Grand old hotels

From Halal Explorer

[[file:WV banner Raffles hotel Singapore.jpg|1280px]]

Caution Note: I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake-up letter.

Some hotels have a legacy from the golden age of steam railways and ocean liners; before the Second World War, in the 19th or early 20th centuries. These hotels were where the rich and the famous of the day would stay, and often had fine dining and dining. While they are usually privately owned and they sometimes accommodate visiting heads of state and other dignitaries.

Grand old hotels Halal Travel Guide

Even today such places generally offer fine lodging and are usually not cheap, though more modern high-end places may be even more luxurious and are often more expensive. The grand old hotels, though, have an appeal all their own; part of it is that often they are often in superb locations, either smack in the middle of cities (very often being next to a major train station, as they were often constructed to house railway travelers) or close to major outdoor attractions. The old fashioned fittings and the lack of the latest amenities, and a certain graceful agedness are also part of their character.

You need not stay in such hotels to enjoy some of their services. A visitor to Singapore, for example, might go to Raffles just for a Singapore Sling at the Long Cafe where it was invented, and where Rudyard Kipling and Noel Coward once drank, and check out the Billiard Room where Singapore's last tiger was shot.

A traveller with piles of money might consider a Round the world flights|round the world flight, broken up with stays in many of these hotels. Travelling around the world overland, on routes such as the one taken in "Around the World in Eighty Days", would give a more authentic experience of pre-flight travel.

Africa

Egypt

Egypt.Luxor.WinterPalace.01 - Winter Palace, seen from the Nile

  • Alexandria - en/hotels/all-hotels/egypt/alexandria/steigenberger-cecil-hotel Cecil Hotel
  • Aswan - Old-Cataract Hotel
  • Cairo - Marriott Hotel, originally the "Al Gezira Palace" built to house Napoleon's wife, Empress Eugenie of France
  • Giza - Mena House Oberoi
  • Luxor - Old Winter Palace The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb was first announced on their bulletin board.

Kenya

  • Nairobi - Giraffe Manor
  • Nairobi - Norfolk Hotel

Morocco

  • Essaouira - Villa Maroc
  • Marrakech - La Mamounia]

Mozambique

  • Maputo - Polana Hotel

South Africa

  • Cape Town - Mount Nelson
  • Riebeek-Kasteel - The Royal Hotel

Asia

East Asia

GrandHotel Fountain - The Grand Hotel, Taipei

Middle East

South Asia

India

  • Bangalore, Karnataka - [https://%20Taj%20West%20End%2CBANGALORE/ Taj West End
  • Bikaner, Rajasthan - The Laxmi Niwas Palace Hotel, built in the early 20th century as the local Maharaja's palace
  • Chennai, Tamil Nadu - Taj Connemara
  • Kolkata, West Bengal - The Great Eastern Hotel Built in 1841 and historically known as 'the jewel of the east'.
  • Kolkata, West Bengal - The Grand Hotel
  • Delhi - The Imperial Hotel
  • Delhi - Maidens Hotel
  • Mumbai, Maharashtra - en-in/taj-mahal-palace-mumbai/ The Taj Mahal Palace]
  • Shimla, Himachal Pradesh - Clarke's Hotel

Pakistan

  • Lahore, Punjab (Pakistan) | Punjab — Faletti's Hotel, built in late 18th century by an Italian, and now renovated.

Sri Lanka

  • Kandy - The Queen's Hotel
  • Colombo, - Galle Face Hotel

Southeast Asia

RafflesHotel-Singapore-20041025 - Raffles, Singapore

Many of Southeast Asia's grand old hotels can be credited to a single family and the remarkable Sarkies brothers from Armenia, who founded all of the following icons:

Of course there are some other very classy options as well:

Europe

Northern Europe

Western Europe

Amstel hotel - Amstel Hotel, Amsterdam Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh - Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh

Central Europe

Beau-Rivage - During the century and a half of its existence, leaders have died and Czechoslovakia was "born" at Beau-Rivage in Geneva

Southern Europe

Hotel_Paris_Monaco - Hotel de Paris, Monaco

Eastern Europe

North America

United States

There is a program called Historic Hotels of America with 200-odd hotels involved. The Cincinnatian Hotel - The Cincinnatian Hotel.

  • Boston, Massachusetts - hotels/boston-parker-house Parker House Hotel - The oldest continuously operating hotel in the USA
  • Boulder, Colorado - Hotel Boulderado
  • Buffalo, New York - Hotel Lafayette]
  • Chicago, Illinois - The Blackstone]
  • Chicago, Illinois - Drake Hotel
  • Chicago, Illinois - Hilton Chicago (formerly Stevens Hotel)]
  • Chicago, Illinois - Palmer House Hotel
  • Cincinnati, Ohio - The Cincinnatian
  • Grand Canyon, Arizona - El Tovar
  • Honolulu/Waikiki|Honolulu, Hawaii - Moana Hotel
  • Los Angeles, California - en/los-angeles/millennium-biltmore-hotel-los-angeles/ The Biltmore]
  • Mackinac Island, Michigan - The Grand Hotel
  • Memphis, Tennessee - Peabody Hotel
  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin - The Pfister Hotel
  • Nashville, Tennessee - The Hermitage Hotel
  • New Orleans, Louisiana - Hotel Monteleone]
  • New York, New York - HTTPS://WWWW.Wlgonquinhotel.com Alongquin Hotel
  • New York, New York - [https://,Waldorf The Waldorf-Astoria - Where President Franklin Roosevelt stayed during his trips to New York during World War II. A secret train platform that Roosevelt used in an effort to hide his disability from the public survives underneath the hotel, together with the traincar he most likely used, though they are not accessible to the public.
  • New York, New York - The Pierre
  • New York, New York - The Plaza]
  • New York, New York - St. Regis Hotel
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The William Penn
  • San Diego, California - The Hotel Del Coronado
  • San Francisco, California - Palace Hotel
  • San Francisco, California - St. Francis Hotel
  • Washington, D.C./West End - The Willard Intercontinental
  • Yosemite National Park - The Ahwahnee Hotel

Canada

ChateauFrontenac - Le Château Frontenac, Quebec City

The grand old hotels in Canada have a unique place in Canadian history: if a Canadian mentions a "railway hotel", he's talking about a grand old hotel of Canada. Most of them were built during first quarter of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway or Grand Trunk Railway in order to provide elegant lodging while viewing the natural beauty along the rail line. Canadian Pacific, which purchased the former Grand Trunk (Canadian National) hotels in 1988, spun off all non-rail subsidiaries (including Fairmont, its hotel group) in 2001.

These hotels are popular with tourists and local residents alike and though overnight stays are expensive; they represent a fine piece of Canadiana worth visiting even if you only have time for a walk through the lobby. Two - Banff and Lake Louise - are major tourist resorts in their own right, located amid stunning Rocky Mountain scenery.

  • Banff, Alberta - The Banff Springs Hotel
  • Calgary, Alberta - The Palliser Hotel
  • Digby, Nova Scotia - The Pines Only open during the summer.
  • Edmonton, Alberta - The Hotel MacDonald
  • Halifax (Nova Scotia) | Halifax, Nova Scotia - Lord Nelson Hotel
  • Halifax (Nova Scotia) | Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Hotel Nova Scotian
  • Jasper, Alberta - Jasper Park Lodge]
  • Charlevoix|La Malbaie, Quebec - Le Manoir Richelieu
  • Lake Louise, Alberta - The Château Lake Louise
  • Ottawa, Ontario - The Château Laurier. One of Canada's Prime Ministers, R.B. Bennett, lived in this hotel, a block from Parliament, rather than in the mansion most PMs occupy. Well-known portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh also lived here; some of his photographs decorate the lobby.
  • Quebec City, Quebec - Le Château Frontenac. Tallest structure in "Vieux-Québec" (the old cities|old city) and the city's most easily-recognised landmark; arguably the most photographed hotel in the world.
  • Regina, Saskatchewan - Hotel Saskatchewan
  • Saint Andrews (New Brunswick) | Saint Andrews, New Brunswick - The Alongquin Resort An icon of the province with its Tudor-style architecture
  • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Bessborough Hotel
  • Toronto, Ontario - The Royal York. The Canadian has its eastern end at the Royal York's doorstep.
  • Vancouver, British Columbia - The Hotel Vancouver
  • Victoria, British Columbia - The Empress Hotel
  • Winnipeg, Manitoba - The Hotel Fort Garry

Of course there are some other very classy options as well

  • Montreal, Quebec - Ritz-Carlton Montreal

Mexico

  • Chichen Itza, Yucatan - Hacienda Chichen Resort and Spa, 16th-century colonial landmark
  • Mexico City - Hotel Geneve]

Costa Rica

GranHotelCostaRica - The Gran Hotel Costa Rica

  • [[San José (Costa Rica)|San José]], Costa Rica - The Gran Hotel Costa Rica, 20th-century colonial-style landmark
  • [[San José (Costa Rica)|San José]], Costa Rica - Hotel Grano de Oro, grand old hotel of Victorian design. Also listed as a small, distinctive hotel.

Cuba

  • Havana, Cuba - Hotel Nacional La Habana, a grand old lady filled with memories of times past

South America

Argentina

Brazil

  • Rio de Janeiro - Copacabana Palace]
  • Salvador - Convento do Carmo

Oceania

Australia

  • Melbourne, Victoria - Hotel Windsor
  • Perth/Fremantle|Fremantle, Western Australia - Rydges-Hotels-Resorts/Esplanade-Hotel-Fremantle-by-Rydges Esplanade Hotel

Fiji

  • Suva - Grand Pacific Hotel

New Zealand

  • Queenstown (New Zealand) | Queenstown - Eichardt's Hotel

See also

  • Historical travel
  • Old towns




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