http://www.sandpiperinn.net/

I haven't seen this Sandpiper Inn but the rooms look inviting.  Depending upon the room and season, rates range from $120-265.

This is the Garden Grove Bed & Breakfast -- a small place with four guestrooms -- the photos look good.  Depending upon the room and season, rates range from $89-179.  This is another link that provides additional information: http://www.bbonline.com/mi/gardengrove/index.html

Entry to the Boulevard Inn
htttp://www.theboulevardinn.com/

This is the Boulevard Inn and Bistro (it looks more like a medium-sized hotel) located a few minutes from downtown St. Joseph's (with its many quaint shops).  Depending upon the room and season, rates range from $120-205.  It's right on the lake front, across the street from a grassy park.  Personally, I prefer a more natural, wild lakescape (see below for South Haven), but this one is also lovely in its own way and very centrally located.  I found it by accident when I was aimlessly driving around the downtown area -- all streets tend to lead to Lake Michigan, and this inn is on the lakefront road so it's very easy to find.

It was built in 1988, but has an ambiance of a century earlier.  When I was there, it was a Sunday morning in early December 2003 and the place was festive with holiday decorations -- there was even a Santa in a neat Victorian Santa costume (he commissioned it from a local artist and had his Victorian shoes handmade by an Amish shoemaker)-- in real life, he's a retired biology professor who loves doing this holiday gig at the Inn every year.

I asked the manager if I could see a room and he graciously showed me two on the fifth floor -- one with a view of many midwestern church steeples and other buildings ("City Lights Suite"), and one with a lake view ("Harbor Lights Suite").  The city view was surprisingly attractive but I love Lake Michigan and the lake view rooms would be my own choice.

The inn also has a charming bistro with Mediterranean influenced food.  The chef will prepare vegetarian foods or any other special dishes if the ingredients are available.  I don't like to eat out so didn't sample anything.  I liked the mood of the place though.

This is the Chestnut House Bed & Breakfast.  It has only four rooms and depending upon the room and season, rates range from $105-140.

This is South Cliff Inn with a total of seven rooms.  Depending upon the room and season, rates range from $85-225.  There's no one page with room photos -- there're scattered here and there.  Two are on this page:http://www.southcliffinn.com/reserve.html.  This is another site with more compressed data: http://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb8591.html.  I haven't been there yet but will try to check it out soon.

This is the River Bend Retreat on the St. Joseph's River.  It comes highly recommended by people at the Holistic Alliance where I've done some of my workshops.  It only has three rooms on eight acres of woods and pastures overlooking the broad river.  The sense of privacy and beauty must be awesome!  Costs are surprisingly reasonable for such exclusiveness (approx. $95-150).

[Update 10 December 2005: a recent client from Vermont stayed here and reports that it's lovely.  The price includes a great breakfast and the bed in the best room is on an elegant platform, like something out of a romantic movie -- she really enjoyed the luxury.]

This is the Clarion Hotel in St. Joseph's -- rooms run from $64-240.  It's part of a nationwide chain so many of you may already be familiar with it.  When I have a chance to check out its neighborhood, I'll add an update.

This one is north of St. Joseph's
in the resort town of South Haven,
about 35 minutes away

This is the Victoria -- very charming and friendly and about 35 minutes northwest from me.  I stayed here 6 October 2002 the night before the closing on my house.  Depending upon the room and season, rates range from $59-185 (several cottages are also available).

The ambiance is warm and inviting but what I most loved was the fact that a gorgeous, wild, windy, cold Lake Michigan lay only a block or so away -- all the wild dunes, crashing waves, and bitterly cold winds were a delight to my soul after such a long absence.  I spent 26 years in southern California two blocks away from the Pacific, and loved it too, but my first love has always been Lake Michigan, an inland "sea" that closely resembles the Pacific -- except for the fact that the water's not salty and there are no ugly oil wells, you might as well be at the ocean.  Great waves, gorgeous dunes and golden beach sand.  In addition to the lake, the houses around the Victoria are elegant and quite fetching.  Here's another link with a different view of one of the rooms: http://www.bbonline.com/mi/victoriaresort/index.html.  Here's yet another that includes customer-reactions: http://www.theinnkeeper.com/bnb/6385.

http://www.hallhouse.com/

In Kalamazoo, this is the Hall House, a Bed & Breakfast across the street from Kalamazoo College (small, elite, highly respected).  Rates vary between weekdays (lower) and weekends (higher) -- they range from $79-155.  The photos of the Vander Horst Room especially caught my eye ($99-119).

This is a page of other Bed & Breakfasts in Kalamazoo and surrounding towns.  Only the Hall House (see above) has its own website.  You take your chances with the others.

This is the Quality Inn in Paw Paw, a major grape-growing/wine center about 20 minutes away from me.  Rates range from $63-115.  This link provides additional information: http://reservations.hotel-guides.us/hotel/10006044-10208708O.html?ses=c5bc5b1fabab1476672407c161f131a782610

This is the Motel 6/Super 8 in Paw Paw.  Rates range from $50-90.  If you've seen one, you've seen them all but the advantages of this and the Quality Inn (above) are that they're right off the freeway and very easy to find, close to me, and reasonably priced.

This is Castle in the Country -- although it's listed as Allegan, it's quite close to Paw Paw and is open year round.  They have 5 rooms ranging in cost from $115-205, depending upon room and season.  I just explored the website -- it's spectacular! -- the elegant Queen Anne Victorian house dates from c. 1906.  There are even Christmas trees in all the rooms in December!  Some rooms offer virtual online tours (note: a number of the websites on my page do this but I haven't made note of them).

[Update 10 December 2005: I visited this inn last spring with a friend.  No one was around so we contented ourselves with peeking into windows.  The pictures don't lie -- it's stunning.  It's set on a large piece of property that includes a small lake with a gazebo for warm weather relaxation.]