One of America’s last remaining Victorian castle hotels, Mohonk Mountain House usually strikes visitors silent when they first behold its grand turrets, arches and wrap-around porches. It’s the type of building that would be at home in a Harry Potter movie and sits on 2,200 acres near the town of New Paltz, N.Y, an hour-and-a-half’s drive north of New York City. The hotel is high in the Sawangunk Mountains and sits on Lake Mohonk (mohonk is the Lenape Indian term for “sky lake”), a half-mile, 60-foot deep body of water.
Shawangunk Accommodation and Amenities
Pulling into the entranceway, under huge stone arches of Shawangunk conglomerate (a mix of quartz and limestone) guests are met by green jacketed attendants who valet park the car and efficiently whisk away luggage. Inside, wood panels the color of burnt toffee line the walls, numerous fireplaces dance with crackling flames and, if it’s 4 p.m. (check-in time), tea and delicious buttery cookies are served in the main lounge. Out on the porch, rocking chairs are lined up like piano keys, and in one corner is a dispenser labeled Fish Food, 10 Cents. Visitors invest a dime, toss the pellets into the lake and are rewarded by trout the size of loaves of bread jumping up for a snack.
The hotel’s 251 guestrooms and suites are furnished in antiques and divinely comfortable four-poster beds. Many also have working wood fireplaces and balconies. People don’t spend much time in their rooms, though. Daily activities (most complimentary) include guided nature hikes, skating, snowshoeing, dance lessons, cooking demonstrations, garden tours and evening performances by local dance bands.
Smiley Family Quaker Background
Built 140 years ago by Quaker brothers Albert and Alfred Smiley, the hotel was originally an old tavern. The Smileys remodeled it, banned drinking, card playing and dancing and slowly bought up the surrounding land. The luxurious retreat attracted many of the era’s most prominent citizens including Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy industrialist, and President Theodore Roosevelt. From 1895 to 1916 the hotel hosted world peace conferences and the Smiley brothers influenced Andrew Carnegie’s creation of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The hotel is still run by the Smiley family and has received a few updates over the years. Electric fixtures replaced gaslights, a liquor license was acquired in the 1960s and it has a 30,000-sq. ft. spa and fitness center. Just as in Albert and Alfred’s day, there are still no TVs or radios in the rooms.Surr
New Paltz Hotel Dining
Lavish lunches and dinners are buffet-style and at dinner (jacket required) the four-course menu could include items such as bucheron goat cheese with roasted tomato coulis, gratinee of oysters with seaweed salad, grilled Black Angus tenderloin of beef, roasted venison, or pan seared John Dory.
An exquisite spot to admire nature and relax, Mohonk Mountain House www.mohonk.com makes guests feel they’ve stepped back to a quieter, more genteel time in history.
 |
