If you've thought there was something different lately about
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, you were right. The 900-acre resort in Acme just finished up renovations on all six stories of its guest rooms.
That makes 237 newly-refurbished rooms throughout the hotel. The updates included new carpet, bedding, furniture, 37-inch flatscreen HD TVs, new phones, iPod docking stations and digital in-room heating and cooling controls. The resort also added fire-suppression sprinklers in all guest rooms and service areas, which were needed because the hotel was originally built in 1980, before local codes required extensive sprinkler systems. To top all that off (bad pun, sorry) the hotel got a new 21,015-square-foot roof complete with new flashing.
The tower part of the resort and its 186 guest rooms also got updates in the form of in-room technology, new telephones and flatscreen HD TVs.
That's not even all: the resort has ticked off several multi-year infrastructure projects from its list recently.
Throughout 2011 and 2012, Grand Traverse Resort was upgrading its main parking lot for tower and hotel guest parking, as well as its service vehicle parking lot. Both were completely repaved with asphalt, new concrete curbs were installed, and traffic routing and sidewalks were updated. Landscaping and a lighted shuttle and bus stop pavilion completed the renovations.
Anyone approaching the resort notices the 17-story soaring tower topped off by the glass-roofed Aerie Restaurant and Lounge. Those glass panels, 350 in all, were resealed, with a new gutter system being installed.
Other upgrades are harder to see but have no less impact: the resort had more than three miles of new underground fiber-optic cables installed to its clubhouse and six condominium complexes, expanding bandwidth and improving high-speed wifi Internet access, with the addition of 40 new Internet access points. The resort's cable TV system also saw improvements, adding up to 65 HD channels for guests to enjoy. To power all the new technology, Consumers Energy replaced the old main power cable to the hotel.
A few more major improvements also came on board in 2012. Dylan's Candy Bar Candy Café opened in the resort's shopping gallery, a complement to the Dylan's Candy Bar store which opened two years ago. The business center and cyber café was renovated with new Steelcase furniture and a contemporary design, and the grand lobby got new furnishings as well.
Guests who enjoy outdoor recreation and golf will be happy to hear the resort built a new permanent restroom facility near the outdoor tennis courts, and added new golf course and grounds maintenance equipment including 32 sets of new Cobra golf clubs.
Finally, the list of updates can be rounded off with two new banquet trucks for catering and food transport; a new 14-passenger shuttle bus and a nine-passenger shuttle van; elevator upgrades; and new furnishings, fixtures and equipment throughout the resort.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: J. Michael D'Agostino, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
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