There was a time when the grand hotels of New Hampshire’s White Mountains beckoned the well-to-do for stays that lasted an entire summer season. Those days may be long gone but three hotels – one of them a survivor and another a reincarnated 21st century version of a 19th century hotel – remain.
All of them have incredible views of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288 feet, a rugged, broad-shouldered mountain with a reputation for having the worst recorded weather in the world.
The Glen House
Start with the new kid on the block, The Glen House, which is a stylish and newborn classic of a hotel, a subtle but sleek and eco-forward property. It may be new but it has deep ancestral roots, since it’s the fifth such property on the site to be named The Glen House since 1852, when tourists began to visit the summit of Mt. Washington via horse and carriage. Owned by the Mt. Washington Summit Road Company (MWSRC), it is situated near the base of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, which the family-owned MWSRC has operated since 1906, the same road that gave birth to the ubiquitous “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” bumper sticker.
The 68-room dog-friendly hotel offers fantastic mountain views. The heart of the property is a welcoming great room with floor to ceiling windows. It extends from the lobby to a sitting area and The Notch Grille, which serves well-prepared comfort food. The adjacent bar and outdoor patio with fire pit are the ideal places to sip a local brew and enjoy panoramic views of Mt. Washington after a day outdoors. There’s also an indoor salt water swimming pool to ease muscles after a day of skiing. Across the road lies the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center, with bike rentals and off-property kayak excursions. It is the start of a vast hiking and biking trail network in the area surrounding the hotel. It’s the perfect base active travelers and for those who want to take a dramatic drive to the summit of New England’s most famous peak.
Omni Mt. Washington Hotel
The dowager of the White Mountains, the Omni Mount Washington Resort was built in 1902, the last of the 22 grand hotels that were built in the White Mountains. It was a groundbreaking hotel when it opened, offering hot and cold running water in every room, and was noteworthy for having electricity, which was ceremoniously turned on by none other than Thomas Edison. In its day, it served as a refuge for city dwellers seeking mountain air and escaping earlier pandemics, including the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
Today the hotel retains much of its original grandeur and has public spaces that are the equal to many European grand hotels. But the property has also just come through a multi-year $60 million enhancement and expansion. They added 69 new rooms and suites in a new Presidential Wing, rooms that are clubby, spacious and offer dramatic views of Mt. Washington. There’s also a new Club Lounge. In the hotel proper, the Main Dining Room and the Sun Dining Room have been renovated and there is a new building, the Rosebrook Lodge, a four-season on-mountain facility built on the summit of Bretton Woods ski area across the road. The two-story timber, steel, stone and glass lodge serves both summer visitors and skiers, with tremendous mountain views. It’s accessible via the new Bretton Woods Skyway Gondola, New Hampshire’s first eight-passenger gondola.
These are enhancements and additions to a property that already offers the 18-hole Donald Ross-designed Mount Washington Golf Course, a 25,000-square-foot Spa, a year-round Canopy Tour, and an outdoor pool complex.
White Mountain Hotel & Resort
Lastly, the White Mountain Hotel & Resort, which lies at the edge of North Conway, is undergoing a $3.5 million renovation and redesign of all guest rooms and suites along with extensive exterior improvements. Located at the base of White Horse Ledge, the 80-room hotel features dramatic views of the surrounding cliffs and mountains of New Hampshire.
It offers a full service 120 seat restaurant and tavern, function facilities, an outdoor year-round heated pool and hot tub, game room, gym, Finnish saunas, the 9-hole Hale’s Location Golf Course, recreation courts and miles of hiking and biking trails from the property. The property abuts Echo Lake State Park and the White Mountain National Forest.
