HISTORIC HIDEAWAYS
Five vintage hotels come with guided tours that bring their pasts to life
For travellers who seek out historic hotels, learning about a property first-hand and from an expert is a lovely perk. No brochure or website can make history come alive — or indulge questions — the way a human guide can. In fact, for many travellers, guided tours are the highlight of trips to such iconic properties as the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, which served as a secret bunker for members of Congress, or the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo., which has a rich history both as a resort built by an automobile magnate and as the inspiration for the Stephen King novel The Shining.
The following lodgings, all featured on the Historic Hotels of America website ( historichotels.org), offer guided tours of their fascinating properties, making your time there a truly memorable experience.
JEKYLL ISLAND CLUB RESORT, JEKYLL ISLAND, GA.
After an exquisite day at the majestic Jekyll Island Club Resort off the coast of Georgia, my companion asks, “What was your favourite part?”
It’s a tough call. The 2,300 hectares of island tranquillity once served as a private retreat for a group of America’s wealthiest families — picture Vanderbilts and Morgans. In 1947, the state of Georgia bought the island, and in 1983, architect Larry Evans and lawyer Vance Hughes proposed restoring the historic building. A century after the Jekyll Island Club first opened, it reopened as a hotel in 1987. Now owned by Northview Hotel Group, it has 157 rooms, with more units to come this year.
The stately Queen Anne-style architecture, breezy verandas and trees filled with swaying Spanish moss make for a relaxed and elegant atmosphere. But my favourite part? That was Sherri Zacher, the Jekyll Island Club Resort’s concierge, who conducts the history tours.
Sherri is Siri when it comes to club information; it seems there’s nothing she doesn’t know. She fed us fascinating tidbits, sharing details about the secret 1910 meeting disguised as a duck hunt that laid the groundwork for the U.S. Federal Reserve, and showing us Joseph Pulitzer’s favourite seat for an after-dinner smoke. Her childhood memories of trips to the island gave the presentation a personal feel and allowed us to experience a sense of connection and inclusion, to feel solid as a Rockefeller in this grand history-heavy retreat. 371 Riverview Dr., Jekyll Island, Ga. jekyllclub.com
Rooms start at US$149
Tours: Monday through Thursday at 2 p.m. Free for hotel guests; US$15 per person for non-guests. Reservations recommended.
OMNI MOUNT WASHINGTON RESORT, BRETT ON WOODS, N. H.
Under the front veranda of the Omni Mount Washington Resort is a bar that no one was supposed to know about — well, no one with a badge.
This was a Prohibition- era speakeasy. The term for an illegal establishment that serves alcohol came from having to fool police, according to Craig Clemmer, the resort’s director of sales and marketing. One brick could be re- moved from the wall for a lookout, and if the police were approaching, guests would be told, “Dump your cups and speak easy,” he says. The Cave, as the bar is now known, still offers a Prohibition Punch, which Clemmer describes as “a Roaring ’20s-era cocktail served in a tea cup.”
Momentous events have happened here, such as the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, at which the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were established.
The 200- room Spanish Renaissance Revival- style hotel was newsworthy when coal and railroad magnate Joseph Stickney opened it in 1902: “To have hot and cold running water and a private bath in every room in this hotel was unheard of at the time,” Clemmer says.
310 Mount Washington Hotel Rd., Bretton Woods, N.H. omnihotels.com/ hotels/ bretton-woods-mount-washington Rooms start at US$219
Tours: Daily at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Free for guests. Private group tours, catered tours and tours for motor coach groups can be arranged.
MISSION INN HOTEL & SPA, RIVERSIDE, CALIF.
To look at the Mission Inn, you’d never guess this giant, labyrinthine complex began as a humble adobe and boarding house in 1876. The owner’s son, Frank Miller, a world traveller and lover of beauty, opened today’s hotel on the site in 1903.
He constructed it in the Mission Revival tradition popular at the time, and kept adding to it in a variety of architectural styles.