Michigan lakes lodging for 6 (4 teens)
 

Hello. Planning last minute for a few days along a beach in Michigan-leaving from Chicago area. Any suggestions as to a nice place to stay for a family of 6 that would be along a beachshore and have activities for the teens nearby? Also, would need a place that would allow daily rentals as we would arrive on a Wed and ckout on a Sunday.
Thanks so much!

Can you tell us where in Michigan you'd like to go? There is a lot of shore line there, how far "up" are you traveling? If you can narrow it down a little we can help out with suggestions.

Mmm, would like to travel no more than 3 hours from Chicago area. Thanks for your help.

I'm sorry, I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but there was a thread a while back that might give you some ideas. The name of the thread was "Recommendations for Lower Peninsula MI Beach Town with no train horns/noise" and you can probably find it by searching the forum for some of those key words. I am most familiar with the Saugatuck area but most beach rentals there are for a full week, although you could always check for cancellations and last-minute openings.

Hi Barbara in Florida....we have something in common, I'm also in Florida and my name is Barb. Anyway, enough of that...we will be in Saugatuck in September...staying at the Park House Inn...what can you tell me about the area?
Thanks

Love Saugatuck! Spend at least one full week and many weekends there every year. There's always something to see/ do. Oval Beach is beautiful! If you have kids (or are one yourself) the dune buggy ride is a lot of fun. There are a lot of great shops and restaurants in Saugatuck, as well as Douglas, which is only a few minutes away.
We like to grab a pizza at Morrows and take it to the beach to watch the sunset.

I agree with what "parisinspring" said and there are links to all those things on the Park House Inn website. What's nice about staying in town is that you'll be able to walk easily to dinner & shopping -- in September some of the crowds will be gone (although if it's nice there are always tourists -- the town would disappear without us!). Our culinary ritual is not pizza, but repeated trips to Kilwin's for fudge and/or ice cream during the week. (Another note on tourists -- people sometimes complain a bit about the crowds -- but in my experience it's not any worse, and usually a lot better, than many FL beach destinations, and much more charming.)

On www.saugatuck.com there's a calendar of monthly events -- there are often walking tours or other historical tours available.

I am not into fishing myself but some family members are and there are charters available for doing that as well...

If you run into some weather that's not good for the beach or outdoor activities, there are plenty of galleries and little shops where you can spend some time, and there's shopping and movie theaters up in Holland, which is only about 15-20 minutes away.

I hope you enjoy your trip!