All the trimmings, none of the work: Thanksgiving in a hotel
Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, and while many Americans will stay home or with family and friends, others will check into hotels where guests can participate in turkey trotting and try Thanksgiving-themed spa treatments — all while someone else worries . about cooking.
Here are five options from coast to coast, including a renovated National Historic Landmark on the Pacific Ocean, a redesigned hot springs getaway in Virginia, a redesigned luxury hotel amid Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and a mainstay in New York City with a view of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Wherever you go, book quickly, as hotels are likely to fill up long before you start craving pumpkin pie.
Hot Springs, VA.
The Omni Homestead Resort
The legendary Allegheny Mountains resort – which has been visited by 23 U.S. presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Martin Van Buren – announced in late October the completion of a more than $150 million renovation of the property. The 483 rooms and suites are located on more than 2,300 hectares with a spa, two golf courses and plenty of outdoor activities, such as horse riding, archery, ax throwing, hiking, mountain biking and falconry lessons. Another big draw is the Hot springs (about five miles from the Omni Homestead Resort, where they are managed), where you can enjoy a soak in the newly rehabilitated bathhouses, which also have a long history—for example, the stone basin at the Gentlemen’s Bathhouse dates back to 1761, according to the resort.
Places to enjoy a meal include the new resorts Pioneers picnican informal place where you can enjoy the food and the mountain views from a wrap-around veranda, and the renovated Martha’s Marketa take-away café where you can get snacks, sandwiches, Homestead Creamery ice cream and coffee. For something stronger you can go to the Presidential lounge, the renovated lobby bar, for a drink and a game of pool. The rooms have also been refurbished and nod to nature with floral patterns and shades of green, pink, blue and lavender.
Although much has changed, certain traditions have persisted, including the annual tree lighting ceremony, with live music the colonial singers of Williamsburg the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Burn a few calories on Thanksgiving morning with a turkey trot, a run of about three miles with prizes for the fastest man, woman and child. If running isn’t your speed, consider the “turkey waddle,” a one-mile group walk on Friday mornings. Of course, there’s also a Thanksgiving feast, with entrees like roasted turkey and glazed ham, as well as sides like cornbread stuffing, green beans and whipped potatoes. Save room for dessert, including cookies and pumpkin and pecan pies ($86 for adults; $43 for children 15 and under). Prices from $388 per night; from $516 on Thanksgiving Eve (prices include the resort fee).
Coronado, California.
Hotel del Coronado
This hotel was founded in 1888 as a seaside holiday resort and was the setting for “Some love it when it’s hot”, starring Marilyn Monroe, and was designated as national historic landmark in 1977. In recent years, the company has renovated and expanded, redesigning spaces including the restaurants, fitness center, spa and guest rooms (accommodation types include rooms, suites, cottages and villas) as part of an investment plan of more than $550 million . Most of the hotel’s renovations have now been completed. And from November 17, you can participate in activities such as ice skating on site ice rink on the beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. If you’d rather watch than go on the ice, you can rent seats on the ice rink or by the ocean and drink and eat around a fire pit by the Freezing lounge. “Igloos on the beach” are also available for rent. In the evening, a free light show is organized with jazz from the twenties, with the finale being snow flurries created with soap bubbles. a Thanksgiving buffet has something for everyone, including a carving station, a vegan curry station and a sushi and sashimi station. If you’re 21 or older, you’ll also receive a glass of champagne ($195 per person ages 11 and up; $100 for ages 4 to 10; free for ages 3 and under with a paying adult).
The property, part of Curio Collection by Hilton, has 901 rooms spread across five different areas or neighborhoods, as the hotel calls them: the Cabanas, the Views, Beach Village, the Victorian (renovations scheduled to start in January) and the new Shore House at the Del, 75 one- to three-bedroom villas, where prices start at $950 per night for a villa.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, this all-suite hotel in southwestern Pennsylvania will open Nov. 20 in Nemacolin, a sprawling resort with three hotels and other types of accommodations, such as estates, houses and townhomes. Located in the middle of the Laurel Highlands, the Grand Lodge features 56 suites, each with a dedicated butler. Some suites also have a balcony. In the new farm-to-table restaurant, Fawn & Fable (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner), you can enjoy Parker House sandwiches brushed with smoked olive oil and Greek sea salt and served with whipped butter, along with steakhouse classics. For cocktails there is the Circle bara lounge adjacent to the Study, where you can slip away for quieter conversations.
The holidays are no small matter at Nemacolin, and families can do all kinds of things, such as ice skating, a 5K turkey trot, movies, crafts, painting lessons, golf, horseback riding and, on November 24, a light show where everyone can drink hot chocolate, sing along to the Christmas carols and pose for a photo with Santa. You can also visit the resort’s Hardy’s Holiday Village from November 24, which will feature ‘elf’ dance performances and places to drink cocoa and sample sweets. You can start your holiday shopping at Magical Maggie’s Mittens & Scarves, where you can find winter clothing, as well as Santa’s House toy store and PJ’s Peppermint Emporium, where candy cane striped products are the theme, whether they’re socks or blankets. On Thanksgiving there’s a feast: roasted acorn squash and kale salad, sweet potato casserole, sugar-and-spice-cured turkey breast, and double chocolate fudge cake. the menu – will be available from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. ($175 per person; $75 for children ages 5 to 12). Prices for the Grand Lodge starts at $2,000 per night.
Orlando, FL.
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
Why not add Mickey Mouse to the list of familiar faces you’ll be spending the holidays with? This luxury hotel with 502 rooms and suites is about to complete a hotel-wide makeover. If you stay, you’ll receive complimentary transportation to Walt Disney World and Disney Resourceswhere plenty holiday festivities to wait. (Waldorf Astoria Orlando guests may enter the parks 30 minutes prior to opening time.)
Back at the hotel, enjoy a four-course Thanksgiving dinner Taurus & Bear, which recently reopened with new menu items, including the “grande seafood tower” with oysters, king prawns, Alaskan king crab, crab cocktail and chilled Maine lobster ($160, for two people). The holiday menu includes pumpkin bisque, roasted heirloom turkey with foie gras and trimmings, and pumpkin pie with salted caramel and pecan ice cream ($155 per person; $65 for children 12 and under). For a more intimate Thanksgiving, there are holiday specials like pumpkin soup and carved turkey can be delivered to your room.
At the spa, melt away the seasonal stress with Thanksgiving-themed treatments starting Nov. 1, including the Harvest Massage, accompanied by scents like pumpkin spice and tart cranberry orange ($215 for 50 minutes; $295 for 80 minutes), and the Pumpkin Sorbet Body Treatment with ingredients that include pumpkin, organic sugar and organic sunflower oil ($225 for 50 minutes). You can also take a dip in one of the outdoor pools, participate in the Thanksgiving Weekend Family Golf Clinic ($50 per person) or the 18-hole Harvest Classic ($150 per person). As for the hotel’s rooms and suites, most will be renovated by Thanksgiving. Prices from $491 per night from November 22 to 26.
New York City
New York Hilton Midtown
Manhattan is home to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and while there are plenty of hotels in Midtown, few put visitors in the heart of the city’s Thanksgiving festivities like this one. Located along the parade route on the Avenue of the Americas, between 53rd and 54th Streets, the enormous New York Hilton Midtown with 1,878 rooms and suites is also steps away from the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park and Radio City Music Hall, home of the Christmas spectacular starring Radio City Rockettes. There are countless dining options in New York, but if you prefer to stay indoors, Herb and cuisine at lobby level will be a Thanksgiving meal from noon to 7 p.m. with a carving station, raw bar and sweets ($115 for adults; half-price for children 12 and under; free for children 6 and under). In-room breakfast boxes are also available.
The main attractions are of course the rooms with a view balloons and performances along the parade route. You can even select your vantage point: low floor, high floor, side view or full view. Most of the hotel packages require a four-night minimum, from $750 per night for a “low floor, side view” room to $2,800 per night for the “ultimate corner view” room with full front view from a low floor. (For a more low-key experience, consider staying on the Upper West Side, where you can join New Yorkers as they inflate in the streets with New Yorkers the day before the parade.)
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