Nothing says Christmastime quite like a pampered stay in a luxury hotel. The best Christmas hotels include The Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York City, The Roosevelt in New Orleans and the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago.
Our favorite Christmas hotels offer a variety of ways to get you into the holiday spirit, whether you’re in the market for a multi-generational family holiday get-together or a just-for-two romantic Christmas getaway.
These beautiful hotels offer everything from elaborate decorations and Christmas light shows to a wide range of holiday experiences, including Christmas markets, s’mores around a firepit, and, for kids, holiday story time and visits from the North Pole.
Scottsdale Fairmont Princess in Arizona
Ice skating in the Sonoran Desert? Seeing 6.5 million Christmas lights? Visiting Santa? Yes, please! It’s my idea of the perfect Christmas hotel — all the fun of Christmas with none of the freezing! And it’s all part of the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess’ famous “Christmas at the Princess” celebration.
The luxurious Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers all of your holiday must-haves, from festive decorations to an ice skating rink. There’s even snow, but this is Arizona, so the snow will “fall” from machines rather than the sky. Plus, you get the hotel’s famed 5-Diamond AAA service, large rooms, five gorgeous pools (including one with dueling waterslides), a kids’ club in the morning that turns into a family fun center in the afternoon and incredible restaurants with kids’ menus and mocktails.
Even if you can’t get a reservation to stay at this 65-acre resort with its 750 beautifully renovated rooms, you can still enjoy Arizona’s largest Christmas lights display. You can buy tickets to the Scottsdale Christmas event, dubbed “Disney in the Desert.”
Asilomar in California
You likely won’t find snow at the Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, (the average high in December is 60 degrees), but the Victorian-era hotel still decks the halls. Look for a gigantic California-themed gingerbread house with more than 700 buildings that replicate this historic landmark.
The beachy resort on California’s beautiful Monterey Peninsula was designed by renowned Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan. Accommodation options include cottages and a variety of historic rooms with rustically elegant California-style furnishings, an outdoor heated swimming pool, a meditation space and a BBQ area.
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs
A Christmas at The Broadmoor means millions of twinkling lights, a life-size gingerbread house, Elf Stories and Breakfast with Santa. To get the full holiday feeling, book the Classic Broadmoor Holiday Show package, which includes:
- Accommodations for one night
- Tickets for each person on the package to the Classic Broadmoor Holiday dinner show starring singer Debby Boone, Broadway star Marcus Lovett and his daughter, Cathryn Lovett; the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale; and Ken Miller and The Broadmoor Pops Orchestra.
C Lazy U Dude Ranch in Colorado
At the all-inclusive C Lazy U Ranch, a luxury dude ranch in the Rocky Mountains, each individual cabin comes complete with a Christmas tree and everyone is invited to help trim the tree in the Main Lodge, build a gingerbread house or take a sleigh ride. Look for Santa to arrive in a horse-drawn sleigh full of presents. On Christmas Eve, the ranch serves a traditional Christmas dinner, with a turkey for each table in the dining room.
Plus, there’s plenty of outdoor fun in the Colorado snow, including cross-country skiing, horseback riding, snowmobiling, snow tubing, ice skating and pick-up hockey games on the pond. And for a special treat, you can head to the Lazy You Spa for a little pampering.
The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida
If the cold white stuff isn’t your ideal white Christmas, then head to The Breakers Palm Beach for some warmer white stuff — the white sand beaches of Palm Beach.
Consistently named one of CNN’s “Hotels that Go All Out for Christmas,” this beachfront resort announces its Christmas spirit before you even arrive, with glowing white lights on the 100 royal palms that line the main drive to the hotel. The magic continues with 18-foot evergreen trees and a sculptural menorah in the lobby and more than 170,000 lights and 12,000 feet of ribbon across the 140-acre oceanfront property.
Dining options include a Christmas brunch, proper afternoon tea and prix-fixe holiday lunch and dinner menus.
The resort’s large suites offer families plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the holidays.
Gaylord Hotels
The luxurious Gaylord resorts go all-in for Christmas with their iconic ICE! celebration. The ice sculptures, carved from 6,700 colorful blocks of ice, and ice slides are kept at a frigid 9 degrees Fahrenheit. But don’t worry, the resorts provide insulated blue parkas to keep everyone warm while they wander through the icy displays.
The entire resort is dressed up with millions of twinkling lights, miles of garland and elaborately themed Christmas trees. There are shows to see, gingerbread houses to make and holiday treats to eat.
You can book a Christmas package deal that includes a stay at the hotel and front-of-the-line and early admission to ICE! Or just buy tickets to see the impressive ice sculptures and soar down the ice slide.
Each of the five Gaylord hotel properties will each feature its own ICE! story:
- Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennesse, will present “Frosty the Snowman” from November 8, 2024, through January 4, 2025, at this family-friendly Nashville hotel.
- Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Florida, will present “Buddy the Elf” from November 15, 2024, through January 4, 2025. (As an added bonus, this Gaylord property is near Orlando. That makes it easy to add on a trip to see Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney World!)
- Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas, will present “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” from November 15, 2024, through January 5, 2025
- Gaylord National in National Harbor, Maryland, will present “A Charlie Brown Christmas” from November 15 through December 28, 2024.
- Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado, will present “The Polar Express” from November 22, 2024, through January 1, 2025.
In addition. a sixth Marriott hotel, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country, will join the ICE! party this year. It will present “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” from November 23, 2024, to January 5, 2025.
Fairmont Hotel San Francisco in California
Christmas at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco is not only first among California holiday legends; it’s legendary among Christmas hotel destinations. That’s no surprise since the luxury hotel has been going all-out for the holidays for more than a century.
For the holidays, the Fairmont San Francisco transforms its grand lobby into Christmas Central with a life-sized gingerbread house. This house is 22 feet tall and 23 feet wide! For a super fun special treat, children can stay in one of the two Santa Suites. The suites are the specially decorated “home” of Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Fairmont when they’re in California.
To round out the experience, you can choose from the Gingerbread Holiday afternoon tea or a special private dining experience inside the Gingerbread House.
Omni Grove Park Inn in North Carolina
The Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, is home to the Annual National Gingerbread House Competition. This is the 32nd annual competition that brings the WOW to this Christmas hotel. Gingerbread artists compete for more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.
The incredible gingerbread houses will be on display from November 19, 2024, through January 5, 2025. Viewing on Friday and Saturday is only open to guests staying at the hotel and those with dining reservations. But everyone can visit after 6 p.m. on Sundays or anytime Monday through Thursday, based on parking availability and excluding the following dates: December 23-26, 30, 31 and January 1.
Read More: 12 Ways to Celebrate Christmas in Western North Carolina
The Inn on Biltmore Estate
There’s a reason Hallmark decided to feature this estate property in its 2023 holiday film, A Biltmore Christmas. It feels like every inch of the buildings and grounds is festooned with ribbons, lights, garland and ornaments. It’s elegant, graceful and refined and an ideal place to celebrate the season.
The Inn on Biltmore Estate is one of three lodging options on the grounds. Rooms are luxurious and the services include personal touches like nightly turndown with pillow chocolates. Guests at the Inn enjoy complimentary shuttle service to the mansion for the holiday tours and to other stops around the 8,000-acre property.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Although the famous Biltmore gardens are dull in December, the Conservatory is worth a visit. It’s full of glorious poinsettias and other festive tropical plants.
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa in Texas
Another warm weather holiday destination is Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, east of Austin, one of our favorite central Texas resorts. Here, you can celebrate Christmas like a Texan, with plenty of outdoor activities like swimming in the lazy river. The outdoor water park is open in December, even as the resort trees are sprinkled with oversized decorations and twinkling lights.
You won’t see snow at this Holiday Light Stroll, but you will see 150 LED flood lights, more than 3,000 twinkling holiday lights, and a 20-foot animated holiday tree. Lost Pines offers activities with a Texas twist. Santa often greets guests from atop a Texas Longhorn and the resort’s resident pig, pygmy goats and alpacas like to parade around in their holiday finest.
Kids can find Santa and Mrs. Claus in the hotel lobby every Friday and Saturday and have breakfast with Santa on Sunday mornings. At this resort on the banks of the Colorado River, kids and teens get off their screens and fill their days with good, old-fashioned family fun. That sounds like a perfect Christmas vacation to me.
Four Seasons Vail in Colorado
For the family that loves snow, there’s no better place to experience a winter wonderland than in the Rockies at the Four Seasons Resorts and Residences Vail in Colorado.
The holidays here include the lighting of the Menorah nightly at 6pm and Christmas mass on Christmas Eve. You can have a fully decorated Christmas tree delivered to your residence, have hot chocolate and s’mores by the pool, buy gifts at the spa and have them wrapped by pros, with the proceeds going to charity. Kids can visit with Santa and search for the Elf on the Shelf.
And, of course, there’s skiing and snow sports and more holiday events in the town of Vail.
Accommodations at the Four Seasons Vail range from standard hotel rooms to four-bedroom resort residences.
How to Choose the Right Christmas Hotel
Traveling on Christmas Day to stay in a luxury resort is a great way to create a new holiday tradition in style. There are certain criteria required for a holiday hotel stay, however:
- A variety of activities. We want to make sure there’s something for everyone to do, from the most active to the most relaxed members of our family. My tween son is all about adventure and outdoors. My mother is looking forward to sitting by the fire.
- A central shared experience. As much as we like splitting up, we want to create a holiday memory with one central experience. That could mean strolling together to look at Christmas lights, working together to build a gingerbread house or singing together with a group caroling. It doesn’t really matter what we do, so long as we do it together.
- A Christmas WOW moment. Traveling for Christmas demands that we be wowed by Christmas hotels. Over-the-top holiday decorations, Elf on the Shelf, Santa Claus, we want it all!
How to Celebrate Christmas Away from Home
With all the places to go, there’s always a concern about how to actually celebrate with presents. Do you ship them in advance or pack them in a suitcase and hope TSA doesn’t open them? How far in advance do you go? Is Christmas Eve too late and you might end up with a delayed flight or bad weather? Do you stay to ring in the new year?
The best advice I can give is plan in advance (like now) and look at every situation. I have fond memories of my grandmother flying in to see us on Christmas day. She would do Christmas morning in Minnesota with my cousins and then the afternoon in California with our family. It felt like a special delivery.
However you choose or wherever you go, let me be the first to tell you Merry Christmas! (I know it’s early but I’m in the spirit!)
