Ten luxury hotels worth the splurge: Mount Washington Hotel, NH

Recommended by Managing Editor Josh Roberts

Built in 1902 by railroad tycoon Joseph Stickney, the stately Mount Washington Hotel has no equal in New Hampshire’s White Mountain region—much like its namesake peak, the tallest mountain in the Northeast. “You feel like you’ve been completely transported out of the 21st century and taken to a time when things were done on a grander scale,” says Managing Editor Josh Roberts, who stayed at the hotel this August with his wife Penelope for a special weekend away.

The Spanish Renaissance Revival-style resort once played host to such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, and Babe Ruth, but it now attracts a mix of families, couples, and mature travelers looking for a luxurious retreat in the heart of the White Mountains National Forest. “You can use the hotel as a base for exploring the White Mountains, and after a tough day of hiking, you can come back and have an incredible meal in the grand ballroom,” says Roberts, who highly recommends the lobster creme brulee appetizer.

The 200-room hotel is part of the larger Bretton Woods complex, which includes two other hotels, more than 70 town homes, 27 holes of championship golf, 12 tennis courts, pools, horse stables, and an “Adventure Center” where guests can sign up for fishing clinics, guided hikes and walks, geocaching (treasure hunting with a GPS tracker), mountain bike tours, and equipment rentals. In the winter, there’s also an alpine skiing area with 101 trails plus groomed tracks for nordic skiing and snowshoeing.

Rooms cost between $99 and $740 per night. They range from standard doubles and kings to multi-bedroom suites with canopy beds, fireplaces, hot tubs, and kitchens. There are more than a dozen dining options at Bretton Woods, but “The Dining Room” is the Mount Washington Hotel’s signature restaurant, where you can enjoy formal four-course dinners in the presence of a live orchestra.

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