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Historic Hotels: A Name to Trust

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 27, 2006

Historic Hotels • Historic Hotels Adds Four to Its Roster • Historic Hotels: A Name to Trust --- • More about Hotels

Consumers considering where to stay on vacation can't be sure what they're getting -- unless they've visited a property before or had good experiences with a particular brand.

That's why Historic Hotels of America is a worthwhile gamble: as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, all members must be 50+ years old, listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, or recognized locally for their historic significance.

In short, they've stood the test of time.

Established in 1989 with 32 original members, Historic Hotels now includes 210 hotels, with more than 13,000 rooms, in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Its nine latest additions include a Hurricane Katrina survivor, a dude ranch, two mountain resorts, a New England inn, and two southern belles. The newcomers are:

• Bienville House Hotel, New Orleans - This 1856 property, named for the French Canadian who founded the city a century earlier, has 83 rooms, wrought-iron balconies, and a lush courtyard that convey the impression of a stately manor home.

• Rancho de los Caballeros, Wickenburg, AZ - A desert inn perched in rugged hill country an hour northwest of Phoenix, this family-owned property features 79 casitas, horseback riding, jeep touring, mountain biking, trap and skeet shooting, and cookouts under the stars.

• Gallatin Gateway Inn, Gateway, MT - Built in 1927 for Yellowstone visitors who arrived by train, this 33-room mountain property is 12 miles southwest of Bozeman and an hour from the nation's most famous national park.

• The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, Dixville Notch, NH - Originally a rustic, 25-room property called the Dix House in 1866, this hotel now has 202 rooms and a national reputation as the spot where voters cast the first presidential ballots every four years.

• Mountain View Grand Resort, Whitefield, NH - Another grande dame of the White Mountains located four hours from Boston, this 146-room property, known for its two-story piazza and twin towers, is still sparkling in the wake of a $20 million renovation.

• The Thayer Hotel, West Point, NY - Built in 1926 for West Point personnel and their guests, this 147-room Hudson River edifice has a Gothic-style facade, a habit of hosting presidents, and proximity to Manhattan (50 miles south).

• Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn, Rheinbeck, NY - The 18th-century inn where Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr exchanged the insults that led to their duel was later used by FDR to launch all of his political campaigns (the two inns, located 95 miles north of New York, have a combined 72 rooms).

• The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, TN - The symbol of the South's rebirth, the Peabody opened in 1869, moved to his present site in 1925, and reopened as a 468-room hotel in 1981 after a six-year renovation restored its original grandeur and added live ducks to the lobby fountain (the twice-daily duck walk is a Peabody tradition).

• Stonewall Jackson Hotel & Conference Center, Staunton, VA - A 1924 brick structure with a rare Wurlitzer organ, this 124-room property, two hours southwest of Washington, was once a gathering point for Shenandoah Valley society.

Reservations made through Historic Hotels of America support the National Trust, a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing American communities. The key word is "trust."

For further information, contact National Trust Historic Hotels of America, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 (Tel. 202-588-6000, Fax 202-588-6292, www.nationaltrust.org).

Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is president of the North American Travel Journalists Association, and a frequent contributor to AAA Traveler and USAirways Magazine.

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