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| The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. |
If you’re
ready to venture away from the predictability of chain hotels, curb your
impulse to book a room on Expedia and click instead on the Historic Hotels of America
website. It’s a tempting selection of
over 300 unique accommodations in 46 states, the District
of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico that have been admitted to this official program of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
To become a member, the properties have to be faithfully authentic, possess
a sense of place, have architectural integrity and be at least 50 years
old. Additionally, they are all
designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic
Landmark or recognized as having historic significance by the National Register
of Historic Places. Those who appreciate
architectural detail and craftsmanship will especially enjoy these locations
and the care that has gone into maintaining them.
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| Bechtler Museum |
When my
husband and I stayed at The Dunhill Hotel in Charlotte, we had the best seats in the house
for an epic bike race that sped through this prime location in the cultural
district. In 2017 the Dunhill was named
Best Small Inn by Historic Hotels for its architecture inspired by Italian
craftsmen. We appreciated being able to walk to museums, especially the jewel-box sized Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the nearby restaurants and nightlife.
Exit the
interstate onto a private launch! The
Greyfield Inn on
Cumberland Island can only be reached by boat from
St. Marys, Georgia. Guests disembark into an unmanicured forested
island where wild horses share the rough paths leading to the beach, ruins of
mansions and primitive campgrounds. With
only 16 rooms, the all-inclusive gourmet dinners are friendly affairs where you
can share tales of island adventures like visiting the tiny rustic chapel where
John Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessette were married.
At the
Martha Washington Inn and Spa in
Abingdon,
Virginia my two sisters and I
spread out in our huge 3
rd floor room.
General Robert Preston built the hotel in
1832 for his wife and nine children after his successes in the War of
1812.
Much of the original architecture
has been meticulously preserved including the 9-foot tall Dutch baroque grandfather clock in the lobby which was brought from
England by one of the
Preston
daughters. The hotel is close to the (almost
all downhill) Virginia Creeper Trail which draws thousands of bicyclists. While luxuriating in the cascading pools we
spied a bride escaping her photo shoot to hide in the bushes and smoke a
cigarette. She invited us to crash her
wedding which featured the macabre theme of Chicago Gangsters complete with
plastic Tommy-gun toting groomsmen.
History
surrounds you at these hotels. At the
Jekyll Island Club in
Georgia
you can sit in the room where the groundwork for the Federal Reserve was
written, or where the president of AT&T placed the first intercontinental
telephone call. You can actually stay in
one of the grand summer cottages of the rich industrialists. Looking out my window I easily imagined myself
as one of the country’s elite industrialist wives like Alma Rockefeller who
vacationed here in the 1880’s. She
disembarked from her namesake yacht at the dock right outside followed by a
parade of servants toting dozens of steamer trunks containing the ten changes
of clothes required daily of Victorian women. It was like being in two
centuries at once.
Elsewhere
on
Georgia’s
Golden Isle is the sprawling King and Prince Hotel where beach-side dances were
held in 1935 before the hotel housed military in World War II.
Today its Mediterranean architecture and a
variety of room styles welcomes guests to the homey community of
St. Simons
Island.
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| Grove Park Inn lobby |
After Edwin
Wiley Grove became a millionaire by selling his malaria-fighting Tasteless
Chill Tonic (it sold more bottles than Coca Cola in the 1890’s) he constructed Asheville’s Grove Park
Inn. Massive stone boulders were excavated
and fitted together like puzzle pieces by Italian stone masons and local
craftsmen. The grand hall lobby includes
the much-photographed 14-foot wide fireplaces.
Alongside the chimney shafts, surrounded by boulders weighing up to 5
tons, are the original Otis elevators.
Their unique design has been featured in Ripley’s Believe it or
Not. When the inn opened in 1913,
Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan proclaimed that the Grove Park Inn
was “built for the ages.” How true. It has remained one of the Southeast’s
premier destinations.
Charleston has its own Historic Hotels: the Wentworth Mansion
and the Francis Marion. These are iconic
places that represent our city’s history and the passion our citizenry has from
preservation. Together, these hotels and
their partner The National Trust for Historic Preservation inspire people to save
places where history happened, connect Americans to diverse pasts and are a
leading voice in preserving our nation’s culture.
If you Go:
Exit the
interstate onto a private launch! The
Greyfield Inn on 
At the
Martha Washington Inn and Spa in 
Elsewhere
on 
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