k_marie

In what is becoming a rather rushed itinerary, we’re looking for a hotel for two nights in Grand Rapids. We’ll be driving from Canada, Windsor-Detroit (Ambassador Bridge), to Grand Rapids. The following day we plan to see the Meyer May House with reservations in the morning and then the Meijer gardens afterwards. I’m hoping to find a hotel that would be convenient to those locations and that would give us easy access to I-196 as we’ll be headed toward Chicago the next day. My preference would be avoiding downtown hotels with the overnight parking fees. Any suggestions from those of you who know the city? We do tend to opt for Hilton properties. Thank you,

cgenster

There is a Hilton Gardens on the East Beltline in Grand Rapids. It’s about six miles from the Meyer May House and about four miles from Meijer Gardens. It is not downtown and has free parking. There are many restaurants and stores nearby. It’s not too far from I-196 via M-6.

If you come after my company leaves, I will have a king bed with two twin duvets for your comfort.

k_marie

Thanks so much, cgenster!

I’ve been looking at the listings and the maps and getting more and more confused. Your explanation of the location and mention of the nearby restaurants really help. Off to check it out right now.

cgenster

Rose’s on Reeds Lake is a good place to eat. It has a nice outside waterfront area. It’s about 3.5 miles from the hotel.

k_marie

Thanks for the advice on Roses’s, cgenster. I had googled for places to eat near the hotel and had already added the Rose’s info to my travel notes. Here’s hoping for pleasant weather so we can enjoy the outdoor space.

tom_mn

There was a recent topic about Grand Rapids hotels. If you know Hilton brands and the advantages of each the Homewood Suites near the Hilton Garden is fine.

Both hotels have free parking. The area is OK but I would sigh thinking of spending 2 nights here (by the airport) while on vacation. Purely functional and not in any way special.

Allow 2-3 hours for the sculpture garden.

k_marie

On the advice of our friends in Canada, we are now planning to cross the border at the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia. It should be easier driving with less traffic and the route seems more direct from their home

Thanks for your comments, tom_mn. I’ll look for the other thread. Other than the airport and downtown, what other neighborhood do you recommmend for easy access to the two places of interest and an easy getaway the next morning?

tom_mn

Hopefully a local will sign in. For GR I am just using the airport a lot. Searching for hotels they are mostly either by the airport or downtown, probably not unusual for a city. There's a prosperity buzz to GR that makes me think there's a lot here, I have only seen the sculpture garden. Thanks for the Meyer May house recommendation, will do that next time. I found this but it is $300 a night https://leonardatlogan.com/book/#5MU4bPMVoA

cgenster

I don’t know your dates, but Art Prize is going to be September 15th through October 2nd. It’s a very popular event in GR, and there will be entries all throughout the city. Here is a link.

https://artprize.org/

k_marie

Thanks, tom _mn. The airport location will probably serve us well. Once we have had dinner, we’ll be in for the night with the US Open anyway.

We have visited a few Frank Lloyd Wright properties—FallingWater, some in Chicago, and the recently renovated Darwin Martin house in Buffalo. That restoration amazes me with its meticulous attention to detail, craftsmanship, and authenticity. I’ll be looking for the same at the Meyer May house.

k_marie

Our drive today was much too tedious as the wait for immigration on the US side of the beautiful Blue Water Bridge was 1.5 hours! Dinner at Rose’s has us thinking we may return tomorrow night and sit outside better to enjoy the lakeside view. Other restaurants in the group have somewhat similar menus but this location was convenient for us. Looking forward to house then garden tomorrow.