I am looking for hotel recommendations for the Michigan City/New Buffalo area, either recommendations of brand names or other options not visible in travel sites. I am going to the Hesston Steam Museum Labor Day Weekend, and it is essentially 45 minutes from everywhere. Michigan City is preferable to South Bend because we probably will catch the South Shore into the city for dinner.

Country Inns is a respected brand, but they are asking $124/night that weekend.

I have always stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Michigan City. Nothing fancy, but everything works.

You might check the hotel at the Blue Chip Casio Resort, many times they run specials.

(Michigan City)

Mark A. Frazier

This is a very popular area for weekend getaways for Chicago folks, so the rates will be high for Labor Day weekend.

I like to go off the grid sometime and try Mom and Pop motels, of which there are a goodly number around New Buffalo and Michigan City. Most of these places don't have websites, so try Yellowpages.com to set your parameters, then go to Google Street View with the address to get an idea of the location. There are also often reviews on Yahoo and Tripadvisor which can help.