Plymouth's Saint John's Resort gets $50M makeover

Plymouth’s Saint John’s Resort — previously Saint John’s Seminary — is getting a $50 million makeover from its new owners, the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, to accommodate larger conventions, weddings, and corporate events.

Now, there are three garden spaces, four — soon to be five — ballrooms, a Catholic chapel, an in-house restaurant and 118 rooms ranging from standard, single-beds to presidential suites. The property's unique history lends itself to ample green space and beautiful architecture, St. John's officials say.

“The experience there, in general, can't really be replicated by other other hotels, and a lot of that is driven by the fact that it was a seminary,” said Kevin Doyle, chief operating officer of the Pulte Family Foundation. “It wasn’t built with a hotel in mind, but rather with this broader life experience in mind.”

The former seminary — which shut down in 1988 — was remodeled in 2006 by the Archdiocese of Detroit to serve as a hotel, which featured a golf course and steakhouse. But since the Pulte family purchased the building from the Archdiocese in 2021, construction has been underway to expand on and create new amenities for guests.

The new plans include a refurbished 18-hole golf course, “The Cardinal at Saint John’s,” and putt-putt course, “The Little Cardinal,” to open in Spring of 2024. The course was designed by Ray Hearn, a Michigan-based architect, and was built by New Jersey’s Rich LaBar.

“Construction of the golf course is done,” Doyle said. “Right now, we're just growing the grass, as funny as that sounds.”

Renovations are also underway for a 17,000-square-foot ballroom and courtyard, “The Monarch,” making it the hotel’s fifth and largest ballroom.

Also opening soon is the resort’s small plates and wine grotto. The arch-heavy, underground bar was refurbished by a local mother-daughter painting team and can be used for private events and cocktail hours.

The most recent renovation to debut was the 5,200-square-foot “Garden Pavilion” on the resort’s lawn. The Pavilion opened in June and, thanks to its heated floors, can accommodate more than 450 people in any season. 

The resort’s pool, restaurant, fitness center, communal terrace and bathrooms have all been updated in the past year as well. 

“We redid the bathrooms and every hotel room,” Doyle said. “We had about nine of the 118 rooms offline at a time last year, but those are all done and back in service.”

Updated event spaces also include larger kitchens and bridal suites for weddings. The Archdiocese of Detroit will still preside over Catholic weddings in the on-site chapel. 

Doyle said that the seminary’s original mission lives on through its new owners, who strive to do what they can for those in need. 

“Even though we’re a secular organization, our mission as a foundation is really just to make the world a better place and to help people from disadvantaged populations,” Doyle said. “And so, I think the fact that we are taking a property with that kind of history has made a lot of people excited and happy about the prospect.”

The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation owns three hotels across the country, two in Michigan and one in Wyoming, whose funds go directly to charity. Since its founding, the Pulte Family Foundation has donated more than $143 million to education, housing, foster-care and domestic-abuse-based organizations. 

The resort's success will profit the town of Plymouth as well, bringing increased foot traffic to local businesses and vendors.

"It's been a premier destination for a long time for conferences and weddings, but thanks to the renovations, that's really going to go up a notch now," said Wes Graff, president of the Plymouth Community Chamber of Commerce. "We're really looking forward to the weddings and conventions so we can get a lot of visitors coming in to see everything from our downtown to other other parts of the community."