'Truly Iconic': Former Stafford's properties get new life within Cotton Collection
June 2026
It’s been more than two years since a collection of iconic northern Michigan hotels and restaurants were purchased by a downstate couple.
In early 2024, Stafford Smith sold his collection of beloved "Stafford's" operations – the Perry Hotel, Noggin Room Pub and Bay View Inn in Petoskey, Crooked River Lodge in Alanson, The Pier in Harbor Springs and the Weathervane in Charlevoix – to Jon and Lauren Cotton of Grosse Pointe.
The Cottons had purchased the famed Hotel Iroquois on Mackinac Island in 2020 and later the Harbour View Inn on Mackinac. All of these properties together are now branded as the Cotton Collection, which promises a heightened level of service and elegance across multiple legendary locations in northern Michigan.
The TCBN met with leadership at Hotel Investment Services (HIS) – the Troy-based group that manages these properties on behalf of the Cottons – to discuss what’s happened so far and what the future holds for these properties.
Stafford's beginnings
Stafford Smith was born in Petoskey while his folks were vacationing at the family cottage, and he regularly returned for summer vacations. As a young man he took a summer job at the famed Bay View Inn, which sits on Little Traverse Bay near the picturesque Bay View Methodist community.
Smith worked his way up the ladder and eventually purchased the Bay View Inn in 1961. Through very hard work and some luck, he and his wife Janice eventually added all of the other Stafford’s properties to their portfolio over the next several decades.
The CottonsAll of them – particularly the restaurants – became staples for locals, tourists and seasonal residents. Two of those seasonal residents were the Cottons, who have a place on Walloon Lake and enjoyed their regular visits to Stafford’s restaurants and hotels. Jon is the former president and COO of Meridian Health Plan Michigan who later founded his own healthcare company.
After purchasing the Hotel Iroquois in 2020, the Cottons set their sights on acquiring more properties. But not just any properties.
“Our target for all of the Cotton Collection is … truly iconic properties with irreplaceable real estate that have rich history, are part of the community and are part of the local culture,” said Sam Barnwell, chief development officer for HIS. “That really is our model.”
Barnwell has been on both sides of the table. His family owned the Hotel Iroquois (where he served as president), later joining HIS after the Cottons bought that property. He also grew up in Harbor Springs and has known the Stafford family for many years. He worked for them as a young man and remained in contact in the years after.
Barnwell’s family was impressed with the Cottons’ goals, visions and commitments, he says, and they liked that the Cottons were independent and local to Michigan.
“I think across the country, we almost have whiplash from private equity. It’s starting to come into northern Michigan and it’s freaking people out,” Barnwell said. “But there’s a huge difference between private equity and family offices like Jon and Lauren have … ownership is personally important to them.”
The Hotel Iroquois sale indirectly paved the way for the huge Stafford’s acquisition a few years later.
“Really the only thing that got dialogue started (with the Stafford family) was that Sam's family felt very good about their sale and how that process went,” said Tawnya Johnson, chief marketing officer for HIS. “So it made things a little more comfortable for Stafford Smith and his family to go down that path. They were ready in many ways, but they were just nervous.”
Ultimately, with these properties ranging up to 140 years old, Barnwell views the Cotton ownership and HIS management as merely the latest chapter in a very long story that will continue after everyone there now is long gone.
“We can only just hope that we're the best stewards of these buildings when we have the opportunity to influence them and enjoy them,” he said.
Millions in renovations
The goal was never to make major changes to the former Stafford’s properties. But these are old buildings, often with a lot of deferred maintenance and dated interior and exterior designs. The HIS team is in the middle of a multiyear plan to pump what will amount to millions of dollars into these buildings (and the operations within).
This past year, for example, they completely updated the Weathervane in Charlevoix with refreshed interiors and structural improvements that will set the restaurant up for more and better business in the future.
“The decks were in really bad disrepair, the lower half of the building was like nine different shades of brown and it wasn’t utilized; it was kind of an afterthought,” Barnwell said. “Charlevoix has a lot of weddings that need places to go eat, and here we had basically unused space.”
After some time and money, the Weathervane has a much-needed refresh that preserves its historic essence while boosting the good vibes.
“We came in and rebuilt the decks, got new porch furniture, but also revamped the whole interior to make it brighter, make it more summer, more northern Michigan,
The Weathervaneadded some different artwork,” Barnwell said. “I think everybody will find that it's a much more usable space and a much safer space and nicer space.”
“It’s bright, it’s happy, it’s nautical,” Johnson added. “Bright colors and airy feelings … it’s amazing.”
The team is starting the design process on the Hotel Perry, by far the largest building in the portfolio, with major improvements to begin within the next 18 months.
“We are looking at making changes, but the key with these historic buildings and long-held family buildings is that you don't come in thinking you know everything, because you don't,” Barnwell said. “What’s right for Mackinac is not right for Petoskey. What’s right for Petoskey is not right for Traverse City. We want to really take the time to understand (the community) as we make these investments.”
It’s not easy dealing with these historic structures. There are unwelcome surprises on an almost daily basis, Barnwell says, along with a nagging responsibility to deal with them.
“Every time you open up a wall or a floor or anything, you end up coming across something that somebody didn't do well, or was okay back then, or got buried up so they didn't have to see it or deal with it ever again,” Barnwell said. “The key is that you take that opportunity then to fix it. We're stewarding these buildings for the next hundred years. So if you see something that's not right today, it's definitely not right 10 years from now, and it’s really not right 50 years from now.”
It’s not just structural changes. The HIS team – at the Cottons' direction – is working to improve the guest experience. Gone are the days when most hotel guests are people who drove “up north” from downstate for a low-key weekend.
“As northern Michigan continues to grow in popularity, not just regionally, but even further out across the country, what once was okay and acceptable for your northern Michigan vacation service is maybe not as acceptable now,” Johnson said. “So we need to elevate some of those guest touch points and we need to elevate the service that we're providing. Lauren is really big on unexpected luxury and unexpected touches for guests that make it really special.”
It helps to have local, non-chain ownership that make independent decisions about what makes sense at each property, regardless of cost.
“There’s no Hilton flag or Marriott flag telling us, 'You have to do this,'” Barnwell said.
Challenges and opportunities
Staffing (surprise, surprise) continues to be a big challenge for the former Stafford’s properties. They’re looking to expand on summertime staff to handle the load, but it’s an uphill battle.
The bulk of the summertime peak of 375 employees are domestic, with some visa workers for support. It’s getting harder to get them through the door, especially if they don’t already live in the area. Summertime housing has gone from slim to none, particularly with the growing popularity of vacation rentals.
“If you need a spot for two months in the winter, you can find it, but if you need it for the four months of the summer, it just doesn't exist in these markets,” Barnwell said.
Like other large employers, HIS is actively purchasing more housing facilities (including the former Charleboyne Motel in Charlevoix) to directly deal with this problem.
Adding to these challenges is more employers siphoning from an already limited employee pool.
The Weathervane"There’s more and more businesses moving into all of these northern Michigan communities,” Barnwell said. “Petoskey has a pipeline of stuff that's come on board. Traverse City has a pipeline. And we’re all then competing for the same employees as we add more and more employers to the mix.”
There is an effort to balance things out a bit in terms of seasonality, which could boost business and reduce staffing strain.
“(We’ve) been doing a lot of building out activations of wine dinners, of bourbon dinners and of specialty events to bring people into these beautiful places in some of those shoulder times as well as the summer,” Barnwell said.
The team is also looking to acquire hotel properties in Florida, Arizona or other areas that have a reverse seasonal cycle.
“So instead of going to work for somebody else for six months to come back to work with us, we end up with them working for us in Arizona and then us in northern Michigan,” Barnwell said.
Pictured above: Jon and Lauren Cotton. Photo Credit EE Berger
