Marquette Lodgings

Most motels are on the busy, confusing commercial strip along U.S. 41/M-28 going west from town. A wide range of facilities are on the highway here, including most major chains and a number of good, inexpensive independent motels. However, this environment is entirely auto-dominated and without a view of Lake Superior. If you stay here, you'll need a car to go just about anywhere. That's a much less flexible situation if members of your traveling party have different habits and preferences. Our selections favor the few in-town locations and lodgings with a Lake Superior view.

Lodgings are arranged from downtown to U.S. 41 West and then U.S. 41 South.

THE LANDMARK INN
(906) 228-2580

An eye-catching 1920's oil painting above the fireplace in the Landmark Inn's lobby.

Elegantly restored to much fanfare in 1997, this 6-story, full-service boutique hotel, built between 1917 and 1930, has a wonderful downtown location on Front at Ridge (the street of historic homes). 
It aims to offer the personal style and service of a bed and breakfast. It's a favorite winter weekend and romance getaway for hardworking central Upper Peninsula residents who appreciate good food and a luxurious setting without a long drive. Look on the Landmark Inn website for special packages. The original hotel rooms have been combined to create 62 rooms including suites and lakeview rooms. Each is decorated individually with some antiques. Even the bathrooms have their own special styles. The large lobby of this once derelict hotel is now handsomely paneled in cherry and mahogany, with chandeliers and marble floors. 23 rooms, including each corner suite, have electric fireplaces. Half the guest rooms survey Marquette Harbor, half look out on the town. Retaining the original window openings (essential in preserving the historic character) means you have to be near the window to see the view.
   "Specialty rooms" have themes honoring famous guests like Amelia Earhart or local legends like Chief Kawbawgam or the late local historian Fred Rydholm.
(This room has a lodge look). All rooms have in-room coffee and tea, Wi-Fi, and movie channels.
Meals are served in Capers, the casual/ fine dining restaurant, and in the Northland Pub. Rates are higher in high season (mid-June thru Oct) and winter/spring (Nov thru mid-June). Standard queen, king, or double rooms are $149/$129. Jacuzzi rooms are $239/$209. Two-room suites with two baths, a king bedroom, and a sitting area with pullout sofa are $269/$229. The $399 ($359 off-season) sixth-floor penthouse suite is like having your own apartment: 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and a good view. All guests have free access via a 5-minute shuttle to Northern Michigan University's state-of-the-art exercise complex, including a lap pool, rock-climbing wall, and whirlpools. 


   For 4 decades the 6-story Northland Hotel was the most elegant place in town. After years of neglect, it closed in 1982, then stood empty while a succession of prospective developers checked it out. Bruce and Christine Pesola longed to resurrect it but couldn't afford to do so. They went on to build and manage many rental units and commercial properties. Finally they were able to buy the hotel, just as demolition approached. Christine drew on her cache of antique furniture and researched hotel history for the theme rooms. In 1998, The Landmark Inn became Michigan's first hotel awarded membership to the prestigious Historic Hotels of America.

RAMADA INN
(906) 228-6000
This full-service, 112-room hotel on 7 floors is 2 blocks from downtown attractions, 1 block from Harlow Park with a picnic area. Some rooms have views of the city and lake; some look onto an atrium with a kidney-shaped indoor pool and hot tub, adjoining sauna, and game room. WiFi, in-room coffee. Two-person summer rates are $125/night for doubles or one queen, $189 for a suite with king or 2 double beds. Some rooms have refrigerators. DVDs and microwaves can be rented. Ask about in-room whirlpools, family suites. The lobby has coffee. The on-site Harley's Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Guests get a free hot breakfast Sun-Thurs.

LITTLE PRESQUE ISLE CABINS/ LITTLE PRESQUE ISLE STATE FOREST RECREATION AREA
For info and reservations, call (906) 228-6561. www.michigan.gov/dnr
Six rental cabins are situated on and near 64-acre Harlow Lake, a quiet lake where only electric motors are permitted. The attractive rustic wood cabins are very simple, without indoor plumbing or electricity. Front porches overlook the lake. Firewood for the wood stoves is provided. Occupants walk from a common parking area to the cabins, up to half a mile away. Cabins sleep up to 6 on three bunk beds, rent for $65/night (2-night minimum). Three cabins are on a peninsula on the lake, two are on a loop of the ski/hiking trail, and one is by itself on Harlow Creek. There's a wheelchair-accessible fishing pier. The lake tends to be weedy, but there are places off some rocks where people do swim. Prime hiking trails and an exceptionally beautiful Lake Superior beach are across CR 550 at Little Presque Isle. Reservations for the following year are taken starting in October. Bookings for following year begin Nov. 1.

HOLIDAY INN
(906) 225-1351
The U.P.'s largest indoor motel pool attracts many families to this attractive, 195-room 5-story hotel. Rooms have 3 bed configurations: a king, king with sofabed, or 2 doubles. Rates range from $114 (with king-size bed reserved 3 days in advance) to $218 (for its largest suite with kitchenette & separate bedroom). The indoor pool room with jacuzzi and adjoining sauna looks out onto a wooded hillside with pond. Wi-fi throughout. Coffeemakers in rooms. Fitness center and full-service business center. There's a hotel restaurant in the hotel and a Wendy's next door.

COMFORT SUITES
(906) 228-0028
This 83-unit hotel on the U.S. 41 strip is a popular place with business travelers and families because of its extremely pleasant indoor pool, big breakfast bar, and large rooms that all have microwaves, minifridges, coffeemakers, irons, and hairdryers. All rooms are considered suites. Wi-fi throughout. Standard suites have a sitting area and partial room divider with 2 beds. Summer rates for 2 are $125 for 2 double beds. "King leisure suites" with a 2-person whirlpool are $165. The indoor pool and patio look out onto the woods behind the hotel; there's a whirlpool, sauna, exercise room, and guest laundry elsewhere. 24-hour business center includes 2 computers and printers, and a meeting area. A free continental deluxe breakfast with hot items and eggs is served in the attractive Shiras Club Lounge. It's decorated with copies of wildlife photographs taken in the area by George Shiras, "the father of wildlife photography." Hudson's Classic Grill & Bar, a lively family restaurant with a historic auto theme, is right next door. So is Perkins Restaurant and Bakery.

CEDAR MOTOR INN
(906) 228-2280
44 attractive rooms, nice landscaping, and a very clean, smallish indoor pool in a pleasant poolroom make this independent motel stand out. A hot tub, sauna, and sun deck are in or off of the poolroom. Indoor corridors connect the rooms and buffer them from winter winds. All rooms have cable TV with free HBO, WiFi, coffeemakers, and phones. Rooms in the pool building are larger and cost more. Sample room rates $79 (one king), $85 (one queen and La-Z-Boy), $64 (two doubles or $74 for two queens). Two efficiencies have fridges and microwaves.


BUDGET HOST BRENTWOOD MOTOR INN
(906) 228-7494
This well-run motel caters to older people who want quiet and don't care about an indoor pool or big lobby, 43 large rooms are on two stories with exterior corridors. Rates for two in summer are about $65 for one queen or two doubles. Less for seniors. Except for special events, availability for summer is good, with a few days' advance notice. Most of the L-shaped motel is set back from the highway. There are large family rooms available, as well as refrigerators, microwaves, and kitchen units. (one large 4-room suite has a kitchen). Coffee and a small continental breakfast in the lobby. Wi-Fi. Picnic area.

BIRCHMONT MOTEL
(877) 458-7805
At this two-story motel from the 1970s, most of its 29 rooms have balconies with a quite nice view of Lake Superior and Marquette's harbor. Each has a mini-fridge and either a microwave or a tiny kitchenette. Exterior corridors. All rooms are air-conditioned. From some balconies you can look across to the lighthouse, the Wednesday-night sailboat races in summer, and the twinkling lights of Marquette. 
Rates are modest for a place with such balcony views. In July and August: about $45 (one bed), $70 (two double beds), and $75 (two queens). The $110 two-room suites have two full-size beds and kitchenette in the main room and a full-size bed in the adjoining room. Full cable TV & wi-fi. A light continental breakfast is put out in the office. In-room coffeepots upon request. The decor and furnishings are due for an update. The front lawn overlooking the lake is huge. It has grills, picnic tables, and a small swimming pool for July and August. There is road noise outdoors from the highway. The bike path to town is just across U.S. 41. Call ahead, especially for July weekends or if you want a kitchenette.

BLUEBERRY RIDGE BED AND BREAKFAST
(906) 249-9246
Since retiring from junior high teaching in 1990, Daphne Green has put most of her considerable energy into her home—extensive gardens, countless works of quilting, crocheting, embroidery, and applique, acquiring antiques and collectibles—and into the traditional three-room bed and breakfast that is part of her home. The experience of staying here is memorable, from the sound of Daphne's piano before breakfast to the full breakfast in the formal dining room served by candlelight on china that includes blueberry stuffed French toast or blueberry puff pancakes.
   The house itself is on the contemporary side, with an interior balcony, two-story fireplace, and a sunroom looking out onto the rear garden and woods. It's in a wooded subdivision south of town near where M-28 and U.S. 41 join at Harvey. There's no attempt at northwoods simplicity here: a grandfather clock, baby grand piano, and ornate gold-framed English landscape, a Viking ship, Egyptian prints, framed inspirational verse, and reproduction Oriental scatter rugs.The three guest rooms ($75, $89, $98 and $115), all air-conditioned, all with private baths, are on the second floor. See the web site for details. No smoking.
   Closed January to May.

SEACOAST AT SAND RIVER
(906) 343-6710
Owners Geoff and Carole Cooper have done many, many little things to turn this simple, 9-unit motel on M-28 into a delightful base for exploring the Lake Superior shore between Pictured Rocks at Munising (21 miles east) and Marquette (20 miles west). Across M-28 is a beautiful, sugar-sand Lake Superior beach, 6 miles long and ideal for kayakers, with bonfire ring. There are a traditional two-tiered sauna ($10 plus $5/extra person, upon request), gas grills and picnic tables, cedar swings on the lawn beneath the pines looking out to the lake, a guest laundry, and an outstanding free continental breakfast. Only the two larger front rooms have lake views.
   The remodeled, newly furnished drive-up rooms, air-conditioned, are indeed "cozy rooms with a cottage feel," as the Coopers advertise. Each has a queen bed and futon or 2 queens, a mini-fridge and a coffeemaker with spring water, 200-channel satellite TV, and WiFi internet. Within cell phone range. Several rooms are kitchenettes, each with a cooktop and microwave. Most rooms open onto each other if desired—good for groups of family or friends. Rates vary seasonally. They range from $65 to $75 for 2 and $100-$180/day for family suites. Guests can use office phone.
   Three separate vacation houses are by the "resort," across M-28 from the Lake Superior beach. They sleep from 4 to 10. Rates are generally $140-$185/day, $875-$1,175/week. A charming A frame by the beach is 3 1/5 miles west of Au Train. Webcam tours of all cottages and resort rooms are online. On snowmobile trail 417.

COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY CARLSON
(906) 225-1300
A functioning front porch with Adirondack chairs is the signature of this popular chain. Wi-Fi throughout. The 3-story building has 84 rooms, some with whirlpools, of which 12 are one-bedroom suites. Typical rates $99-$120. The lobby has a wood-burning fireplace and a computer with printer. Meeting area. Pool and hot tub. Wax room for skiers. Full breakfast with rotating eggs and meat, many extras, served in breakfast room. Ask about golf, ski packages. Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant next door on same drive.

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