A Historic Hotel in New Hampshire’s White Mountains
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The Mount Washington Hotel offers comfortable elegance and fine, easy skiing in the heart of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. A visit to this grand resort hotel at Bretton Woods — one of a handful still standing in New England — is a throwback to an era of leisurely, luxury vacations.
As they arrive, guests are greeted at the hotel’s portico by an army of bellmen, who carry bags up to the rooms. A concierge looks to every need, which includes procuring the formal jacket gentlemen will need in the main dining room. At the same time, children can roam the hotel in supervised (and well-behaved) groups, and are made welcome in every facet of resort life.
A Concord, N.H., native and Pennsylvania railroad tycoon, Joseph Stickney, built the hotel in 1902 at the foot of the Granite State’s Presidential Range. During two years of construction, Mr. Stickney employed and housed on the hotel grounds 250 Italian masons and woodworkers who handcrafted the elegant structure. His creation soon attracted the wealthy from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, who, eager to take in the mountain air, arrived on the 50 trains that stopped at the town’s three railroad stations each day.
Apart from attracting the era’s society, Mr. Stickney’s grand vision produced a vast building that has evolved during the last hundred years to encompass 200 guest rooms on four upper levels; a large lobby, grand ballroom, function rooms, and main dining room on the ground level, and a nightclub, restaurant, shops, workout center, indoor pool, and spa on the patio level.
Throughout the holiday season, tiny white lights festoon the lobby, where fireplaces crackle and several antique Santa Clauses stand about looking merry. Three figures from the classic Nutcracker tale — including the Mouse King — grace a glass display case set in front of an oil painting of the White Mountains. These and scads of other decorations dating back more than a century add to the festive air.
Situated on New Hampshire’s Route 302, the Bretton Woods Mountain Resort offers easy cruising on 101 trails and glades, spread across 434 acres and served by nine lifts (including four high-speed quads), with a vertical drop of 1,500 feet. The resort area also offers nighttime skiing, snowmaking on 92% of its trails, and houses a Nordic Center of 100 kilometers of trails that fall off into the surrounding forest.
An array of travel packages is available at Bretton Woods. The popular “Ski-and-Stay” packages include skiing and riding for the duration of the reservation, free daily skiing for guests age 17 and under, free night skiing on Fridays, and free equipment rental and a 1-hour daily group lesson for Nordic Center skiers.
For travelers who seek a quicker getaway, accommodations at the various Bretton Woods Resort locales come in the form of weekend packages. At the Mount Washington Hotel, packages start at $215 a person and include breakfast and dinner; at $119 at the Bretton Arms Country Inn and include full breakfast, and from $95 at the Lodge at Bretton Woods, where a continental breakfast is included.
Midweek packages — from Sunday to Thursday — begin at $189 a person at the Mount Washington Hotel; at $109 for the Bretton Arms Country Inn; and from $79 for the Lodge at Bretton Woods. (Meal plans mirror those for weekend packages at all of the locations.) Midweek packages also include a Mount Washington valley multimountain lift ticket that can be used at Bretton Woods, and other nearby ski areas including Attitash, Black, Cranmore, King Pine, Shawnee Peak and Wildcat. Nordic Center areas such as Bretton Woods, Bear Notch, Great Glen Trails, Jackson Ski Touring Foundation, MWV Ski Touring, and King Pine are also included in midweek packages.
In 104 years, the grand Mount Washington Hotel has weathered its share of ups and downs. This past June, the Bretton Woods Mountain Resort and its lodging properties, including the Mount Washington Hotel and an 18-hole Mount Washington Golf Course (designed by Donald Ross), together with 900 acres of land, were sold to a national developer for $45 million. The new owners have said they intend to operate the properties as the premier destination resort in New England.
A visit to the tranquil Mount Washington Hotel — 340 miles and six hours from New York City — is a more than worthwhile winter excursion, but by comparison afterward, anywhere else might seem a bit rushed and pedestrian.
At least nine other ski areas are within easy drive of the hotel and Bretton Woods Mountain Resort. For those seeking more challenging terrain, Cannon Mountain is just down the road (cannonmt.com). Black Mountain (blackmt.com), Cranmore Mountain Resort (cranmore.com), King Pine (kingpine.com), and Shawnee Peak (shawneepeak.com) are family areas, with smaller vertical and shorter runs, and lift tickets priced accordingly.
Attitash (attitash.com), Loon (loonmtn.com), Waterville Valley (waterville.com), and Wildcat (skiwildcat.com) are big mountains with something for everyone.