Grand views, island idylls

What fond memories Rosemary McClure’s article about Mackinac Island brought back [“Mackinac? Sweet,” July 27]. My husband and I spent our honeymoon on the island 12 years ago this coming October. We spent several memorable nights at the Grand Hotel, which was indeed a step back in time.

There’s nothing like sitting in your hotel room and hearing the clip-clop of horse hoofs outside your window. Thank you for your profile and for taking us back to what we still consider the best vacation we ever took.

Tony and

Christianne Lange

Fullerton

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As a native Michigander, I love the island. I first visited as a teenager. Years later I hosted a four-day meeting of 200 business associates and their wives at the Grand Hotel. In August 1978, I chartered a private jet and flew myself, my wife, my parents, brother and son to Mackinac Island to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

Don Moery

San Clemente

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I was disappointed in my stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island a year ago. The hotel was recently redecorated, and the rooms were all done in ordinary motel decor. The vaunted dress-up dinner suffered from a lack of food choices and allowed no substitutions for special diets.

But worst of all, the Grand boasts of importing their staff from Jamaica each season. With the chronic underemployment Michigan has suffered over the last 30 years, I find it hard to believe they cannot find adequate staff locally.

Felice Apodaca

Llano, Calif.