“Everybody wants to see the other fellow changed. Every nation wants to see the other nation changed. But everybody is waiting for the other fellow to begin. The Oxford Group is convinced that if you want an answer for the world today, the best place is to start with yourself. This is the first and fundamental need.” – Frank Buchman, head of the Moral Re-Armament for 23 years. MRA began holding conferences on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in 1942, first at Island House Hotel.
Four years ago, I introduced my significant other to Mackinac Island. We made a quick, overnight trip on our way to explore the Upper Peninsula and stayed at Island House Hotel after I found a deal on Expedia. It’s since become a bit of a Labor Day tradition. This year, I’m eager to do my first Labor Day Bridge Walk.
Addicted to Mackinac Island
We’ve both become addicted to Mackinac Island, joining the thousands of others who share their love of the island on the private Facebook group Addicted to Mackinac Island. My SO never asks to go anywhere, and he first brought up returning to the island. A trip to the Straits area and Mackinac Island has become a yearly vacation destination.
Last year, we stayed at Hart’s Inn for three nights over Labor Day weekend, then rented a cabin at Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground and looked at the island for three days. We made a last-minute decision to go back for the rest of our vacation. We were lucky to book the last available room at Island House Hotel and then Murray Hotel.
This year, we plan to stay three nights, but who knows? Maybe we’ll extend it. We enjoy trying out different historic hotels and B&Bs and plan to stay at Chippewa Waterfront Hotel and Harbour View Inn on this trip. And while we aren’t staying at Island House Hotel, it’s still an island favorite.
The real charm of this hotel is the history, the location and the view. And the porch. You have to spend time on the porch. During our visit two years ago, the families of a bride and groom gathered on the porch for a meet-and-greet. The bride sat and talked to a random hotel guest, eyeing the reception taking place on the round front porch. Her dad relaxed in a rocking chair and said: “I have my drink and my view. I’m good.”
For history buffs, the hotel’s history and mystery is part of the allure. For first-time and repeat guests, the amenities, historical charm, service and family-friendly atmosphere garner favorable reviews on Tripadvisor.
Island House completes remodel
We’ve stayed at Island House Hotel three times in a regular queen or traditional room with no view. They are still nice and the most budget friendly. The room rates have gone up since the remodel, but you can still find early and late season deals and special packages on the website. Plus, you don’t visit Mackinac Island to sit in your room.
Island House completed an extensive remodel in 2020, investing $4 million to update the hotel’s 94 guest rooms. The multiyear makeover began in 2015 with the 1852 Grill Room and Ice House BBQ’s outdoor seating area. You can read more about the history and accommodations in my Historic Inns & Lodges piece, Live-In History, in the spring 2020 issue of Michigan BLUE. The hotel also details the history here.
“There are a lot of places to spread out and let your kids run around,” said Todd Callewaert, hotel CEO and president. “It’s just a comfortable place to stay, and you’re living the history. We have pictures in the hotel of it back in the 1800s. You can see guests on the same porch.”
Living the history
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
“If the porch of Island House Hotel could give up its secrets, it would surely spill details of the century-old soirees and vacation stays of early Mackinac Island settlers, Chicago socialites, members of the Moral Re-Armament and 21st-century guests.
One of the earliest hotels on Mackinac Island, Island House Hotel dates to 1852 and used to sit near the water, a simple three-story structure without the stately east and west wings. Today, thanks to several additions and renovations — including saving the hotel from demolition in 1969 — the historic landmark is a well-appointed resort with a circular drive for carriage drop-offs, lush flowers and gardens, two restaurants and remodeled guest rooms.
The island’s oldest operating hotel opened roughly 16 years after Michigan became a state – and a decade before the Civil War – and joins Grand Hotel as the only two Historic Hotels of America on the island. Black-and-white photographs hang throughout the lobby, transporting visitors to another era, when guests in three-piece suits, long dresses and hats gathered on the same porch.”
Local family spared hotel from demolition
For 50 years, Island House Hotel has been owned by the Callewaert family, which continues a rich tradition of entrepreneurship on the island. The family owns and operates several businesses, including Ryba’s Mackinac Island Fudge, Seabiscuit Café, Pancake House and Mary’s Bistro Draught House. Harry Ryba, son James and son-in-law Victor Callewaert, Todd’s father, purchased the hotel, which sat vacant from 1949-69, and leased the land from Mackinac Island State Park. They spared the hotel from demolition, taking great care to preserve the unique architectural features of the hotel’s exterior, including its many columns, porch spindles, gables, windows and door styles.
General Manager Alan Sehoyan emphasizes service and hospitality for the hotel’s many wedding parties, visitors experiencing Mackinac Island for the first time, or vacationers seeking an escape from the daily grind. Island House welcomes international travelers, families, school groups, and couples looking for a romantic getaway.
The hotel has a picture-perfect view of the harbor, where ferries arrive and depart from the main docks. There is so much to take in: freighters passing in the Straits, boats docked in the island’s municipal marina, bicycle porters carefully balancing bags as they ride up the hotel’s hilly driveway, and a steady stream of horse-drawn taxis and island visitors bicycling along M-185, the state highway that encircles the island.
“I think people are fascinated by the history of it; you don’t get a lot of that at most hotels,” Sehoyan said, when I interviewed him for the story. “The freight boats and the sailors and sail boats out on their moorings, it’s just beautiful out there, very relaxing. I think people leave relaxed.”
Island House perfect place to relax
From the porch, you have a bird’s eye view of true Mackinac Island life. All of the guests seem to love this and like to sit in the rocking chairs and take it all in – bicycles, boats and ferries! The hotel is also a short walk to the main downtown area, so you can watch people walking by at all hours of the day and night.
If you like resort amenities, the hotel has an indoor pool/spa, outdoor eatery (popular with locals) and the 1852 Grill Room offering fine dining and waterfront views. Island House also has on-site bike rentals, discount ferry tickets with a reservation, and complimentary baggage handling. The porters are pros at getting luggage to and from the ferry! And the front desk employees are pros at getting you in a room as soon as one is available. The front porch, where they hold weddings and receptions, is starting to lean, but that gives it character and charm. Guests can also enjoy fires and s’mores on the lawn in the evening.
Lessons from Moral Re-Armament
A group called the Moral Re-Armament Association (MRA), an international peace and spiritual movement, discovered the peace and tranquility of Mackinac Island and leased the hotel from Mackinac Island State Park. The hotel served as the organization’s headquarters from 1942 until 1949. The MRA developed in 1938 from American minister Frank Buchman‘s Oxford Group. The MRA moved to what is now Mission Point and built an extensive training center.
One of the movement’s core beliefs was that changing the world starts with seeking change in oneself, which circles back to the opening quote. I don’t know much about the MRA, but I do know that idea – be the change you want to see in the world – crosses centuries, continents and religions. And it’s desperately needed today. We could all use to check ourselves – our biases, our character flaws, our judgments and our need to be right – and look within to see how WE can do better.
If your soul is weary and you need respite, Mackinac Island is the place to find it. If you’re tired of the rat race, Mackinac Island is an escape to a slower pace where you can fill your days with exploring, biking and hiking – or fill them with nothing. If you’re longing for quiet time to self-reflect and renew your spirit, book a stay at Island House Hotel or any one of the lovely hotels or B&Bs on the island. You won’t regret it.
Enjoy the rest of the photos from past stays at Island House Hotel. Although we’re skipping it this trip, I know we’ll be back. The living history seems to call everyone back. Once you go, you know!
Marla R. Miller is an award-winning journalist, travel writer, and content marketing writer who lives in Norton Shores. Please “like” or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
