Rooms with a View

21 gorgeous Up North getaways.

Apr 15, 2009 Lynda Twardowski

(page 2 of 4)

Islands Suite, Riverside Inn, Leland

All summer long, fishermen bound for Lake Michigan putter down the Leland River, an inky ribbon framed by low banks of feathery grasses, willows and wooden docks. Overlooking the scene? The new Islands Suite—an updated, expanded combo of two former rooms—at the stately colonial-style Riverside Inn. A stay here means you’re upstairs from the inn’s elegant dining room and waterside decks, and a quick romantic stroll from the town’s downtown boutiques and historic fishing village. $165+ nightly, opens second week of May. 888-257-0102, theriverside-inn.com.

Room No. 1, Nature’s Window Bed and Breakfast, Cedar

This hilltop roost claims more than two dozen acres as its own, but guests in room No. 1 see the most stunning swath of the land: a verdant valley cradled by thick Pere Marquette forest. Don’t just enjoy it from the room’s private deck, get on the grassy plain and swing some stick; the B&B’s owners keep clubs and a bucket of balls handy for your driving pleasure. $95+, 231-228-4501, leelanau.com/
natureswindow.

Room 500, Inn at Bay Harbor, Bay Harbor

Loosen your power tie, guy. When you step into the fully loaded executive suite inside the hotel Travel + Leisure magazine named one of the 500 best in the world, your workday is done. What begins is an extended unwind on your private covered-balcony five stories above the languid waves of Little Traverse Bay. Corporate titans can handle the nightly $1,535 peak season rate; the rest of us can live large on the off-season midweek steal that starts at $375. 800-462-6963, innatbayharbor.com.

Heritage Room, Insel Haus, Bois Blanc Island

On Bois Blanc Island, an island untouched by paved roads and streetlights, lovely scenes are easy to come by. But still, the view framed in the window of the new Heritage Room—the Mackinac Straits’ south channel, with yachts and freighters aplenty—is one you’ll want to take in day after day. Not hard to do, considering a stay in the 6,200-square-foot Insel Haus means surrounding yourself with lavish appointments of antique furniture, Persian rugs, beveled and stained glass pieces, posh paintings, plus a library of several thousand books. $185 nightly, 231-634-7393, inselhausbandb.com.

McKeever Cabin, Munising

A 1/2-mile hike in summer—11/2 miles on skis when the snow’s down—makes packing in to the federally owned McKeever cabin a haul for the semi-hardy, but trust us, the payoff is extraordinary. The wee rustic cabin (woodstove-heated, no electricity; privy outside) designed by Hiawatha Log Homes of Munising, sits atop a small knoll deep in the Hiawatha National Forest. Through the branches of the young evergreens and hardwoods, you can see down to McKeever Lake, empty of any other sign of civilization—unless you count the schools of northern muskie, northern pike, largemouth and smallmouth bass and bluegill. Stay’s limited to one week for good reason; a nightly slice of this paradise costs just $45. 877-444-6777, recreation.gov.