AAA Inspectors Pick 12 Favorite Places to Catch the Holiday Spirit
Orlando, Fla. - 12/15/2009
Opportunities to enjoy holiday cheer abound at hotels and attractions across the U.S. and Canada that offer seasonal festivities and décor.
Travelers can find intricate gingerbread houses, extravagant lighting displays, meals with Santa and even a waterpark where snow falls indoors.
AAA polled its professional inspectors for their favorite places to enjoy holiday festivities. Discover the top 12 picks below, and find additional inspector favorites on the AAA travel blog at:AAATravelViews.com.
Blantyre, Lenox, Mass., AAA Four Diamond Lodging
This all-season resort in the Berkshires becomes a winter wonderland in cooler months. Plenty of skates and snow shoes are available to help guests enjoy the outdoor ice skating rink and snow trails. The adjacent warming 'hut' - actually a small rustic lodge - offers overstuffed chairs, a large screen TV and a pool table. The resort also offers a snow barbeque.
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Canada, AAA Four Diamond Lodging
This landmark, castle-like hotel, which dates back to 1893, is situated in one of the most idyllic locations for a winter holiday. The old city abounds with cozy restaurants, small comfortable inns, great shops and museums. Horse-drawn carriages, "caleches" in French, carry blanket-clad visitors on guided tours through narrow streets. A giant ice slide in front of the hotel offers endless fun for tobogganing.
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on the Potomac, National Harbor, Md., AAA Four Diamond Lodging
Every night, the resort's atrium comes to life with a tree lighting extravaganza featuring music, lights and a dancing fountain that shoots water 60 feet high. The festivities include the East Coast debut of Ice!, a walk-through winter wonderland carved entirely of ice. Special holiday attractions include a nightly snowfall inside the resort, brunch with a Santa or Mrs. Claus and ice skating.
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, Tenn., AAA Three Diamond Lodging
The breathtaking light display and wonderful Christmas shows appeal to children and adults. Guests arrive via a winding entry road that exposes millions of lights hung on trees throughout the grounds. Inside, tens of thousands of poinsettias of various colors and Christmas displays decorate the resort.
The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, Asheville, N.C., AAA Four Diamond Lodging
Contestants from around the country bring their culinary masterpieces to the Grove Park Inn for the National Gingerbread House Competition and Display. The imaginative sugar-and-spice creations are on display through January 3. Throughout the inn, beautiful holiday displays including giant nutcrackers and uniquely decorated trees may be viewed.
Great Wolf Lodge at Kings Island, Mason, Ohio, AAA Three Lodging
What better place for families to soak up holiday spirit than at a "Snowland" themed lodge with a heated water park? During the holidays the lobby resembles the vast North Woods, decorated with trees, artificial snow and Christmas characters. The lodge hosts a nightly story time and lobby snow show, and the Cub Club offers themed activities.
Holiday Magic
United States Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C., AAA GEM Attraction
During the holiday season, experience a unique exhibit featuring model trains on a garden railway designed by Paul Busse of Applied Imagination in Alexandria, Ky. The railway features incredible replicas of Washington, D.C.'s most famous buildings and monuments, all constructed of real plant materials.
Christmas Lighting of Temple Square, AAA GEM Event
Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah, AAA GEM Attraction
Throughout the month of December, this one-of-a-kind, life-size nativity scene is illuminated by hundreds of thousands of lights. The display is accompanied by Christmas music and video presentations.
Christmas at Mount Vernon
George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Mount Vernon, Va., AAA GEM Attraction
Visitors view 12 professionally decorated Christmas trees with themes relating to George Washington. Look for the Christmas Camel like the one Washington had at Mount Vernon in 1787, two years before he became America's first president. The celebration also includes 18th-century period dancing, a tour of the rarely seen third floor and, if you're lucky, a chance to meet the charming Mrs. Washington along the way.
Lantern Light Tours, AAA Listed Event
Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Conn., AAA GEM Attraction
During this New England holiday tradition, actors dressed in period costume reenact a Christmas Eve of 1876. Guests are led through cobblestone streets and into Colonial village homes decked with holiday decorations to enjoy tasty ginger cookies and folk dancing. The tour also includes an antique horse and carriage ride and an opportunity to walk on the tall ship docked at the river's edge.
Nights of Lights, St. Augustine, Fla., AAA Listed Event
During this two-month long celebration, millions of white lights glow along the ancient streets and historic buildings of the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the continental United States. This year's Sixteenth Annual Nights of Lights traces its origins to the Spanish tradition of displaying a lighted white candle during the Christmas holidays.
Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony, AAA Listed Event
River Walk, San Antonio, Texas, AAA GEM Attraction
This season-long event begins with a holiday lighting ceremony of 100,000 sparkling lights that canopy and illuminate the River Walk. There is a Holiday River Parade with decorated floats, a Blessing of the Animals, river caroling and a reenactment of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter that ends at the city cathedral.
AAA's professional inspectors evaluate and rate more than 58,000 lodgings and restaurants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean using a scale of One to Five Diamonds. Access listings of AAA Approved and Diamond Rated hotels and restaurants in the AAA TourBook guides and at AAA.com/Travel.
AAA inspectors conduct an average of more than 1,100 property evaluations per year and have a combined total of 700 years experience. The average tenure is 12 years, with the longest being 28 years. AAA inspectors work remotely and bring significant prior industry experience to the association.
As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 51 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA clubs can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.
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