It is no wonder that I have always enjoyed my stays at the older historic hotels in the United States, with their updated modern amenities. As a matter of fact, there is a National Trust Historic Hotels of America, dedicated to faithfully preserving their historic integrity, architecture and ambience. It is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was chartered by Congress in 1949 and is administered by the National Park Service and specially designated by the Secretary of the Interior. Member hotels must be located in buildings that are at least 50 years old.
Closer to home, my love of castles brought me to the Castle on the Hudson in Tarrytown, New York. It is perched high atop a bluff overlooking the scenic Hudson River Valley and was constructed at the turn of the last century. The castle is a replica of the Norman architecture of medieval Europe, with a massive stone façade, and imposing towers and turrets. Howard Carroll, a newspaperman, playwright and businessman, conceived of this 31-bedroom edifice and furnished the interior with lavish crystal chandeliers, magnificent stained glass and plastered ceilings. The Carroll family lived there until 1940, when it was sold as a boys¹ boarding school. It became a luxury hotel in 1996, with every modern convenience in a grand historic setting.
Even closer is Oheka Castle, named for its owner, Otto Herman Kahn (OttoHErmanKAhn) on Long Island¹s famed Gold Coast at Huntington, New York. It is an 126-room French Chateau, built in 1921, and reputed to be the second largest private residence in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst¹s San Simeon Castle in California). No expense was spared to update the property into a luxury 26-room hotel surrounded by 23-acres of formal gardens, reflecting pools, walking paths and fountains, many years after the financier and philanthropist Kahn died. Room rates are $2,500 and include continental breakfast.
During the football season, my family and I find a drive to West Point to see the Army game, to hear the cannons roar and the Army mule gallop in front of the stands when Army scores an exciting experience. Prior to the game, there is a parade with a marching band. We also try to manage to have brunch or a late lunch before or after the game at the grand Thayer Hotel on the West Point grounds. The hotel is described as a medieval fortress atop the banks of the Hudson River. It was originally built to house the Military Academy personnel and their guests and was named for Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, Superintendent of the Academy from 1817 to 1833. The hotel has an impressive façade of local quarry granite and the crenellated roofline and turrets that add height to its imposing presence. Many dignitaries, which included Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford and George H.W. Bush, generals Omar Bradley and Douglas MacArthur and the 52 American hostages who were released from Iran in 1981, have been guests at the hotel. Recent upgrades have brought the hotel into the 21st century, with many high-tech enhancements, but its stately interior grandeur remains intact.
The Fairmont Copley Plaza has been a landmark in Boston¹s historic Back Bay since 1912 and is the sister hotel to New York¹s Plaza Hotel, designed by the same architect, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh. These sister hotels both share the same double "P" monogram on the exterior of the building, in the ballroom, and all the doorknobs throughout the building, with a design that features French and Venetian Renaissance elements. The interior of the hotel is truly palatial, with gilded coffered ceilings decorated with trompe l¹oeil paintings that soar over the majestic 5,000 square foot lobby, and period antiques are on display throughout the building. I particularly enjoyed having cocktails in the cozy book-lined library, where John Grisham¹s book "The Firm" was filmed.
To the South, there is Miami¹s famous Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, which still hosts many Hollywood celebrities and world leaders. Since 1926, when it was built in the grand Mediterranean Revival style, it has been in the forefront of Miami¹s social and cultural history. The Biltmore has a 45-foot hand painted dramatic ceiling, a 315-foot tower which stands high above the city of Coral Gables modeled after the Giralda bell tower of Seville. Its 700,000-gallon water pool is touted as the largest hotel pool in the continental United States.
Future columns will deal with other Historic American Hotels in the Western States.
© Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail:mascribe@verizon.net
