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The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

A Grand time


Courtesy The Grand

The 700-square-foot Art Gallery featuring American artwork serves as the entrance and is often used for registration and vendors’ booths. Smaller meeting rooms surround the Theatre, which, despite its name, does not have permanent seating. Flexible space can be used for large sessions, banquets for up to 500, receptions and live performances.

The 3,145-square-foot Brighton Pavilion and the 1,207-square-foot Headquarters of the Capitol Club are used for board meetings, breakout sessions and exhibits. The 3,145-square-feet Terrace Room is an intimate setting for meetings, cocktail receptions, private breakfasts and lunches. It also has a stage and dance floor, because this is where nightly dances are held to the sounds of the Grand Hotel Orchestra.

The 529-square-foot Gerald R. Ford Conference Room near the Theatre and the similarly sized Straits of Mackinac rooms at 621 square feet are ideal for smaller meetings, breakout sessions and speaker preparation.

Ten other meeting rooms and spaces are scattered throughout the hotel, including the Grand Pavilion, at the north end of the main dining room. The 3,604-square-foot room is the hotel’s newest meeting room. Its generous windows make the room a favorite meeting area for Stephanie Fisher, director of education and meeting planner for the Michigan Banking Association (MBA), a group that has been meeting at the Grand since the 1960s.

“We like it because of the natural light,” she said.

The group — and Fisher — are pleased with the Grand.

“We survey our membership each year, and they pretty much unanimously vote to return to the Grand,” she said. “As a meeting planner, I find the Grand wonderful to work with. Once the sales team books it, the meeting is turned over to a convention manager, so you work with only one person.”

Some say the Grand is pricey, but Fisher points out that many services are included in the base price. For example, groups do not pay extra for the use of meeting rooms, in-house audiovisual equipment, morning and afternoon coffee breaks, or the services of the personal convention manager.

Because the bankers group returns year after year, Fisher keeps meetings fresh by adding new events. Last year, when the association celebrated its 125th anniversary, the group had fireworks.

“Not a whole lot of places would let you do that,” said Fisher.

The group also had a reception at the Michigan governor’s island home and toured three houses on the west side of the island.

A popular family event was the pedal and picnic, which involved bicycling and box lunches. The eight-mile loop around the island is a must-do.

The MBA’s favorite spot for a VIP reception is the hotel’s two-story Cupola Bar at the top of the hotel. The view  includes the Mackinac Bridge. The bankers also love what Haywood calls the most popular spot for receptions: the front porch.

“It is spectacular,” said Haywood. “We like to take advantage of the location.”