{"id":1676,"date":"2013-08-11T13:39:48","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T20:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=1676"},"modified":"2013-08-11T13:39:48","modified_gmt":"2013-08-11T20:39:48","slug":"serving-celebs-at-michigans-firekeepers-casino-and-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/1676\/serving-celebs-at-michigans-firekeepers-casino-and-hotel","title":{"rendered":"Serving Celebs at Michigan’s FireKeepers Casino and Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Entertainers<\/a>

Entertainers can tinkle the ivories and tune up on a piano in a Firekeepers Hotel suite.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hotel staffers and management are always on their toes when celebrities come to play and stay, but it turns out many stars are down to earth, according to Jeff LaFrance, vice-president of marketing at Firekeepers Casino, near Battle Creek. Show business performers have been \u201cgetting their Vegas on\u201d frequently since Firekeepers opened their colorful hotel and 2,000-seat event center in late December, performing in the evening, spending nights in guest suites, and enjoying the amenities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly Currington kicked off his country music tour with a performance here and invited his crew and friends into his suite for an after-show celebration,\u201d LaFrance recalls. \u201c\u2019Larry the Cable Guy\u2019 was spotted using the public workout facility, side by side with hotel guests who\u2019d come to see his show.\u201d<\/p>\n

All \u2018Larry the Cable Guy\u2019 asked for in his dressing room, in terms of star treatment, was Hooters-style chicken wings and Gatorade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is assumed that the bigger the entertainer the more outrageous their requests will be. This is not always the case,\u201d said LaFrance. \u201cMartina McBride just asked for peanut butter and jelly with Dr. Pepper. Jewel traveled with her son so we needed to provide diapers, a crib, humidifiers and baby food. Jewel even performed her sound check with her son on stage with her, coaxing him to sing along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firekeepers Casino had to be ready to give the royal treatment early on since Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was one of the hotel\u2019s first celebrity guests. But Firekeepers patrons even sometimes help roll out a proper Michigan welcome to the headline acts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn occasion we\u2019ve been given various items to deliver to artists such as flowers, cookies and candy,\u201d LaFrance reveals. \u201cWe\u2019ve also been given a guitar-shaped, homemade cake for \u2018Hall and Oates\u2019 sporting \u2018Halls\u2019 Throat Lozenges and Quaker \u2018Oates.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course the performers are provided extra security while staying at the hotel, and while some of them order room service for their meals, it would not be surprising to find yourself at a table \u2013 either dining or gaming \u2013 next to the likes of Don Rickles, Wynonna, Bob Eubanks, Martin Short, Gretchen Wilson, or musicians from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kansas, or the Steve Miller Band.<\/p>\n

To buy a ticket to see a performer or book a room to stay in the same hotel as one, log on to www.FirekeepersCasino.com<\/a> or call (877) 352-8777.<\/p>\n

Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a> can be heard weekdays mornings on 92.1 FM in Lansing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hotel staffers and management are always on their toes when celebrities come to play and stay, but it turns out… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[895753,895764,895754,895755,304609,895757,2834,895758,556048,895759,594032,895760,906636,895761,906967,895762,895752,2202],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","tag-martina-mcbride","tag-steve-miller-band","tag-jewel","tag-aretha-franklin","tag-hall-and-oates","tag-don-rickles","tag-michigan","tag-wynonna","tag-firekeepers","tag-bob-eubanks","tag-battle-creek","tag-martin-short","tag-jeff-lafrance","tag-gretchen-wilson","tag-billy-currington","tag-lynyrd-skynyrd","tag-larry-the-cable-guy","tag-kansas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2013\/08\/firekeepers-celeb.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","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=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1678,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions\/1678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}