City Guide:
Grand Rapids is the most outdoorsy of all American cities.
As the fun gateway of America, Grand Rapids will deluge your senses with a multitude of dining choices, night dancing, and historic opportunities at the riverside downtown and the famous Heritage Hill.
You can make it all happen in Grand Rapids. Be it a room in cheap hotel in Grand Rapids to luxury one, we have them all at Booked.net. Our listings include maps, photos and secure forms to book your stay.
With a reputation as the furniture capital of the world, Grand Rapids revitalized its downtown area now teeming with arts and culture. Natural landscapes there share space with eccentric sculptures at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, while action packed beaches in Grand Haven draw visitors with its diving opportunities, snorkeling and fishing.
Attractions include;
- Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, an outdoor sculpture park with nature trails and boardwalk lined with the world-class sculptures
- Van Andel Museum Center offers a piece of the city's history
- Gerald R Ford Museum, devoted to the life of the former president
- Grands Rapids Art Museum offers permanent and rotating art collections
- Grand Rapids Civic Theater, the largest community theatre in the entire United States
The French trader Louis Campau established a trading post in the area in 1826. Even though Louis Campau wasn't the first to pioneer the area, but he bought the downtown to convert it into business district of Grand Rapids in 1831. The exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 paid off with success and Grand Rapids gained fame as a furniture producer.
In 10 years the city changed orientation with the construction of a hydro-electric plant in the area in 1881. But in the nation it is more famous as the first city to add fluoride to its drinking water, while on the world's cultural scene it is known for the first public art installation ever presented in the world.
Business became a draw card of the city that led to its population doubling at the turn of the century. With the new century it swelled from 82,565 to 197,800 residents. Among the city-native is also the 38th American President Gerald Ford whose life is the subject of a local museum.
Thanks to its cultural density Grand Rapids swapped the furniture business for tourism. The area of the modern city was left almost totally deforested to feed the former business, but today Grand Rapids jumped on the bandwagon of antipollution and entered the new millennium with a revitalized downtown and a construction boom. Besides the construction of the Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids saw numerous hotels built in the area and you can find and book them at Booked.net.
