We Are the MRLA: The Vault Hotel

​Owner Name: Jen and John Julien
City: Houghton
Year Founded:  2019
Website: thevaulthotel.com
MRLA Member Since: 2022
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What is your business’ niche/specialty? 
The Vault Hotel is an independent, modern-luxe boutique hotel in historic downtown Houghton, MI in the beautiful Upper Peninsula.  
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Why is the MRLA important to you and your business? 
As an independent brand, it’s important to be a part of a united voice for our industry. When the COVID pandemic hit, The Vault Hotel had only been open 6 months prior to travel shutting down, and navigating those challenges was no small feat for this small business. We appreciate the support, guidance, and companionship of being an MRLA member.  

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The Vault Hotel Highlights

• Housed in an iconic, industrial revolution-era sandstone building, The Vault Hotel is an independent boutique hotel with a modern twist on a historic Houghton bank—complete with teller windows, salvaged bank boxes, and other curios. 
• The Houghton National Bank building, which houses The Vault Hotel, was the first masonry building built in the western U.P. establishing the town of Houghton as a “permanent” town during the 1880’s mining era when most buildings were built as temporary structures of wood by the mining companies and the “boom and bust” mentality.  
• The Vault Hotel offers guests an experience unlike any other in this region. Situated in the center of downtown, guests have easy access to small business retail shops, restaurants, and nightlife.  
• The Vault Hotel is a boutique hotel with a traditional staffing model of 24/7 staffing and offers an unlimited pantry for its guests with all day, complimentary access to snacks and water.  
• The owners, Jen and Jon Julien, also purchased The Marquette Savings Bank building with plans to expand The Vault Hotel brand to an iconic historic building in downtown Marquette, 99 miles away. ​

Special Edition Question: What's to love about hospitality in a college town? 
As a boutique hotel in a college town, we get to celebrate so many special moments with our guests. We see families at freshman drop-off, special birthdays and major sporting events, all the way to graduation. We get to meet their students as they come and go, and some of them even end up being a part of our team while working part-time during college. This past year we celebrated our 4th year in business, and we had many guests returning for their students’ college graduations, who we had met when they first dropped their student off as a freshman at college 4 years earlier, upon our first months open for business. Being a part of these families’ transitions in life and celebrating these milestones with them is something we look forward to in hospitality, and we’re excited to be a part of it.  ​

         Being a part of these families’ transitions in life and celebrating these milestones with them is something we look forward to in hospitality, and we’re excited to be a part of it.  

-The Vault Hotel​