The wild goose chase for a bed and breakfast in East Lansing came to an end when the Wild Goose Inn opened on May 19.
“I think Wild Goose has a certain ring to it,” said Al Bay, owner and resident of the Wild Goose Inn. “I bought pizza and beer for 12 friends for an entire evening, and by the end of the evening we had close to 200 different names. I told my friend, ‘You know, I feel like I’m on a wild goose chase.’ He said, ‘Al, that’s your name.’”
Bay began work on the Wild Goose Inn, located at 512 Albert Ave., about four and a half years ago when he fell in love with a house located near Circuit City, 2655 E. Grand River Ave. in Meridian Township. So he moved it by truck to its current location on Albert Avenue.
“It’s a beautiful home, and it was going to be leveled,” Bay said. “I couldn’t have built it as reasonably priced.”
Bay’s dream of owning a bed and breakfast began about 20 years ago when he would vacation in Vermont and enjoyed the experience he received from staying at bed and breakfasts. He finally decided to open his own.
“I just knew that I enjoyed visiting them,” he said. “This way, I don’t have to pay for it.”
Bay attended MSU and lived in a smaller home located behind the new location of the Wild Goose Inn for many years before beginning the project.
The house covers 4,000 square feet in two floors, plus a basement. There are currently three rooms open to the public, two at $150 per night, and the other at $120 per night. Each room comes equipped with a fireplace and private bath, and the higher costing rooms with Jacuzzis.
The bedrooms have a seasonal theme: winter, spring and summer, with corresponding features to that particular season. The basement has an MSU theme.
“The place is very unique and comfortable,” he said.
Bay plans to add three more rooms by fall of this year, totaling six rooms open to the public. He said he hopes this will attract more people.
“We’re trying to do things for people hotels couldn’t do, and if they could - wouldn’t do,” he said.
The type of customer he said he hopes to attract are relatives and guests of MSU students, visiting professors, as well as tourists.
“I think it’ll do very well,” East Lansing Councilmember Vic Loomis said. “It’s an amenity and service we don’t have in downtown East Lansing.”
Loomis isn’t the only one who said he thinks the bed and breakfast will do well in the area.
David Becker, general manager of The English Inn, 677 S. Michigan Road in Eaton Rapids, said there is a demand for bed and breakfasts, and people will be attracted to the inn itself.
“I think the core market for bed and breakfasts is people who come to stay in bed and breakfasts,” Becker said. “I’m sure it’ll do very well.”
