Grand Hotel is known for a number of notable visitors, including five U.S. presidents, inventor Thomas Edison, and author Mark Twain.

The group purchased the land on which the hotel was built and construction began, based upon the design by Detroit architects Mason and Rice.

When it opened the following year, the hotel was advertised to Chicago, Erie, Montreal and Detroit residents as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrived by lake steamer and by rail from across the continent.

[12] In September 2019, Dan Musser III announced that his family, which owned the hotel "for nearly nine decades", was selling it to KSL Capital Partners.

[15] Grand Hotel's front porch is the longest in the world at some 660 feet (200 m) in length, overlooking a vast Tea Garden and the resort-scale Esther Williams swimming pool.

[16] These areas are often used by guests on a casual family vacation, for larger conventions, or concerts during the hotel's annual Labor Day Jazz Festival.

The hotel has drawn some criticism for its policy of charging a $12 fee for non-guests to enter the building and enjoy the view from the famous porch.

[20] U.S. Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have visited the hotel.