Hotels in Grand Haven, Michigan

A little about Grand Haven...

Grand Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Ottawa County. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2000 census, Grand Haven population was 11,168. The city is located just north of Grand Haven Charter Township but is politically independent. Nickname: Coast Guard City U.S.A.

The area is now a resort and boating community, with a bit of a small town/suburban feel, and boasts a large charter fishing fleet. Grand Haven is also a minor Great Lakes port; it imports limestone, slag, cement & coal while exporting sand. Grand Haven State Park includes a beach and campground on Lake Michigan, near the pier and lighthouses.

Grand Haven is home to the United States Coast Guard's "Group Grand Haven," which coordinates all Lake Michigan Coast Guard activities. The first Coast Guard presence in the city was in 1932. The city hosts the annual Coast Guard Festival, which draws U.S. and Canadian vessels along with parades of bands and other activities. The yearly attendance for this event exceeds 100,000 people over the 2 week period of the festival. Grand Haven is also officially designated as "Coast Guard City, USA" by an act of Congress signed by President Clinton. The act was Public Law 105-383 enacted by the United States Congress and signed by the president on November 13, 1998.

The Grand Haven Musical Fountain was built on the opposite bank of the Grand River from the city center in 1962. It plays nightly in tourist season and has been repeatedly renovated to remain the world's largest such fountain.

Grand Haven was the first city in the United States to feature a city-wide municipal wireless internet service. In 2006 the city started offering a free hour of wireless Internet service every day to residents, businesses and visitors.

US-31 runs through the city as a boulevard. A bypass plan is in the works to alleviate congestion through the city. A drawbridge over the Grand River is at the city's northern border. When the drawbridge is broken, the closest bridge is east of Spring Lake in Eastmanville, Michigan at 68th Ave. and Leonard.