WASHINGTON–September 6, 2019 –Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide® are pleased to announce the nominee finalists for the 2019 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence recognize and celebrate the finest historic hotels and hoteliers from across the nation and from around the world.

The 2019 Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence and Gala Dinner will take place at Pinehurst Resort (1895) in Pinehurst, North Carolina on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 7 pm. The award winners will be announced before an audience of owners, senior management, industry leaders, and representatives from the finest historic hotels around the world.

Nominee finalists are selected from nominations received from historic hotels, preservation supporters, prior award recipients, community leaders, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. As official programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide provide the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels across America and around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group of nominees in a range of categories.

From over 200 nominations, the awards committee evaluated and after careful consideration selected the following 2019 award nominee finalists:

Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year

  • Inn at Perry Cabin (1816) St. Michaels, Maryland
  • Blackburn Inn (1828) Staunton, Virginia
  • The Stagecoach Inn (1852) Salado, Texas
  • La Posada de Santa Fe, A Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa (1881) Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • Hotel Casa del Mar (1926) Santa Monica, California
  • The Lodge at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (1968) Farmington, Pennsylvania

Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel

  • The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Hot Springs, Virginia
  • Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York
  • Union Station Nashville Hotel, Autograph Collection (1900) Nashville, Tennessee
  • Historic Hotel Bethlehem (1922) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
  • The Royal Hawaiian, A Luxury Collection Resort (1927) Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
  • The Hotel Hershey® (1933) Hershey, Pennsylvania

Sustainability Champion

  • The Lodge at the Presidio (1894) San Francisco, California
  • Airlie (1892) Warrenton, Virginia
  • Claremont Club & Spa, A Fairmont Hotel (1915) Berkeley, California
  • Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (1927) Sonoma, California
  • Hilton Chicago (1927) Chicago, Illinois
  • Morris Inn at Notre Dame (1952) Notre Dame, Indiana

Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms)

  • Hotel El Convento (1651) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Antrim 1844 Taneytown, Maryland
  • Middlebury Inn (1827) Middlebury, Vermont
  • St. James Hotel (1875) Red Wing, Minnesota
  • Ledges Hotel (1890) Hawley, Pennsylvania
  • Castle Hotel & Spa (1897) Tarrytown, New York

Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms)

  • Jekyll Island Club Resort (1887) Jekyll Island, Georgia
  • Hotel Boulderado (1909) Boulder, Colorado
  • The Otesaga Resort Hotel & The Cooper Inn (1909) Cooperstown, New York
  • Historic Hotel Bethlehem (1922) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
  • Skytop Lodge (1928) Skytop, Pennsylvania
  • The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort (1935) St. Simons Island, Georgia

Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms)

  • The Historic Menger Hotel (1859) San Antonio, Texas
  • The Willard InterContinental (1818) Washington, DC
  • West Baden Springs Hotel at French Lick Resort (1902) West Baden, Indiana
  • Francis Marion Hotel (1924) Charleston, South Carolina
  • The Wigwam (1929) Litchfield Park, Arizona
  • Mauna Kea Beach Hotel (1965) Kohala Coast, Hawaii

Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms)

  • Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa (1847) Point Clear, Alabama
  • Palmer House®, a Hilton Hotel (1871) Chicago, Illinois
  • Hotel Monteleone (1886) New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Martinique New York on Broadway, Curio Collection by Hilton (1898) New York, New York
  • Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh (1916) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Lord Baltimore Hotel (1928) Baltimore, Maryland

Best City Center Historic Hotel

  • The Peabody Memphis (1869) Memphis, Tennessee
  • Fairmont San Francisco (1907) San Francisco, California
  • The Hermitage Hotel (1910) Nashville, Tennessee
  • HOTEL DU PONT (1913) Wilmington, Delaware
  • Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington DC (1930) Washington, DC
  • The Huntington Hotel (1924) San Francisco, California

Best Historic Resort

  • Boar’s Head Resort (1834) Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa (1865) Whitefield, New Hampshire
  • Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York
  • The Omni Grove Park Inn (1913) Asheville, North Carolina
  • The Wigwam (1929) Litchfield Park, Arizona
  • The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort (1935) St. Simons Island, Georgia

Hotel Historian of the Year

  • Jeff Lane at French Lick Resort (1845) French Lick, Indiana
  • Susan Stein at Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa (1847) Point Clear, Alabama
  • Doug Weatherford at The Peabody Memphis (1869) Memphis, Tennessee
  • Sherri Zacher at Jekyll Island Club Resort (1887) Jekyll Island, Georgia
  • Larry Johnson at The Seelbach Hilton Louisville (1905) Louisville, Kentucky
  • Laurel McKown at Hotel Boulderado (1909) Boulder, Colorado

Best Historic Restaurant in Conjunction with a Historic Hotel

  • The Crystal Room at Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa (1806) Bedford, Pennsylvania
  • Smokehouse Restaurant at Antrim 1844 Taneytown, Maryland
  • Chez Philippe at The Peabody Memphis (1869) Memphis, Tennessee
  • Lemaire at The Jefferson Hotel (1895) Richmond, Virginia
  • Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel (1910) Nashville, Tennessee
  • The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club (1918) Kohler, Wisconsin

Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year

  • The Callewaert Family at Island House Hotel (1852) Mackinac Island, Michigan
  • The Belz Family at The Peabody Memphis (1869) Memphis, Tennessee
  • The Mollett Family at Antrim 1844 in Taneytown, Maryland
  • The Dopp Family at Francis Marion Hotel (1924) Charleston, South Carolina
  • The Hardy Family at The Lodge at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (1968) Farmington, Pennsylvania

Historic Hotelier of the Year

  • Randy Howat at Inns of Distinction, LLC (1861)
  • Nina Smiley at Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York
  • Kenneth Hayward at Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan
  • Linda Price Topp at The Pfister Hotel (1893) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Dee Patel at The Hermitage Hotel (1910) Nashville, Tennessee
  • Jennifer Kimball at La Fonda on the PlazaTM (1922) Santa Fe, New Mexico

Steward of History and Historic Preservation

  • Steve Bartolin at The Broadmoor (1918), Colorado Springs, Colorado
  • Jack Belz at The Peabody Memphis (1869) Memphis, Tennessee
  • Richard Bernstein at Henley Park Hotel (1918), Morrison-Clark Historic Inn (1864), Hotel Lombardy (1926) Washington, DC
  • Robert H. Dedman Jr. at Pinehurst Resort (1895) Pinehurst, North Carolina
  • P. Steven Dopp at The Francis Marion (1924) Charleston, South Carolina, The Westin Poinsett (1925) Greenville, South Carolina, Middlebury Inn (1827) Middlebury, Vermont
  • Eugene Lucas at The Historic Menger Hotel (1859) San Antonio, Texas, The Brown Hotel (1923) Louisville, Kentucky, Crockett Hotel (1909) San Antonio, Texas, The Cliff House at Pikes Peak (1873) Manitou Springs, Colorado

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Europe

  • Dromoland Castle Hotel (1014) Country Clare, Ireland
  • La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort Siena, Curio Collection by Hilton (11th Century) Siena, Italy
  • Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam (1578) Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Losby Gods (1744) Finstadjordet, Norway
  • Tivoli Palacio de Seteais (1787) Sintra, Portugal
  • Hotel Regina Louvre (1900) Paris, France

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Asia/Pacific

  • Raffles Singapore (1887) Singapore
  • Alsisar Haveli (1892) Jaipur, India
  • The Strand Hotel (1901) Yangon, Myanmar
  • Beijing Hotel NUO (1917) Beijing, China
  • Hotel New Grand (1927) Yokohama, Japan
  • The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai (1933) Shanghai, China

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in the Americas

  • Alfiz Hotel (17th Century) Cartagena, Colombia
  • Hacienda Uxmal Plantation and Museum (1673) Yucatan, Mexico
  • Hamilton Princess & Beach Club (1885) Hamilton, Bermuda
  • Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu (1899) Quebec, Canada
  • Fairmont Le Château Montebello (1930) Quebec, Canada
  • The Westin Nova Scotian (1930) Halifax, Canada

“It is an honor to congratulate all the 2019 award nominees,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “The nominee finalists exemplify the finest historic hotels and hoteliers from the across the United States and from around the world. The historic hotels nominated include small historic inns, boutique hotels, lifestyle hotels, and resorts. They represent small towns to large cities to UNESCO World Heritage destinations. We applaud the dedication and passion of the thousands of individuals working at these iconic and legendary hotels that keep the stories alive from the past and make staying or celebrating special occasions at these historic hotels memorable experiences.”

Tickets for The Historic Hotels 2019 Annual Awards of Excellence and Gala Dinner are available. The Awards Ceremony and Dinner will take place at Pinehurst Resort (1895) in Pinehurst, North Carolina on November 7, 2019 at 7 pm. Tickets for the 2019 Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner are $350 for one seat and $2,800 per table (for 8 seats). To register for the Ceremony and Gala, please contact Stephanie Calhoun [email protected] or +1 202 772 8336. The 2018 award winners were announced November 1, 2018 at The Broadmoor (1918) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.