BACKSTORY: From the Grand Hotel website: Grand Hotel has always embraced its rich history, but kept up well with the times. Today, guests enjoy modern amenities while the hotel’s original architecture and charm have been tastefully preserved. Contributing greatly to the hotel’s ambiance is the relaxed atmosphere of Mackinac Island, where cars are not allowed and the horse and carriage and bicycle are favored modes of transportation. At 660 feet, Grand Hotel's Front Porch is the world's largest, and is visible as you approach the island from the Straits of Mackinac. More than 130,000 overnight guests stay at Grand Hotel each season; the 5,000,000th guest in Grand Hotel history checked in on June 26, 2006. While more than one million people visit Mackinac Island each year, the island has only 600 year-round residents. It takes 500,000 gallons of water to fill Grand Hotel's swimming pool, which was named for actress Esther Williams who starred in the 1947 movie "This Time for Keeps," shot at Grand Hotel. The 1980 film "Somewhere in Time," starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer, was filmed on location at Grand Hotel. The movie now has a huge following, with a fan club that meets at Grand Hotel each October.
