America's grande dames: life is grand at historic hostelries where tradition reigns supreme - Resort Of The Month - National Trust Historic Hotels of America - Directory

WHEN THE GILDED AGE BLOSsomed in the late 19th century, vacations for people of privilege meant boarding a yacht or private rail car bound for a grand seaside or mountain resort. Arriving with steamer trunks full of clothing for every occasion, the families of wealthy entrepreneurs would spend "the season" enjoying fresh air and natural beauty, dining on haute cuisine and socializing with their fellow elites. Besides golf and water sports, pastimes included genteel games like croquet, shuffleboard, and lawn bowling.

From the 1880s to the Roaring Twenties, palatial playgrounds pampered America's first millionaires, captains of industry who made their fortunes in mines and oil fields, railroads and factories. Happily for affluent travelers of today, grande dame hostelries that have hosted tycoons, celebrities, kings, and presidents have undergone major facelifts to keep up with the times.

Many of these regal retreats now have state-of-the-art, European-style spas and other new-fangled additions. But nostalgia buffs seeking the splendor of yesteryear still partake in the ritual of afternoon tea and dress for dinner in lavish dining rooms that resemble movie sets. In marbled lobbies and on sweeping verandas, they can almost hear the rustle of Old Money.

On a beach-rimmed barrier island off the coast of Georgia, the Jekyll Island Club, founded in 1886 as an exclusive winter retreat for the likes of Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, Pulitzers and Morgans, was faithfully restored to its former grandeur 13 years ago. The turreted Victorian clubhouse and adjacent "cottage" residences form the centerpiece of the island's renowned National Historic District, which can be explored by bicycle or horse carriage.

The main hotel, with views of the gardens, intracoastal waterway and vast marshlands, lies at the end of a curving drive shaded by magnolias and live oaks festooned with Spanish moss. The croquet lawn is a tournament-level greensward where accomplished players of the Jekyll Island Croquet Club hone their skills. Serious players wear white.

Mediterranean Renaissance architecture influenced two opulent Florida landmarks down the Atlantic Coast--The Breakers in tony Palm Beach and Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, about halfway between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

The Breakers' facade was patterned after the Villa Medici (1575) in Rome, its fresco-adorned, barrel-vaulted main lobby after the 1560 Palazzo Carega in Genoa. The main building dates to 1926, though the original resort at this location took shape in 1896 under the direction of Henry Morrison Flagler, who turned his attention to South Florida railroads and resort real estate after accumulating a fortune as a partner of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company.

Recreational facilities at The Breakers include a croquet lawn and the recently restored Ocean Course, the oldest 18-hole golf course in Florida. In addition to four pools and 56 beachfront cabanas, the Beach Club offers 10 new luxuriously appointed pool cabanas featuring private showers, sinks and dressing areas, and wood ceilings with fans.

The Boca Raton Resort's original pink castle-like structure, the Cloister, also dates from 1926. Fresh from a five-year makeover, the sprawling 963-room compound features two 18-hole golf courses, 30 tennis courts, 22 treatment rooms at the new Spa Palazzo, five pools, a 27-slip marina, and private beach.

In The Tampa Bay area, one hotel reigns supreme--the Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa, Florida's legendary "Pink Palace." Built during the heyday of the Roaring Twenties, it was frequented by President Franklin Roosevelt, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, baseball great Lou Gehrig, gangster Al Capone, and others who fancied in its frivolity. Fitzgerald referred to the hotel in many of his novels and undoubtedly found its celebrated characters and gala events grist for the literary mill.

Casting a rouge glow from the sandy Gulf shores of St. Pete Beach, the Don indeed harks back to the romantic Great Gatsby era. The rose-colored "sandcastle" is accented by Moorish bell towers, imperial turrets, a clock tower, sun-splashed terraces, and rows and rows of Palladian windows encased with French doors. Bougainvillea-laced balconies and dramatic stairways lead to tropical gardens, and there are miles of powdery white shores for strolling, shelling, and sunning.

Two classic resorts of the Old South, tucked amid hazy crests of the Allegheny Mountains, trace their history to hot springs that lured discriminating travelers as early as the 1700s. In search of medicinal miracles, people came from far and wide to "take the cure" believing that drinking and bathing in the mineral waters would rid them of rheumatism and other ailments.

At The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, aristocratic families in the mid-1880s drank sulphur water three times a day, many reporting they felt rejuvenated at the end of their stay. Though today's spa promises no cures, it can calm jangled nerves with steam baths, hydrotherapy, and a variety of massages.