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Best in Travel, Historic Hotels, Historic Preservation, Hotels & Resorts

The Broadmoor, Amway Grand Plaza Among 2017 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence Winners

Mohonk Mountain House, the grand resort in New Paltz, New York, was honored with a 2017 Historic Hotels of America Award for Excellence for Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year, the Smiley Family © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Broadmoor of Colorado Springs, The Dunhill Hotel of Charlotte, Mayflower Park Hotel of Seattle, West Baden Springs Hotel of Indiana, Amway Grand Plaza of Grand Rapids were among the winners of Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence for 2017 by Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide®. The winners were announced at a special ceremony and gala at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) in Hot Springs, Virginia. Honors were given in multiple categories ranging from Hotelier of the Year and Hotel Historian of the Year to Best Historic Resort, Historic Hotelier of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement.

Each year, these Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor, encourage, and recognize the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence are presented to historic hotels and hoteliers demonstrating innovative leadership, stewardship, and contribution to furthering the recognition, preservation, and celebration of these preeminent historic hotels and their histories.

From more than 200 nominees, the following Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide hotels and hoteliers were honored with these prestigious annual awards for 2017: 

Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms): The Dunhill Hotel (1929) Charlotte, North Carolina

Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms): Mayflower Park Hotel (1927) Seattle, Washington

Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms): West Baden Springs Hotel (1902) West Baden Springs, Indiana

Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms): Amway Grand Plaza (1913) Grand Rapids, Michigan

Best City Center Historic Hotel: Marriott Syracuse Downtown (1924) Syracuse, New York

Best Historic Resort: The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Best Historic Restaurant in Conjunction with a Historic Hotel: Penrose Room at The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year: The Georges (1789) Lexington, Virginia

Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel: The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California

Sustainability Champion: Inn at the Presidio (1903) San Francisco, California

Hotel Historian of the Year: Jim Hewes at The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC (1847) Washington, DC

Ambassador of the Year (Quarter Century of Service): Woodrow “Woody” Pettus at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Hot Springs, Virginia

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Europe: Hotel Waldhaus Sils (1908) Sils Maria, Switzerland

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Asia/Pacific: Alsisar Haveli (1892) Jaipur, India

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in the Americas: Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (1893) Québec City, Canada

Historian of the Year: Chef Walter Staib, author, twelve time Emmy Award winning TV host of A Taste of History©,and chef and proprietor of City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Stewards of History and Historic Preservation Award: R.D. (Dan) Musser III at Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan

Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year: The Smiley Family at Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York

Historic Hotelier of the Year: Philip Wood at The Jefferson, Washington, DC (1923) Washington, DC

Lifetime Achievement Award: Duane and Kelly Roberts at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California

“The winners of the 2017 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence represent more than 231 years of history and include the finest iconic and legendary historic hotels from across the United States of America and from around the world,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We applaud these magnificent historic hotels and their hoteliers for their dedication, passion, stewardship and success in preserving these treasures and their stories for future generations of travelers.”

Award recipients are selected from nominees received from historic hotels, historic preservation supporters, prior award recipients, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. As official programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide provide the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels across America and around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group of nominees in a range of categories.

Historic Hotels of America® is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest Historic Hotels. Historic Hotels of America has more than 300 member historic hotels which have all faithfully maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity in the United States, including 46 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Historic Hotels of America is comprised of mostly independently owned and operated historic hotels. More than 30 of the world’s finest hospitality brands, chains, and collections are represented in Historic Hotels of America. To be nominated and selected for membership into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historic significance. For more information, visit HistoricHotels.org.

Historic Hotels Worldwide® is a prestigious collection of historic treasures, including historic hotels, castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historic lodging spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide represents the finest global collection of more than 260 historic hotels in more than 36 countries. Historic Hotels Worldwide is dedicated to promoting heritage and cultural travel to prestigious historic treasures. Hotels inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide are authentic historic treasures, demonstrate historic preservation, and celebrate historic significance. Embracing luxury hotel brands, chains, collections, and the finest independent historic hotels, participation is limited to those distinctive historic hotels that adhere to the following criteria: minimum age for the building is 75 years or older; historically relevant as a significant location with a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, former home of a famous person, or historic city center; hotel celebrates its history by showcasing memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance; recognized by national preservation or heritage buildings organization or located within UNESCO World Heritage Site; presently used as historic hotel. To learn more visit www.HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com 

 

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Historic Preservation, Hotels & Resorts

Historic Hotels of America Inducts 24 New Members in 2014

Historic Hotels of America members are not just historic but where history happened. Wentworth by the Sea, in Newcastle, NH, for example, hosted the Russian and Japanese delegates to the Treaty of Portsmouth congress that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 (for which President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize) © 2014 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Historic Hotels of America members are not just historic but where history happened. Wentworth by the Sea, in Newcastle, NH, for example, hosted the Russian and Japanese delegates to the Treaty of Portsmouth congress that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 (for which President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize) © 2014 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Historic Hotels of America welcomed 24 historic hotels into membership in 2014. Hotels nominated and accepted into the prestigious Historic Hotels of America program range in age from 51 to 389 years old. These new additions represent historic hotels from 14 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The oldest new member hotel dates to 1625. Six of the hotels were adapted from a previous use including a former bank and courthouse. Of the 24 new members, five have reported hauntings from friendly ghosts.

Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservationfor recognizing and celebrating the finest Historic Hotels. To be nominated and selected for membership into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historic significance.

Historic hotels inducted into Historic Hotels of America members YTD in 2014 include:

  • Le Méridien Tampa (1905) Tampa, Florida Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, converted to a hotel from century old federal courthouse
  • Hilton Hawaiian Village® Waikiki Beach Resort, Honolulu (1961) Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
  • The Drake Hotel (1920) Chicago, Illinois Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
  • Hilton Chicago (1927) Chicago, Illinois
  • Hilton Orrington/Evanston (1927) Evanston, Illinois
  • Seelbach Hilton (1905) Louisville, Kentucky Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
  • Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center (1927) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue (1926) New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Southern Hotel (1907) Covington, Louisiana, converted from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana’s Masonic Temple
  • The Westin Portland Harborview (1927) Portland, Maine
  • Hilton Boston Downtown/Faneuil Hall (1928) Boston, Massachusetts, converted from Boston’s first Art Deco skyscraper office building
  • Hilton President Kansas City (1926) Kansas City, Missouri
  • Hilton St. Louis Downtown at the Arch (1888) St. Louis, Missouri, converted from former Merchant Laclède National Bank and office building.
  • Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza (1625) Santa Fe, New Mexico, converted from 300 year old hacienda
  • Hilton Manhattan East (1931) New York, New York
  • Chateau at the Oregon Caves National Monument (1935) Cave Junction, Oregon Designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark
  • Abraham Lincoln Reading Hotel (1930) Reading, Pennsylvania
  • Caribe Hilton San Juan (1949) San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • The Condado Plaza Hilton (1963) San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Condado Vanderbilt Hotel (1919) San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Hilton Fort Worth (1921) Fort Worth, Texas
  • Airlie (1892) Warrenton, Virginia, converted from picturesque farm
  • Capital Hilton (1943) Washington, DC
  • The Edgewater (1948) Madison, Wisconsin

“Historic Hotels of America is pleased to honor these noteworthy and iconic historic hotels,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “From Puerto Rico to Hawaii, each hotel represents a unique aspect of the heritage, history, and culture of the United States of America including one from more than 150 years prior to 1776. Several hotels are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and one hotel that has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark. We are delighted to welcome adaptive reuse historic hotels that previously were built as unique buildings ranging from a hacienda to a public court house.”

Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation® for recognizing and celebrating the finest Historic Hotels. Historic Hotels of America was founded in 1989 by the National Trust for Historic Preservationwith 32 charter members. Today, Historic Hotels of America has more than 260 historic hotels. These historic hotels have all faithfully maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity in the United States of America, including 46 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Historic Hotels of America is comprised of mostly independently owned and operated properties.  More than 30 of the world’s finest hospitality brands, chains, and collections are represented in Historic Hotels of America. To be nominated and selected for membership into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historic significance.

For more information, visit HistoricHotels.org.

 

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