WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#gingerbread–Historic Hotels of America® offer travelers many memorable ways to experience holiday traditions, many dating back decades if not centuries. 25 of these legendary hotels, resorts, and inns have created magnificent gingerbread displays to delight and inspire guests. The tradition of gingerbread cookies in the United States of America dates to the late 18th century and the tradition of gingerbread houses in the U.S. dates to the early 19th century. From life-size gingerbread cottages to a letter-writing station at a gingerbread house for kids to write a letter to Santa and receive a personal reply before Christmas, these iconic historic hotels are the place for families to discover and experience wonderful holiday traditions and spirit. The 2021 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Magnificent Gingerbread Displays are the result of thousands of hours of culinary, pastry, confectionary, engineering, and carpentry teams working for weeks and even months to design, create, mix, bake, build or set up, and, of course, decorate. Collectively, the ingredients include more than a thousand pounds of sugar, thousands of eggs, more than a thousand pounds of flour, hundreds of spices, more than 10,000 individual candies, hundreds of gallons of molasses, honey, and frosting used to create these colossal gingerbread displays. There is also a Home Recipe Spotlight, from a Chicago hotel founded in 1927, for creating gingerbread magic on a smaller scale. Find photos of all these magnificent creations at the Historic Hotels of America Top 25 Lists media center. Enjoy!
Williamsburg Lodge, Autograph Collection, and Colonial Houses (1750)
Williamsburg, Virginia
The Williamsburg Lodge (1750) at the Colonial Williamsburg Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, created Santa’s Winter Wonderland for kids of all ages during the 2021 holiday season. This gingerbread village is a landscape of frosted seasonal activity. Visitors can spy the gingerbread village miniatures fishing, caroling, and choosing their holiday tree. Nutcracker soldiers guard Santa’s Workshop, where a reindeer-led sleigh is loaded with bright packages. Elves are hard at work within frosted gingerbread walls. And just like guests can do in Colonial Williamsburg’s Merchants Square, there are figures in the gingerbread village ice skating. At least six gingerbread experts worked over 300 hours, collectively, on this detailed gingerbread fantasy world. The village required 30 lbs. of icing, 125 lbs. of flour, 30 lbs. of butter, 28 lbs. of brown sugar, 2 cups of ginger, and 4 cups of cinnamon. The display is in the lobby of the Williamsburg Lodge and will be there through the end of December.
The Omni Homestead Resort (1766)
Hot Springs, Virginia
To celebrate the holidays and bring cheer to guests, The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Executive Chef Todd Owen and Executive Pastry Chef Gelyn Widelski created a gingerbread replica of the resort to be the centerpiece of this year’s resort gingerbread display – a gingerbread village. More than 15 different departments at the resort each created a gingerbread display for the gingerbread village, making it a team effort across the historic resort. The Homestead’s gingerbread hotel tower draws eyes to its beautifully symmetrical frosted and holly-decked windows, balconies, and delicate eaves. The Gingerbread Homestead is about 3.5 ft. tall and 3 feet wide. It weighs more than 80 lbs. The pastry chefs used 10lbs. of icing and 250 pieces of chocolate to make the hotel windows. Surrounding the hotel, arranged on a bed of white fluff and sparkling garlands, is the village. The colorful village houses are iced, candy-covered delights with snowmen, reindeer, and Santa Clauses delivering gifts. Guests are invited to vote on their favorites in the village.
Woodstock Inn & Resort (1793)
Woodstock, Vermont
The Woodstock Inn & Resort (1793) pastry elves create a unique gingerbread house each year to delight guests and visitors. This season they have prepared a whimsical cottage style that pulls inspiration from Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). Every October, the resort’s core gingerbread team of three begins baking pieces to resemble shingles. The house set-up takes about two weeks to mix and bake. In November, professional carpenters assist with the construction. The Woodstock Inn & Resort’s gingerbread house stands at 4 ft. wide by 3 ft. long and 6 ft. tall. The pastry chefs used more than 136 lbs. of flour, 90 lbs. of molasses and 16 lbs. of ginger. Guests and visitors are invited to walk through the Inn lobby to admire, enjoy, and take a photo in the sweet-coated house during the holiday season. Young guests can write a letter to Santa and send to the North Pole via the gingerbread house’s mailbox.
French Lick Springs Hotel (1845)
French Lick, Indiana
This holiday tradition at French Lick Springs Hotel (1845) is so massive and over-the-top that it starts taking shape around Labor Day. Five members of the hotel’s Pastry Team (plus a few part-time helper elves) create a fresh theme for their gingerbread creation each holiday season, and 450 hours’ worth of work went into crafting this year’s farmhouse-style home that’s 7 ft. wide, 8 ft. tall, and weighs around 500 lbs. This is a spectacle you can usually smell before you see – nearly 5 lbs. of ginger and spices create that unmistakable gingerbread aroma that wafts through the corridors all throughout the resort’s 50 Days of Lights celebration. As part of the festivities, there’s also a letter-writing station at the gingerbread house for kids to write a letter to Santa, drop it in the holiday mailbox, and have a personal reply sent to their home before Christmas.
Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. (1847)
Washington, D.C.
This December 2021, the Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. (1847) proudly displays several gingerbread displays. These displays were created by high school students from the DC NAF Academies of Culinary Arts and in partnership with the American Experience Foundation (a 501(c)(3) charity). Students were divided into teams to design and build these gingerbread displays with the guidance of the schools’ culinary instructors and the Willard culinary team. Their gingerbread creations were unveiled at the 2021 Gingerbread Display Unveiling, Contest, and Auction on December 3 at the Willard InterContinental, where celebrity judges critiqued their work. Each of the students’ displays is just under 24 x 24 x 24 in., and they required around 20 people who worked 16 days total on their displays, which weigh about 80-100 lbs. altogether. After the unveiling, the People’s Choice gingerbread contest pits these displays against each other to raise money for the American Experience Foundation to support their efforts of cultivating the next generation of hospitality professionals. This multi-faceted fundraising initiative aims to benefit both the American Experience Foundation and DC NAF Academies of Culinary Arts. Vote for your favorite here between December 3-20.
Ingredients Spotlight: Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C.
Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa (1847)
Point Clear, Alabama
When early-bird shoppers were rushing for holiday deals on Black Friday, November 26, the pastry chefs at the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa (1847) in Point Clear, Alabama, were putting the final touches on a massive confectionary version of the Mobile Bay resort. This brilliant resort village miniature is made from hundreds of lbs. of gingerbread, colorful sweets, and 150 lbs. of icing. The gingerbread village is a replica of the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa and is approximately 16 ft. in length, 8 ft. wide and 18 in. in height. Chef Kimberly and 40 members of the Grand Hotel Golf Resort team incorporated into the village an “I Spy” game for guests to discover fun features at the Grand, including the Grand Hotel Resort’s ducks in the outside ponds, Chef Kimberly’s dog (named “Nitro”), and Bucky’s fire pits. Buildings in the display include the Pool Pavilion, South Bay House, North Bay House, Marina House and Spa, replicas of beautiful hundred-year-old oak trees, and marshmallow snow people. The pastry chefs and 40 Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa team members started working on the display in early October and finished on Thanksgiving Day. From making the dough, rolling it, cutting it, baking it, assembling it, and decorating it, the eight-week project is a Grand Hotel Golf Resort tradition!
Ingredients Spotlight: Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa
Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa (1865)
Whitefield, New Hampshire
The Mountain View Grand (1865) holiday Whoville Gingerbread Village display was created to compliment the Whitefield, New Hampshire resort’s November 27 Grinch themed family event and to be a part of the season’s holiday décor through the end of the year. The family celebration kicked-off the resort’s holiday season with a tree lighting ceremony, crafts, strolling magic & juggling, Who Buffet dinner, and Variety Show. The finished confectionary product is 26 in. tall, 32 in. long and 24 in. wide and weighs approximately 50 lbs. The production included 15 lbs. of gingerbread and 12 lbs. of royal icing. Pastry Chef Sabrina Tessitore and Intern Maura Mead worked on the village for approximately one week, laboring to make the gingerbread and royal icing, baking the dough, measuring and cutting the specialty shapes, and then assembling and stabilizing the village. The Whoville Gingerbread Village is on display in the lobby for visitors to enjoy during December.
Mohonk Mountain House (1869)
New Paltz, New York
The year 2021 marks the 6th Annual Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition at Mohonk Mountain House (1869) in New Paltz, New York. Mohonk invites guests and the local community to construct their best gingerbread creation for a chance to have it displayed at the resort during the holiday season. A panel of local judges select eight finalists from the adult-created gingerbread displays to the two finalists from the junior created gingerbread displays to join the holiday decorations at Mohonk Mountain House. Online “people’s choice” voting runs from December 9–24 at Mohonk.com. The public is invited to vote for their favorite display along with three new superlative awards. Along with overall “best,” the adult gingerbread creation displays are judged on “Best use of Edible Mixed Media,” “Best Original use of Gingerbread,” and “Best Creative Use and Decoration of the Base.” Mohonk partnered with the local non-profit organization Food Bank of the Hudson Valley this year to support their efforts in alleviating hunger in their local community. The Food Bank serves 400 organizations across six counties in New York State. Learn how Mohonk uses holiday gingerbread for a good cause.
Hotel Colorado (1893)
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
The life-size, interactive holiday gingerbread house at Hotel Colorado (1893) in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, encapsulates the hotel’s Legends Coffee & Gift Shop and welcomes guests to participate in a seriously sweet shopping experience. The gingerbread house is 16 ft. high, 12 ft. long, and 14 ft. wide, and built from 311 lbs. of gingerbread and 8 gallons of frosting. The gingerbread to make the house required one week to bake and build. Four people worked together to assemble the house. This year, the Glenwood Springs Historical Society and Frontier Museum is sponsoring a gingerbread display contest held in the Roosevelt Room at Historic Hotel Colorado. The contest will raise funds for the Historical Society to get a new roof. The Historic Hotel Colorado gingerbread house is free for anyone to visit, take photos, and enjoy! Guests can enter the gingerbread house to grab coffee, to-go food, or gifts for loved ones and friends.
The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco (1907)
San Francisco, California
For over a century, The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco (1907) has enchanted guests with its joyful holiday festivities and seasonal ambience. At the end of November each year, the hotel lobby transforms into one of the world’s most beloved holiday destinations, where cherished memories for locals and visitors alike are created. The highlight of this awe-inspiring exhibit is the glowing, two-story Victorian-style gingerbread house, adorned in hundreds of lbs. of See’s Candies’ iconic sweets, located in the hotel’s grand lobby. Lovingly built with a completely edible exterior, the delectable abode was constructed by the Fairmont Hotel San Francisco’s talented culinary team, led by Executive Chef Michael Quigley. The house stands at over 22 ft. high and 23 ft. wide and includes thousands of baked gingerbread bricks. The hotel partnered with See’s Candies to decorate its gingerbread house and holiday displays this year. Hundreds of lbs. of See’s Candies – including their iconic lollypops, sour candies and chocolate confections – were artfully placed on the breathtaking build, creating a true work of art. The house itself contains more than 7,750 pieces of gingerbread, 1,500 lbs. of royal icing, and hundreds of lbs. candy. The culinary team spent approximately 375 hours creating the gingerbread house and the engineering department worked 520 hours to construct its framework. In maintaining the hotel’s commitment to the environment, each year the framework is recycled, and the edible ingredients are composted. Want to dine inside the house for lunch, dinner or Holiday Tea? Contact the hotel to make a reservation for up to eight people.
The Otesaga Resort Hotel (1909)
Cooperstown, New York
The annual gingerbread display at The Otesaga Resort Hotel (1909) in Cooperstown, New York is a confectionary recreation of the historic Cooperstown Railroad Station, depicting the train station and village encircled by a working toy train. While details about 2021’s display have yet to be released at the time of publication, last year’s railroad station and village display was 8 ft. by 16 ft. and required two gallons of egg whites, 112 lbs. of sugar and 38 lbs. of gingerbread dough to complete. Three people accomplished the feat over the course of 23 days last year. This year, The Otesaga hosted a gingerbread house decorating event for in-house guests. The resort’s 2021 gingerbread railroad display will be open to guests through the holiday season.
The Omni Grove Park Inn (1913)
Asheville, North Carolina
The Omni Grove Park Inn (1913) hosted its 29th Annual National Gingerbread Competition in mid-November 2021 and opened its doors to the official Gingerbread Display of Entries on November 28, 2021. From December 1-12, one winner per day will be announced, via social media, with the Grand Prize Winner being revealed on December 12: National Gingerbread House Day! The gingerbread competition began with a small group of gingerbread houses built by Asheville, North Carolina community members in 1992 as another way to celebrate the holiday season with no plans to continue the following year. There was no possible way to know that nearly 30 years later, The Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition™ would be one of the nation’s most celebrated and competitive holiday events. The Omni Grove Park Inn will be displaying all Gingerbread creations from November 28 through January 2, 2022, after 3 p.m. on Sundays and anytime Monday – Thursday to drive-up visitors. The display is open to in-house guests 24/7. Since it began, the Inn’s Gingerbread Display of competition entries has become a true family holiday tradition. From the very young to the very young at heart, the reaction to this magical experience is the same – one of wonder, awe and delight.
HOTEL DU PONT (1913)
Wilmington, Delaware
The bake shop at HOTEL DU PONT (1913) in Wilmington, Delaware, honored the hotel’s legendary past with a gingerbread replica of the 12-story Italian Renaissance building that is HOTEL DU PONT, appearing as it did when it debuted in 1913. Measuring 3 ft. by 2 ft., this impressive recreation – complete with a candy version of the hotel’s grand porte-cochere – consists of 45 lbs. of gingerbread and boasts 119 lighted windows made of 8 lbs. of sugar! Snowy, frosted gingerbread cobblestone streets, candy streetlamps, and sugar evergreen trees surround the structure. Every year, the HOTEL DU PONT invites local Delawareans to try their hand at this traditional holiday craft at its annual Gingerbread House Decorating Party.
Chatham Bars Inn (1914)
Chatham, Massachusetts
The town of Chatham, Massachusetts, comes to life in the sweetest way through the Chatham Bars Inn (1914) gingerbread village this December. The gingerbread display is 16 ft. long by 8 ft. wide and features significant landmark buildings from the town of Chatham including the Train Museum, Chatham Bars Inn, The Chatham Squire, Chatham Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station, Orpheum Theater, church and fish pier. Molded waves lap sugary sand at the edges of the gingerbread village and fondant evergreens dot the candy landscape. It has built-to-scale cars and boats in the landscape as well as a working train on a track throughout the gingerbread display. The gingerbread team spends an estimated 250 hours working on the display each year, to mix, bake, and setup. During the holiday season, the inn hosts several Gingerbread Workshops where the award-winning pastry team bakes and assembles gingerbread houses and guests have the fun part— decorating them with an array of edible frosting and candy, making the experience fun, easy and delicious. Over 20 gallons of royal icing, 1,000 gingerbread shingles, and 10 lbs. of fondant – all created with over 70 lbs. of powdered sugar and more than 100 eggs – turn a tabletop into an ocean-side winter wonderland.
Omni William Penn Hotel (1916)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The chefs at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, create a gingerbread replica of the historic hotel annually – a decades-old tradition at the centurion hotel. The 2021 gingerbread replica of the hotel required more than 40 hours to mix, bake, and construct and was made with 220 lbs. of dough and 30 lbs. of sugar. Exactly 1,916 pieces of colorful candy adorn the exterior of this sweet showpiece as a tribute to 1916, the year the hotel opened. The gingerbread hotel is placed in the hotel lobby, where it is complimented by a beautiful 20-foot holiday tree, garlands, and lights. The grand Main Lobby of the Omni William Penn transforms each year into a gilded holiday wonderland with lavish décor, making it one of the most visited places in the city.
The Broadmoor (1918)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
The Broadmoor gingerbread display has been a grand holiday tradition at the Colorado Springs, Colorado, resort since 1964. This year, the resort’s 2021 Broadmoor Gingerbread Abode is inspired by the resort’s Heartfelt ~ Home for the Holidays theme. Previous gingerbread displays have included the resort’s intricate Pauline Chapel and The Broadmoor Special – a 1918 Pierce Arrow Touring Car that was converted by Broadmoor Founder Spencer Penrose into an iconic race car. The first Broadmoor gingerbread was a fairytale gingerbread house with Hansel and Gretel, complete with a tiny oven where the old witch put the bad children. Since 2013, gingerbread creations have been life-sized and played a vital role in the resort’s holiday celebrations – going up at Thanksgiving and remaining on display until the new year. They are beloved by families who visit the resort during the holiday season. In 2020, Chef Adam Thomas and his team of chocolatiers and bakers installed a giant train car known as the “Cog Railway.” This year’s display is a magnificent cottage that required 10 pastry chefs and two carpenters to create and construct. For guests and members, the resort offers gingerbread house decorating on special weekends during the holiday season. Breakfasts with Santa on Saturdays in December promise to delight kids young and old.
Ingredients Spotlight: The Broadmoor
The Drake Hotel (1920)
Chicago, Illinois
Located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, The Drake Hotel naturally displays a magnificent gingerbread hotel during the holidays. This year, the Culinary Club of St. Ignatius High School worked alongside the hotel’s culinary team to create the gingerbread village on display in the lobby in December 2021. The construction of the annual gingerbread village, a process that takes over 80 hours, incorporates 300 lbs. of powdered sugar, 20 lbs. of meringue mix, 150 lbs. of candies and 45 sheet pans of gingerbread. Framed by white and red poinsettias, the gingerbread village features lighthouses, a Ferris wheel – a ride originally created for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago – and a speeding toy train. The frosted village is on display in front of the lobby’s centennial banner, celebrating 100 years of hospitality at The Drake (1921-2021).
La Fonda on the Plaza (1922)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
La Fonda on the Plaza’s annual 30-in. by 30-in. gingerbread hotel replica of its historic Santa Fe, New Mexico, building was spearheaded for decades by its Purchasing Manager, Gil Mesa (b. 1949 – d. 2021). In Gil’s honor and to continue his legacy, Chef Lane Warner continues the annual gingerbread tradition at this Santa Fe historic hotel. After weeks of preparation and baking, construction takes another three days to complete. After Chef Warner cuts out the pieces of gingerbread sheets – ideal for replicating the historic hotel’s traditional stucco/adobe exterior – the La Fonda culinary team gets to work putting icing on the gingerbread pieces while they are laid flat. This is a trick Gil mastered and shared with others over the years. After assembly, the team spends several more hours crafting ice-cream cone trees, adding LED lights for the farolitos (paper lanterns), and finishing it with stiff royal icing before wheeling the masterpiece out to the lobby to add the colorful finishing touches – including gum drops, candy canes, gummy bears, Skittles, and peppermints. La Fonda reveals its gingerbread display mid-December, and it remains in the lobby through the new year for guests and visitors – from Santa Fe and from afar – to enjoy.
The Settlers Inn (1927)
Hawley, Pennsylvania
Every year, guests and staff look forward to the annual gingerbread hotel display in the lobby of The Settlers Inn in Hawley, Pennsylvania. This tradition of creating an exact replica of the historic Arts and Crafts-style lodge began over 30 years ago with refinements made over the years. No detail is overlooked in the recreation – from the Inn’s iconic dormer windows to the vintage Victorian sleigh on the front porch. A chocolate roof and windows made from poured melted sugar add to its rich appearance. Victorian-era figurines posed about the display and confectionary sugar snow help to set the festive scene.
Contacts
MEDIA: Katherine Orr
Historic Hotels of America® │ Historic Hotels Worldwide®
Manager, Marketing Communications
Tel: +1-202-772-8337
korr@historichotels.org
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