New hotels in Ann Arbor

We track two recent hotels in Ann Arbor, both opened within the past two years. The Vanguard Ann Arbor, Autograph Collection, has 188 rooms at 201 Glen Avenue and opened in spring 2025. The AC Hotel Ann Arbor Downtown has 139 rooms at 310 East Huron Street and opened in February 2026. They stand on opposite sides of the center and serve different visitors: one belongs to the medical campus, the other to Main Street.

Ann Arbor had 123,851 residents at the 2020 census and sits about 38 miles west of Detroit on the Huron River. Land speculators founded the town in 1824. In 1837 it won the University of Michigan, which had started in Detroit twenty years earlier, after losing its bid to become the state capital to Lansing. The university has set the rhythm of the city ever since, and two events decide the price of a room: football Saturdays and the summer art fair.

Michigan Stadium, on South Main Street, opened on 1 October 1927 and now holds 107,601 people, the largest stadium for American football in the country. Its record crowd, 115,109 for Notre Dame on 7 September 2013, is a fair measure of what a home weekend does to the hotel market. In 2026 the last two home games are Michigan State on 7 November and UCLA on 21 November. The Ann Arbor Art Fair, three juried fairs spread over about 30 blocks and nearly 1,000 artists, took place on 16 to 18 July 2026 and returns on 15 to 17 July 2027. The organizers count close to half a million visitors over the three days.

What to do

A weekend in Ann Arbor

Start on the central campus and the Diag, then walk south on State Street and South University Avenue for bookstores and cafes. The University of Michigan Museum of Art reopened in 2009 after a $41.9 million expansion by Brad Cloepfil's Allied Works, which added to the original 1909 building. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10, and the collection of more than 20,000 works includes Whistler, Picasso, Monet, Hokusai and Calder. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and the Natural History Museum are free too. Hours move with the semester, so check before going.

Hill Auditorium, which Albert Kahn's firm designed and which opened in 1913, seats about 3,500 and is the main stage of the University Musical Society. Its renovation, completed in 2004, cost about $33.5 million. Rachmaninoff, Caruso, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Grateful Dead are among those who have played there.

Kerrytown, a few blocks northwest of the campus, is the food district. The Ann Arbor Farmers Market, at 315 Detroit Street, is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. from May to December, and on Saturdays only, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., from January to April. Zingerman's Delicatessen is on Detroit Street as well. Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig opened it in 1982, and the company has since added a Roadhouse and its own Bakehouse.

The Michigan Theater opened on 5 January 1928. Maurice Finkel designed it, and it seats 1,610 in the main auditorium, with a second screen for 200. Its Barton pipe organ, installed in 1927, was fully restored between 2018 and 2020. Independent films, concerts and the Ann Arbor Symphony share the building, and it is also home to the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Along the river

Nichols Arboretum, known locally as the Arb, covers 128 acres beside the Huron River, below the campus. It opened to the public in 1907 and is free from sunrise to sunset. The Upjohn Peony Garden there dates from 1927 and holds about 350 heirloom varieties, which flower in late May and early June. Matthaei Botanical Gardens is a short drive out, and its grounds are free as well.

Downstream, the Argo Cascades replaced a portage around the Argo Dam in 2012 with a bypass of nine drops and pools. It cost $1.17 million, and in summer people float it in tubes. It closes when the water drops too low, as it did in a dry July, so ask the city's livery before planning on it. The Border-to-Border Trail runs alongside, a paved path meant to link Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Dexter and Chelsea.

A longer stay

Detroit is 38 miles east. The Detroit Institute of Arts, at 5200 Woodward Avenue in midtown, holds about 65,000 works, among them the five sets of Diego Rivera frescoes that Edsel Ford commissioned in 1932, and its present building opened in 1927. Dearborn, on the way, has the Henry Ford Museum, at 20900 Oakwood Boulevard, where the bus on which Rosa Parks was arrested and the limousine in which John F. Kennedy was riding in 1963 are on display. The towns west and north of the city are closer. The Huron Valley has orchards and cider mills in autumn. Ypsilanti, adjoining Ann Arbor on the east, has Eastern Michigan University and a small historic downtown of its own.

Where to stay

Glen Avenue and the medical campus

The Vanguard Ann Arbor, Autograph Collection is a nine-story building at 201 Glen Avenue, beside the University of Michigan hospital and near Catherine Street. Robert Finvarb Companies and Milford Singer & Company developed it. Neumann/Smith Architecture designed the building and DLR Group did the interiors. Press material counts 188 rooms, including 24 one-bedroom suites of 600 to 900 square feet.

The brasserie, La Serre, is French in inspiration and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, with two private dining rooms. For groups, the hotel lists more than 11,000 square feet of event space in five rooms. The opening date is blurred: a grand opening was announced for 6 May 2025, but trade coverage in April already described the hotel as open.

The central campus and Main Street are farther from Glen Avenue than from the downtown hotels, so expect to ride or take a longer walk to reach them.

Downtown, on East Huron Street

AC Hotel Ann Arbor Downtown occupies a former surface parking lot opposite City Hall. First Martin Corporation developed the six-story, 81,745-square-foot building, and First Hospitality Group of Chicago operates it. It is the first AC Hotel in Ann Arbor and the fourth in Michigan.

The exterior uses brick, stone and metal panels, some of it custom copper-toned metalwork from the Michigan maker Dri-Design. A rooftop solar array produces more than 50 kilowatt-hours a day. The ground floor has the AC Lounge & Kitchen, which serves European-style breakfasts and, in the evening, tapas-style small plates and the brand's gin and tonic. A lounge and terrace on the sixth floor looks over downtown. The only meeting room reported is a 500-square-foot boardroom. Pets are allowed, and parking is by valet.

Older addresses

The established downtown and campus hotels include the Graduate Ann Arbor at 615 East Huron Street, which has 142 rooms, the Residence Inn at 120 West Huron Street, and the Bell Tower Hotel at 300 South Thayer Street, with 66 rooms, on the edge of the campus. Kerrytown and the Old West Side are mostly houses, with a few bed-and-breakfasts in them.

Which hotel for your trip

Hospital visits and long family stays

Beside the hospital, the Vanguard is the practical pick, and its 24 suites suit a family that expects to be in town for several days.

A night out on Main Street

Main Street's restaurants, the theaters and the farmers market are all within a few blocks of the AC Hotel. The kitchen is a lounge-style one rather than a full restaurant, which suits a short stay.

Weddings, conferences and team travel

Real event space exists only at the Vanguard. The AC Hotel's boardroom is meant for a small meeting, not a banquet.

Football weekends, commencement and the art fair

Neither new hotel is on State Street, and both are a walk or a short ride from the stadium. Spring Commencement for the class of 2027 is on Saturday 8 May 2027 at Michigan Stadium, with gates opening at 8 a.m. and the ceremony at 10 a.m. Rooms for it, for home games and for the July art fair go well ahead of the date.

Practical notes

Three of the dates that fill the city are set well in advance: the Art Fair in the third week of July, Spring Commencement on a Saturday in early May, and the home football games, whose schedule the university announced in January for the 2026 season. Move-in week in late August follows the academic calendar.

Winters are cold and snowy, with an average of about 58 to 61 inches of snow a season. Summers are warm and humid. Autumn, with football and the color along the river, is the favored season, and the Art Fair fills the streets in the third week of July.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is about 25 miles away, around 30 minutes by car. The Michigan Flyer bus runs to downtown in 45 to 50 minutes for about $15, or $25 round trip, according to the university's travel page, and fares and schedules should be checked in advance. The Amtrak Wolverine stops at 325 Depot Street three times a day in each direction on its way between Chicago and Pontiac. It is the busiest Amtrak station in Michigan, with 150,296 passengers in the 2025 fiscal year. A car is not needed for the downtown and campus, but is useful for the Huron Valley and the botanical gardens.

Downtown parking is mostly in city garages, and game days bring street closures near the stadium.

Frequently asked questions

What are the newest hotels in Ann Arbor?

The Vanguard Ann Arbor, Autograph Collection, which opened in spring 2025, and the AC Hotel Ann Arbor Downtown, which opened in February 2026. One is on the medical campus, the other downtown.

Which hotel is closer to the University of Michigan hospital?

At 201 Glen Avenue, beside the hospital complex: the Vanguard.

Is the AC Hotel in downtown Ann Arbor?

Yes. It is at 310 East Huron Street, opposite City Hall, in the Main Street district.

How far is Ann Arbor from Detroit Metropolitan Airport?

About 25 miles, or roughly 30 minutes by car. The Michigan Flyer bus takes 45 to 50 minutes.

When is the Ann Arbor Art Fair?

On 15 to 17 July 2027, always the third week of July from Thursday to Saturday. The 2026 edition took place on 16 to 18 July.