Inns, B&Bs, and the Art of Being an Innkeeper

Michigan’s “Art Coast” is dotted with charming inns and B&Bs.

Whether you’re planning a weekend getaway for yourself, or looking to house friends and relatives from out of town, these six standout spots showcase the best of the region.

Forest Inn of Saugatuck

Just 200 yards from Douglas Beach, Forest Inn offers easy access to Lake Michigan. Guests enjoy complimentary bikes, a swimming pool, and an evening bonfire. Breakfast includes multiple courses praised by visitors.

Website: forestinnsaugatuck.com
Address: 938 Center St., Douglas
Phone: 269-857-1246
Email: hello@forestinnsaugatuck.com

Holland Farmhouse Inn B&B

Built by a Dutch settler in the 1870s, Holland Farmhouse stayed in the family until 1984. Today, Karl and Yuri Betcher host guests in this 19th-century home, offering climate-controlled rooms and breakfast with both traditional and Cuban-inspired dishes.

Website: hollandfarmhouseinn.com
Address: 751 Central Ave, Holland
Phone: (616) 803-9616
Email: karl.betcher@yahoo.com

Looking Glass Beachfront Inn

Overlooking the Grand Haven State Park beach from a large sand dune, Looking Glass Beachfront Inn offers views of the beach, pier, and lighthouse. Breakfast features a rotating selection of hot dishes. In summer, the inn is available for whole-house weekly rentals.

Website: lookingglassmi.com
Address: 1000 S. Harbor Dr., Grand Haven
Phone: (616) 842-7150
Email: lookingglassbb@gmail.com

Twin Oaks Inn

This 1860 Victorian home in Saugatuck blends historic charm with modern updates. Located on a quiet street near Butler Street, Twin Oaks serves alternating sweet and savory breakfasts. Guests also enjoy the convenience of guaranteed on-site parking.

Website: twinoaksbb.com
Address: 1000 S. Harbor Dr., Grand Haven
Phone: (616) 842-7150
Email: lookingglassbb@gmail.com

Lighthouse Bluff

Near Fennville, Lighthouse Bluff is a five-story modernist home built in 1984 by Chicago architect John Tilton. Accommodating over 20 guests, it features private beach access, sweeping bluff views, a swimming pool, and a 360-degree lookout. Available year-round for short-term rentals, it blends privacy, space, and natural beauty.

Website: gathering-placeproperties.co/lighthouse-bluff
Address: 2060 Lake Michigan Drive, Fennville
Instagram: @gatheringplaceproperties

Park House Inn – A Newcomer with a Vision

Website: historicparkhouseinn.com
Address: 888 Holland St, Saugatuck
Phone: 616-215-6312
Email: hello@archive-hotels.com
Instagram: @parkhouseinn

Growing up as the youngest of eight kids in an immigrant family in Dearborn, Nadia Hasan was eager to get an education and head into corporate America.

With a degree from the University of Michigan, she landed a position working in Ecommerce for Amazon.

“What I learned very quickly was that I could not work behind a desk for the rest of my life,” she said.
Seventeen years rolled by. Hasan kept working, traveling to see the world when she could and saving her money. But all the while she searched for a career shift to something that “matched my personality and my soul—and fulfilled me.”

Hasan assessed her passions. “I always loved curating experiences,” she said. “I love hosting parties for friends and cooking for people.” She especially enjoys watching their reactions when they eat something she made herself.

How to combine her love of people, food and hospitality, she wondered. “I also have a business mindset,” she said. “So, I decided to try to buy a bed and breakfast and turn it into something really special.”

The hunt was on for a B & B on Michigan’s west shore. That would put her between Michigan’s east side where her family lives and Chicago where she lived the past seven years and still has friends.
After touring “many” inns, Hasan’s realtor showed her Park House, located at 888 Holland Street, Saugatuck. “It was absolutely beautiful,” she said. “The property really spoke to me because it’s old and historic.”

As a single female buyer using cash she saved all her life, Hasan didn’t have resources for expensive repairs or renovations. Fortunately, the building was in good shape.

So, last November Hasan became the owner of Saugatuck’s newest B & B inn—kind of. Park House had been a B & B in an earlier life but the previous owner turned it into a short-term rental, she said.
A lumberman built the Greek revival home in 1857 during Saugatuck’s early days. “It almost feels like an old British Inn,” Hasan said.

The inn has eight guest rooms, all en suite “so eveyone has a bathroom,” she said.

Now Hasan is bursting with ideas for what she wants to do with it.
Rather than planning “events” right away, Hasan wants to focus first on “day-to-day moments” that increase guest relaxation and create memories—smaller things in every day life” like comfy chairs to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee for a moment that “just feels so relaxing and slows everything down in the world,” she said.

“Those are the kind of experiences I want to create—the little touches that make it feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so special.’ I want people to feel like they’re walking into a storybook.”
Hasan’s worldwide travels where she saw how different cultures welcome guests have inspired her to welcome her inn guests with a beverage.

“It’s a nice way to greet a guest,” she said. The gesture is also a nod to her own Pakistani heritage— her mother welcomes guests by offering them tea, she added.

“I’ll be greeting guests with a drink in my hand,” she added with a laugh.

Hasan is surveying every aspect of a guest’s stay to enhance guest experience.

“The (toiletry) amenities are going to be amazing,” she said adding that she hopes to source them locally from women-owned businesses when possible.

Hasan called the inn “an awesome space for special events.” Her ideas include backyard yoga and bringing in local artists to hold classes for guests and locals.

And, of course, Hasan will be spending time doing what she loves to do—cooking and baking.

She’ll offer healthy options for breakfast—a yogurt bar, an oatmeal bar, Michigan fruit in season, soft boiled eggs, trays of meats and cheeses European style—and, of course, fresh baked bread, muffins, coffee cakes and pastries.

And, there’ll be fresh baked cookies and other snacks later in the day.

Hasan said she’s happy with the inn’s design and decor. “Most of it is beautiful the way it is,” she noted.
“The big thing I am adding is robes and slippers,100 percent organic cotton sheets and cozy down blankets.

“What I’m adding is that touch of hospitality—the little touches that make it special.”