Driving Time from White Plains: 5 hours
Weekend Rates: from $219 per night;
www.omnihotels.com/hotels/bretton-woods-mount-washington
Nestled into New Hampshire’s Presidential Mountain Range, the OMNI Mount Washington is one of the area’s few remaining grand, turn-of-the-century hotels. Built as a summer retreat for coal-mining magnate Joseph Stickney, the hotel was a state-of-the-art marvel upon its completion in 1902, featuring modern electricity and plumbing in every room.
Today, much of its original character remains: Italian masonry; the grand hall, with its roaring fire and hand-crank elevator; and the antique grandfather clock (the launch pad of the daily hotel tours, which include a stop in the Gold Room, where the Bretton Woods Conference was held in 1944). But there are also modern amenities among the old-world charm—renovated bathrooms, property-wide WiFi, flat-screen TVs—that maintain the property’s original sense of comfort and luxury.
You could easily fill a weekend with 18 holes of golf, drinks in the Prohibition-era speakeasy, a hot-stone massage at the spa (featuring products using local plants from the surrounding mountains), dinner by one of the oversize panoramic windows, and cozying up to a bonfire. But, make sure to leave a few hours to laze, drink in hand, on the veranda that wraps the entire resort, and gaze at the mountains as the sun slowly sinks behind the peaks. —Samantha Garbarini
Scenic Spots
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Hiking trails abound in the surrounding area, but the resort also has several kid-friendly walking paths with plenty of fall color. |
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Test your mettle on the 40-minute drive up the harrowing Mount Washington Auto Road (you can also book a shuttle or ride the Cog Railway) to the top of New England’s highest peak. |
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Ride the lift to the top of the Bretton Woods Adventure Center and snap a pic from the terrace of Latitude 44. |
Must Do
The Bretton Woods Adventure Center offers everything from mountain biking and guided hikes to rock climbing and archery. Sign up for a three-hour, zip-line canopy tour to view the fall colors from above, or ride the ski lift to the top for a commanding view of the Presidential Range.
