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Michigan's Stafford's Perry Hotel
Petoskey, Michigan
This creamy-yellow brick beacon rises above Petoskey's Gaslight shopping district, providing hotel guests a glistening panorama of Little Traverse Bay. With its icy surface sparkling in the sun, the forest-framed bay opens to Lake Michigan near the northern tip of the state's Lower Peninsula.
Local dentist Norman Perry built the hotel in 1899, and it's remained a hotel and local hub ever since. Several renovations thoroughly modernized its 81 guest rooms. But bright wallpapers and reproductions of elaborately ornate late- Victorian furniture still suggest the late 19th century.
On the first floor, the lobby and restaurant reflect that same cheerful Victorian style. Red walls rise to a white tin ceiling in the big bayside lobby, which opens onto the H.O. Rose Room restaurant. The menu features a variety of dishes including Great Lakes fish. The famous Noggin Room Pub and Grill offers pizzas, steaks, sandwiches and lighter entrees.
