Grand Hotel Makes History
March 1 Opening Earliest in 118 Years

Grand Hotel staffed 20 employees for opening day, seven of whom are foreign nationals, including (from left) Clive Simms, Garfield Slowley, Headley Eubanks, and Steadley Pinnock, all from Jamaica. The men work at the hotel’s Jockey Club, pictured in the background.

Grand Hotel opened its doors for the 2005 season on Tuesday, March 1, two months earlier than its traditional May opening. The 118-year-old hotel, along with some light snowfall and, eventually, some sunshine, welcomed four guests on this year’s first day of business, with Island residents Jason St. Onge and his fiancé Jennie Shanku being the hotel’s first.

The couple enjoyed lunch at the hotel’s Jockey Club restaurant, across the street from the hotel. Later that evening, the Jockey Club was filled with many local residents helping the Grand celebrate its first day opening.

"When we heard that the Grand was going to open early," said Mr. St. Onge, "we wanted to reserve a room for the fun of it, but we also wanted to be part of the history with being the first guests."

The Grand has about 20 employees on staff for the early months, including seven from Jamaica. The early opening assured the hotel it would secure a full quota of foreign nationals to staff its operations this summer. It hires more than 330 foreign workers each summer season.

Grand Hotel has recruited workers from around the world for more than 30 years to fill some of the 550 jobs required for operation. Most are from Jamaica and Mexico, with several others from Austria and Australia.

Guests are staying in the 42-room Millennium Wing on the east end of the hotel and at Masco Cottage and enter the hotel at the garden terrace on the east end, facing Cadotte Avenue.

Hotel Historian and concierge Bob Tagatz and General Manager John Hulett said the winter experience is totally different from the summer. Guests are being treated to behind-the-scenes tours of the hotel with Mr. Tagatz and the Jockey Club is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In the meantime, workers are getting the rest of the hotel ready for its May 6 opening.

One new feature to the hotel this year will be the new Jane Seymour Room (room No. 392), which will be redecorated with Ms. Seymour’s own line of Grand Hotel bedding for Saks, Inc., the parent of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Ms. Seymour starred in the 1979 film, "Somewhere in Time," with Christopher Reeve. Much of the movie was filmed on the Island.

Grand Hotel was built in 1887 from the idea of Francis Stockbridge of Kalamazoo, a business tycoon. In 1886, three transportation companies, the Michigan Central Railroad, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and Detroit and Cleveland Steamship Navigation Company, acquired Mr. Stockbridge’s land and formed the Mackinac Island Hotel Company. It is now owned by the Musser family, owners since 1979.

The hotel has 385 rooms and the world’s longest porch, measuring more than 660 feet in length.