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WHAT ARE THE AMERICAN GRAND HOTELS?
amazon ^ | 8-06-03 | self

Posted on 08/06/2003 4:25:19 PM PDT by MHT

We're compiling a list of America's remaining Grand Hotels and other resorts. Among them are Hotel Del, The Broadmoor, Greenbriar, Old Faithful Inn, The Cloisters, and The Homestead. Can you recommend others in the same league, with history and first-class service, which are still in business?


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: faq

1 posted on 08/06/2003 4:25:20 PM PDT by MHT
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To: MHT
May not be "grand" in a historical sense, but I love Kiawah Island Resort.
2 posted on 08/06/2003 4:29:01 PM PDT by demsux
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To: MHT
Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY
3 posted on 08/06/2003 4:30:26 PM PDT by John Beresford Tipton
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To: MHT
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, in the Great State of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you want to see it go to your local video store and rent "Time After Time" or "Somewhere in Time" or something like that (can't quite remember the name). The film stars Christopher Plummer and much of it was shot on location in the hotel.

Oh yeah, Christopher Reeve has a minor role in the film as well.

4 posted on 08/06/2003 4:35:31 PM PDT by yooper
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To: yooper
The Parker House Hotel in Boston is the Grand Dame of hotels there. The facilities are beautiful, the rooms elegant but it's the history that sets it apart.

"Rascal King" James Michael Curley lunching every day while serving as mayor, escaping his "corner of agony" across the street at the Old City Hall.

JFK announcing his candidacy for Congress in 1946.

John Wilkes Booth in town to see his brother, Edwin, for the last time as the younger brother performed in the play titled, "The Iron Chest." The plot: a man who has committed murder and the guilt that is consuming him. Eight days later, John Wilkes Booth assasinates Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.

Malcolm X as a waiter. Ho Chi Man as part of the kitchen ranks before he went on to bigger and multi-million muderous ways.

Thre monthly Saturday Club where the likes of Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, James, Longfellow, Prescott, Parkman, Whittier and, once, Dickens, shared seven-course meals, poetry, short stories and plenty of elixers.

Origin of the aptly-enough-named Parker Roll (recipe revealed when FDR and wife(?) requested recipe in 1933). Perfecter of the Boston Cream Pie. Creator of the term "scrod" to describe the smallest of the freshest fish catch of the day.

All being made possible by the man himself, Harvey Parker. One of the last hotel owners that greeted virtually every guest when on duty; the first in the States to separate the food and lodging bills; and the first that realized that if you pay a chef an exorbinant salary ($5,000/yr vs. the average $500/yr) you'll get good results through top notch food selection/preperation and the fact that you are willing to pay top-dollar to achieve status as the best.

And last but not least: the Parker House Hotel is the longest continiously operating hotel in the US.

I could go on but this Boston tour guide digresses.


5 posted on 08/06/2003 4:55:30 PM PDT by torchthemummy
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To: yooper
I forgot about Michigan--and it's one of my favorites. There were also hotels at Glacier Park, but I can't remember the names of them and do not know if all of them are still in existence.
6 posted on 08/06/2003 5:39:26 PM PDT by MHT
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To: MHT
Also heard about the American Club in Kohler, WI, which is supposed to have the best bathrooms of any hotel in America.
7 posted on 08/06/2003 5:51:22 PM PDT by MHT
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To: John Beresford Tipton
I loved Mohonk, a real national treasure.

In the same vein is the Ahwanee Hotel at Yosemite, well worth a trip.

"In the Roaring Twenties before the beginning of the depression, throughout the United States there was a great building boom. The automobile and the railroad created opportunities for travel and recreation beyond the limited confines of a city or state. Some of the most magnificent structures in the first quarter of this century were hotels which were built in response to this new traveling phenomenon. Whether it was the Pierre in New York City, the Harvey Hotels along the Santa Fe Railroad or in the newly created national parks, hotels were one of the major structures through which architects expressed the vigor and vitality of the era.

"One of the most magnificent hotel structures of this period is found in Yosemite National Park. It is called the Ahwahnee, an Indian word meaning "deep, grassy valley" and is now a National Historic Landmark building. Completed in 1927, the Ahwahnee Hotel was created, built, and publicized by an exceptionally talented and famous group of individuals: Stephen T. Mather, first director of theNational Park Service; Donald B. Tresidder, later president of Stanford University; Gilbert Stanley Underwood, architect for the Union Pacific Railroad; Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., landscape architect of New York City's Central Park; Ansel Adams, one of America's most famous photographers........"
8 posted on 08/07/2003 11:19:03 AM PDT by PoisedWoman (Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
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To: PoisedWoman; MHT
Oops! I spelled it wrong in #8. Darn those Indian words....should be Ahwahnee (with two h's.)
9 posted on 08/07/2003 11:22:08 AM PDT by PoisedWoman (Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
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To: MHT
Flagler built excellent hotels when he ran his railroad down the Florida coast. The Biltmore in Coral Gables, a section of Miami, was reopened recently after being closed for a long time and used as a hospital. Other attempts at bringing the Biltmore back to her former glory failed to bring in enough business to stay open. Perhaps the current effort will succeed. She's a terrific old girl, Grande Dame to the max.

And do not forget the stunning Huntington Hotel in San Marino next to Pasadena, one of the very best. My parents took me there for a week when I was 11, about 2983741023 years ago. It was spectacular, gllistening with chandeliers and carpeted with deep Persian carpets. Enormous grounds and everything else you can imagine. Then the hotel was sold, went downhill to terrible tackiness for decades. Very sad. But now it's a Ritz (or some major chain) hotel and fully revamped to its former glory and beyond. The Huntington Library is still on the grounds....millions of dollars worth of rare books.

Huntington was one of the famed California "Big Four," the men who built the railroad that brought people to San Francisco back in gold rush days. Huntington, Stanford, Hopkins, and ....whatshisname. The fellows have hotels named after them atop Nob Hill.

I got very lucky and rented a house from a grandson of Mark Hopkins, on a ridge in Big Sur overlooking the ocean. 42 glorious acres, redwoods. Heaven. Had the place for a year at a very reasonable rent. My own private Grand Hotel, tho in truth, the place was a large but very simple redwood rambler the grandson had basicailly built with his own hands for his family. Really nice man, lovely family. I've heard they don't rent it out anymore after a tenant after moi almost burned the place down. Big Sur offers a couple of wonderful resort hotels. I love the Ventana Inn, built in mid-70s and I hear there's a newer and better one now, tho I've never been there. If you're looking for GRAND, nothing in the world beats Big Sur scenery. You could stay in a tent and feel like a king. Queen.
10 posted on 08/07/2003 11:41:38 AM PDT by PoisedWoman (Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
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To: MHT
I hope you don't get tired of me, MHT. This is probably my favorite topic in the world! I've traveled since I was a baby, learned to order room service the minute I could talk. Then later, worked as a travel writer for three years with terrific press trips all over the place.

How could I have forgotten to mention the Boca Raton Resort and Club? I could write a book on that one, as I was actually a member there for a year. Another stroke of good fortune as it came very cheap when I rented the house of a member who'd paid dearly for it.

Anyway, The Boca Resort is, IMHO, the most glam spot in America, certainly my favorite. I have to go back to work now but you can see it at http://www.bocaresort.com/

Unfortunately, the site sucks, in that it shows very few photos that give you a real look at its magnificence. But you'll get the idea. Hint: Avoid holidays. The place is jammed.
11 posted on 08/07/2003 12:03:36 PM PDT by PoisedWoman (Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
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To: PoisedWoman
No--this is NOT boring--just the opposite.

Have you been to the Biltmore in Arizona which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright? If so, is it worth it? A friend of mine said it was unremarkable except for the fact that you knew you were in something that was supposed to be considered important historically.

12 posted on 08/07/2003 11:54:24 PM PDT by MHT
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To: MHT
Yes, I stopped at the Biltmore in AZ for a drink. Only saw the lobby. It was special,and differnt. Very dim with muted earth tones, a nice relief from the blazing sun, but don't think it qualifies a Grand.
13 posted on 08/08/2003 4:13:11 PM PDT by PoisedWoman (Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
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