Looking to kick off the holiday season? There is no better place to bask in elegant holiday finery than Grand America — where everything is merry and bright.
In true Grand style, The Grand America Hotel is offering a host of festivities through December 31 to celebrate the season—most of which are free to enjoy by everyone. Full details can be found at the special holiday website created by The Grand America.
Holiday Window Stroll
The Grand America’s annual holiday window stroll features the theme, “The Holiday ABCs” this year. Each window was hand-crafted by local craftspeople and includes intricate animated elements designed around individual letters of the alphabet.
From classic depictions of The Nutcracker to a Kwanza tribute and children sleeping all snug in their beds, the windows showcase the best of the holidays from vintage to contemporary depictions.
And what better way to celebrate the joy of the holidays than 18 pounds of glitter making 300 window elements sparkle! We bet that the angel with wings made of 200 hand-embossed and anodized copper feathers will get you into the spirit.
Interact with each of the windows to locate all of the letters (from A to Z) and then take your completed window stroll card to the giant gingerbread house for a special treat. This offer is only valid during window stroll hours on Sunday-Thursday from 4-9 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. through Dec. 31.
You can also enter Grand America’s Instagram contest by taking photos of the windows and then posting them on Instagram using the #grandholidays hashtag for a chance to win a Grand getaway.
Giant Gingerbread House
Whether you’re strolling through the windows or just heading directly to the grand finale of the house itself, you’ll delight in the artfully designed masterpiece by Executive Pastry Chef Xavier Baudinet. The Grand’s life-sized gingerbread house is on display to the public free of charge during the holiday season.
The giant gingerbread creation took 12 pastry chefs 1,440 hours to complete. It is built using 900 lbs. of royal icing, 2,000 eggs, 300 lbs. of sugar, 88 lbs. of white chocolate and 148 quarts of molasses.
Between the hours of 4-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, end your holiday window stroll journey here at the gingerbread house and receive a sweet treat for yourself, compliments of The Grand America Hotel through December 31.
Sweet Treats
If the sweet treat at the gingerbread house left you wanting more, dig into executive pastry chef Xavier Baudinet’s new dessert menu available to enjoy in either The Garden Café or The Gibson Lounge.
Don’t miss the gorgeous apple galette with mascarpone gelato that’s almost too beautiful to eat or the light and liquorish Limoncello tiramisu with candied orange.
And what could be better than Grand America’s bread pudding, made with croissants, then adding chocolate to this guest favorite? Perhaps the bourbon pecan sauce on the side!
Rounding out the options are a velvety butterscotch pot de crème and the Royaltine La Bonne Vie with a sweet praline crunch, Valrhona chocolate and Madagascar vanilla foam.
Each of these desserts are $9 and perfect for sharing before the holiday window stroll or as a delicious way to warm up after wandering the grounds to view the lights.