u2019s only five-star, five-diamond culinary experience. Two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses tumble into and climb above the canyon below the gated estate and provide vistas for the resort\u2019s stately swimming pool areas. Visit\u00a0www.GrandDelMar.com<\/a>\u00a0or call\u00a0(855) 314-2030.<\/p>\n

Disney\u2019s Grand Floridian Hotel, in\u00a0Orlando, is actually a replica of\u00a0San Diego\u2019s beachfront Del Coronado Hotel which, for all its historic glamour, has seen better days. Disney\u2019s red-roofed, white-walled, period piece version, complete with a lobby orchestra, is right next to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail track and very well suited for conferences and weddings. Visit\u00a0www.DisneyWorld.go.disney.com<\/a> or call 800-W-DISNEY for a grand time.<\/p>\n

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Michigan based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels, a Downriver native, may be contacted atInviteYourself@aol.com<\/span><\/a> or via\u00a0www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dictionary defines the word \u201cgrand\u201d as “impressive in size, appearance, or general effect; stately, majestic, or dignified; magnificent, splendid,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17,19164],"tags":[371009,499323,43,1871,4617,499546,498338,499897,498664,2834,498928,2833,499058],"class_list":["post-1214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-courses-and-travel","category-offcourse","tag-grand-del-mar","tag-addison","tag-tom-fazio","tag-san-diego","tag-disney","tag-grand-floridian","tag-grand","tag-hotels","tag-grand-hotel","tag-michigan","tag-mackinac-island","tag-grand-rapids","tag-amway-grand"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2012\/06\/GRAND_DEL_MAR.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1214"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1235,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1214\/revisions\/1235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}