HotelChatter

The Parlor on Grand Hotel's lobby floor

A Present Turned Inside Out
We have the Grand’s resident historian, Bob Tagatz, to thank for sharing the best insight yet on the hotel’s interior. In a free history lecture given right on the front porch, Tagatz shared a conversation he once had with the hotel’s interior designer of 35 years, Carleton Varney, on how best to describe the interior. Varney said to tell guests it’s their birthday and they have a choice of presents: one is wrapped in brown paper, the other in green and white striped paper with pink flowers, ribbons and bows. What would they choose? Of course the fancy package which, of course, represents the Grand.

Varney went on to say that the hotel’s interior – the walls, floors and ceiling, and furnishing – are the gift wrapping around the summer memories and experience the Grand Hotel has forever focused on delivering.

No AC in Grand Hotel's offsite resto, The Woods, but the rich, deep woods interior is fascinating

We had not before thought of a hotel as a wrapped present and the metaphor brought the entire Grand Hotel experience full circle for us. It was the perfect explanation for the ornate, quirky and yet wildly stylish and posh interior of Grand Hotel. Every wall is laden with stories and kitsch nodding to everything from presidents and celebrities who have stayed at the hotel to the island’s military history and the hotel's first days in 1887.

Ticky tacky turns cool when a hotel room becomes a present!

The 385-room hotel features 264 different wallpapers and 22 registered colors throughout, which means no two walls or rooms in Grand Hotel are alike. New rooms and additions keep popping up throughout, including the new Founders Suite. Built in the Victorian era, romantic embellishments reign supreme and speak to the hotel’s beginning as a magical, exclusive resort meant to sweep you away. From the Cupola Bar at the very top of the hotel with its cosmic carpet and flowery chandelier to the lobby Parlor with bright strokes of green, red and black, the Grand Hotel is a bricolage of history, color and surprise. It’s a blast to unwrap.

A closer look at our room wallpaper -- just one of 264 kinds to find at Grand Hotel

The Celebration Continues
Guests arriving today are in for a treat, too, with some of the anniversary celebration’s best events scheduled through Sunday. Already this week the hotel revealed a beautiful new stable with a family-friendly soiree (check out the antique Victorian carriages), a 125-foot cake served on the porch and a $125 Anniversary Cocktail made with Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac (there’s also a $15 knockoff celebration cocktail).

Still to come are fireworks and Veuve Cliquot on the front porch, a Q&A with the owning Musser family, a talk with Varney, a golf tournament, a Governer’s Ball, and loads of live music in Grand Hotel style.

Don't miss a free history lecture on Grand Hotel with resident historian, Bob Tagatz

There’s so much to see inside Grand Hotel we couldn’t possibly fit it all in here, but look forward to more unwrapping over the next couple weeks.

Low rates are hard to come by at Grand Hotel right now as this is peak season, but we did find a great Bed and Breakfast package for four starting at $361.

Photos: Nina Kokotas Hahn