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Historic Hotels and Recipients Honored at the 2017 Awards Ceremony and Gala

Washington, DC – September 28, 2017, Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide® are pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 Awards of Excellence. Recipients were honored at a special ceremony and gala at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) in Hot Springs, Virginia on Thursday, September 28. Awards were presented before an audience of more than 200 invited media, industry leaders, owners, senior management, and representatives of the finest historic hotels from across America and from around the world. Honors were given in multiple categories ranging from Hotelier of the Year and Hotel Historian of the Year to Best Historic Resort, Historic Hotelier of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, and others.

Each year, these Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor, encourage, and recognize the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence are presented to historic hotels and hoteliers demonstrating innovative leadership, stewardship, and contribution to furthering the recognition, preservation, and celebration of these preeminent historic hotels and their histories.

From more than 200 nominees, the following Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide hotels and hoteliers were honored with these prestigious annual awards for 2017:

Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year

• The Georges (1789) Lexington, Virginia 

Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel

• The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California 

Sustainability Champion

• Inn at the Presidio (1903) San Francisco, California 

Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms)

• The Dunhill Hotel (1929) Charlotte, North Carolina 

Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms)

• Mayflower Park Hotel (1927) Seattle, Washington 

Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms)

• West Baden Springs Hotel (1902) West Baden Springs, Indiana 

Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms)

• Amway Grand Plaza (1913) Grand Rapids, Michigan 

Best City Center Historic Hotel

• Marriott Syracuse Downtown (1924) Syracuse, New York

Best Historic Resort

• The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado 

Best Historic Restaurant in Conjunction with a Historic Hotel

• Penrose Room at The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado 

Hotel Historian of the Year

• Jim Hewes at The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC (1847) Washington, DC 

Ambassador of the Year (Quarter Century of Service)

• Woodrow “Woody” Pettus at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Hot Springs, Virginia 

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Europe

• Hotel Waldhaus Sils (1908) Sils Maria, Switzerland 

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Asia/Pacific

• Alsisar Haveli (1892) Jaipur, India 

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in the Americas

• Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (1893) Québec City, Canada 

Historian of the Year

• Chef Walter Staib, author, twelve time Emmy Award winning TV host of A Taste of History©, and chef and proprietor of City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Stewards of History and Historic Preservation Award

• R.D. (Dan) Musser III at Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan

Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year

• The Smiley Family at Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York

Historic Hotelier of the Year

• Philip Wood at The Jefferson, Washington, DC (1923) Washington, DC

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Duane and Kelly Roberts at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California

“The winners of the 2017 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence represent more than 231 years of history and include the finest iconic and legendary historic hotels from across the United States of America and from around the world,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We applaud these magnificent historic hotels and their hoteliers for their dedication, passion, stewardship and success in preserving these treasures and their stories for future generations of travelers.”

Award recipients are selected from nominees received from historic hotels, historic preservation supporters, prior award recipients, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. As official programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide provide the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels across America and around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group of nominees in a range of categories. 

About Historic Hotels of America®
Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest Historic Hotels. Historic Hotels of America has more than 300 historic hotels. These historic hotels have all faithfully maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity in the United States of America, including 46 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Historic Hotels of America is comprised of mostly independently owned and operated historic hotels. More than 30 of the world’s finest hospitality brands, chains, and collections are represented in Historic Hotels of America. To be nominated and selected for membership into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historic significance. For more information, please visit HistoricHotels.org.

About Historic Hotels Worldwide®
Historic Hotels Worldwide® is a prestigious collection of historic treasures, including historic hotels, castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historic lodging spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide represents the finest global collection of more than 260 historic hotels in more than 36 countries. Historic Hotels Worldwide is dedicated to promoting heritage and cultural travel to prestigious historic treasures. Hotels inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide are authentic historic treasures, demonstrate historic preservation, and celebrate historic significance. Embracing luxury hotel brands, chains, collections, and the finest independent historic hotels, participation is limited to those distinctive historic hotels that adhere to the following criteria: minimum age for the building is 75 years or older; historically relevant as a significant location with a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, former home of a famous person, or historic city center; hotel celebrates its history by showcasing memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance; recognized by national preservation or heritage buildings organization or located within UNESCO World Heritage Site; presently used as historic hotel. To learn more visit www.HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com 

MEDIA CONTACT:               

Lawrence P. Horwitz
Historic Hotels of America | Historic Hotels Worldwide
Executive Vice President
Tel: +1 202 772 9983
lhorwitz@historichotels.org