Review
of Inn with Resident Cat:
White Swan Inn B&B
By Susan Bard Hall
For me, this is the purr-fect weekend get-away. An inn with a resident cat (or two or three...well, you get the idea). An inn with a water view. And an inn that's a short walk to restaurants and shops so that once I arrive on Friday, I don't have to move the car until it's time to check out on Sunday.
Well, I found it. Or rather, it found me. Shortly after PURR-FECT PLACES TO STAY: Bed & Breakfasts, Country Inns, and Hotels with Resident Cats was published, I received a call from Cathy Russell, co-owner/innkeeper of the White Swan Inn B&B letting me know that their Whitehall, MI inn was indeed a purr-fect place, just one I hadn't known about in time to include in my guidebook.
Whitehall is located on the shores of White Lake, with direct access to Lake Michigan. Because they're on Eastern time, you can experience magnificent sunsets as late as 9:30 on a summer's eve. It's about an hour's drive north of Saugatuck, a resort town known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest, and where we've enjoyed many a relaxing weekend. But late last September, my husband and I decided it was time to make the 3-1/2-hour drive from downtown Chicago and finally meet Cathy, her husband Ron, and their three kiddies, excuse me, kitties – Mozart, Cricket and Jasmine.
All made their presence felt during our all too-short stay. So if you don't get your cat fix or quality fur time, you have no one to blame but yourself, or maybe another guest who's monopolizing their time!
