Motorcycles Welcome at this Michigan Bed and Breakfast

T.J. called and said he needed a room for the night. He and his daughter were visiting the area and needed a place to stay near Hillsdale College.  The school is just 7 1/2 minutes away, so I knew that our Jonesville, Michigan B&B was a close, comfortable, and convenient fit. When they pulled in on a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, I knew that they were going to be very interesting guests.

It turned out that this father-daughter team from Milwaukee had been on a road trip for over 2 weeks visiting schools as far south at Tennessee and as far north as Massachusetts. They were happy to finally stay at a homey place instead of the typical hotel or motel. I sent them to Saucy Dog's Barbeque for a good meal and ended up chatting with them on our patio until well into the evening.

His restaurant in Milwaukee has earned him a place in the Hot Dog Hall of Fame.  If I had a Hall of Fame, he'd be on the father-daughter page, the motorcycle rider page, the small businessman page... Yeah, we get some really cool gusts here, and I get to hang out with most of them. That's what makes 'innkeeper' the best job ever.


Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Hillsdale College Homecoming 2009

Hillsdale College Homecoming festivities are planned for the weekend of October 9-10, 2009. They have scheduled a mixer on Friday night. A classic car show precedes the football game at Muddy Waters Stadium on Saturday with more festivities following the game.

Lodging for special events weekends at Hillsdale College can be a challenge. There are only about 130 rooms in the whole county, so many folks are forced to be in and out in a day, or to stay 30-45 minutes away in Coldwater, Jackson, or Fremont, Indiana.

Some people are lucky and can stay nearby in one of the 130 rooms. We have made lots of parents and alumni happy here at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan. The Munro House B&B is just 7 1/2 minutes from campus in downtown Jonesville and has 7 comfortable master bedrooms.

We give our guests "dibs" on annual events when they stay with us. So when they come for Homecoming in 2009, they will have first chance at reserving the room for Homecoming in 2010. The same rights are given for Parents Weekend at Hillsdale College. Then when graduation at Hillsdale College rolls around, the parents who have patronized us get first chance at rooms when their child graduates.

We enjoy having familiar faces in the house and we act as headquarters for events at Hillsdale College.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"

Lodging for Hillsdale College Graduation in Michigan

There are a limited number of hotel/motel rooms in all of Hillsdale County Michigan. At last count, there were fewer than 150 rooms in the entire county. With fewer than 10 annual events that draw large numbers of people for an overnight stay, there is little need to increase that lodging capacity. This forces many people to go 30 miles or more from here to have a place to stay on special event weekends.

Each year, Hillsdale College has held their commencement on Mothers Day weekend in May. There are typically around 300 graduating students. That produces lodging needs for many parents, siblings, and grandparents. We can accommodate 7 parents, and my fellow hoteliers can accommodate about 140 more. That means that more than half of the families that have a graduating student will need to be in and out in a day, or seek lodging that may not be very convenient.

We’ve been running the Munro House B&B in Jonesville since 1999. We are just 7 1/2 minutes from campus. It became necessary to establish a method to handle the multitude of reservation requests we get for special event weekends. Families who stay with us for other Hillsdale College events like Parents Weekend, concerts, sporting events, and conferences get dibs on a room for the next annual event, plus they earn frequency points towards graduation weekend. When graduation comes around for their student, the parents who patronize us the most get first dibs on a room. Our regular guests appreciate their priority status when they do not have to scramble to find a place to stay on their final weekend at the school.

It has worked out quite well for us. Many of our parents have been with us for 4 years or more. It is nice to see familiar faces in the house. Occassionally, we have a small number of regular parents with graduating students in a particular year, and we have to open our house up to first timers. That’s O.K., too. We try to treat new guests and old friends the same.

Many lodging facilities in the area have similar frequent guest privileges. It is always best to plan ahead and find a place to stay when your student is a freshman. That way there will always be an opportunity to have a room when they are in the highest demand.

We are comfortable, close, and convenient to Hillsdale College and we enjoy our guests who also happen to be parents of students there.

Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"