Festive decor has never looked so luxe.
There’s no place like home for the holidays. Unless it’s a design-centric hotel, gorgeously decorated for the season (and with no effort at all on your part!). After all, how many houses have room for a 50-foot tree? Or a visit from Santa and his sleigh? Or a cozy fireplace that's continually roaring?
There’s a holiday hotel out there to fulfill every festive fantasy, whether you dream of a snow-covered castle in the mountains where banquet rooms and conservatories are filled with swags of evergreen in Gilded Age style, a serene spa where you can count your blessings, or an urban adventure surrounded by the glittering lights of a celebrating city. Read on to start making your holiday hotel wishes come true. Even if it feels too early in the season to start decorating, it's always a good time to dream about a festive, wintry escape.
Immediately after Thanksgiving, this Chicago showpiece fills with holiday cheer. Hallways are lined with swags and garlands, and the 20-foot Christmas tree in the lobby is outshone only by the pop-up Candy Shoppe by the front desk. The interiors glitter to match the Chicago skyline, and there’s beauty throughout the hotel—except during the annual Ugliest Christmas Sweater Party, held for the seventh time in a row this year at the hotel’s Z Bar.
A 41-foot tree adorned in 3,600 lights and 700 ornaments (give or take a bauble) is the symbol of the season at the Ojai Valley Inn in Southern California. What the property calls “Serenity Season” begins in November and carries through New Year’s Day dinner at The Oak or Olivella, the on-site restaurants. In between there are menorah lightings in the lobby during Hanukkah, hot cocoa and ornament painting in the Artist’s Cottage, breakfast with Santa, cookie decorating and storytelling with Santa’s elves, and the Christmas Grand Buffet at the Farmhouse. In-room trees, stockings, and cookie deliveries can be arranged to recreate that “home for the holidays” feeling.
Book Now
Forget walking in a winter wonderland; in New Orleans, people flock to the Roosevelt (a Waldorf Astoria hotel) to walk in a Waldorf Wonderland. The lobby walkway is transformed by 112,000 twinkling lights, 1,600 feet of garlands, and 4,000 glass ornaments. There’s also a life-sized gingerbread house to visit, plus an on-site “North Pole” (with some NOLA flavor thanks to a set inspired by the city’s St. Louis Cathedral), which plays host to several Teddy Bear Teas throughout the season. Adult treats—seasonal cocktails including the Candy Cane and the Christmas Cookie—can be enjoyed at the Sazerac Bar, which is the birthplace of that cocktail.
A 60-foot tree ringed by a locomotive-sized “toy train” graces the front door of The Greenbrier, which bills itself as “America’s resort.” Trees and poinsettias line virtually every public space on this grand property. Cozy corners, like the one pictured above, are decked in bows, wreaths, garlands, and ornaments hung by the upholstery team, alongside an estimated 150,000 lights.
December is known for Weekends With Santa, when the man himself arrives in a horse-drawn carriage to give the command to “light up The Greenbrier,” as the exterior, trees, and surrounding cottages are illuminated, and guests sing carols and sip hot chocolate. In between, visitors can ice-skate, take a sleigh ride, or simply go walking in a winter wonderland.
Anyone who has seen Home Alone dreams of spending the holidays at the Plaza, cozied up in a plush bathrobe. (And, yes, you can book a Home Alone: Fun in New York package that includes a four-hour limousine ride.) But any guest who stays at the hotel (or even just dines in one of its restaurants) during this festive season can enjoy hanging out with Santa in the lobby, a holiday-themed Eloise tea in the Palm Court, weekend "Tappy Hours" when Sarafina Precision Dance Troupe performs in the lobby, and of course, the illuminated trees and other decor. Christmas Day brings a Champagne brunch, a festive afternoon tea, and cocktails in the Champagne bar, and if you stay through New Year’s, you'll want to hit up the Great-Gatsby-themed New Year’s Eve party.
Two words: Reindeer visits. That’s just one of the festive experiences on offer at this mountain resort. You can also attend family movie nights, enjoy a visit with Santa, or take a class in Hanukkah crafts, cookie decorating, or Christmas stocking making. There’s live music and holiday drinks in the decorated Mountain Lobby Bar. And, of course, the skiing is pretty nice, too.
In the 1890s, a newspaper described Christmas at Biltmore, the Vanderbilt family’s grand North Carolina estate, as being full of “soft lights, tastefully draped garlands of evergreen and mistletoe, and the shining leaves and red berries of holly.” Now, 130 years later, the estate is a hotel, but the decor and magic of the holiday season are much the same.
On this anniversary of the first Christmas at Biltmore, there are 36 decorated trees inside the mansion—the largest being the 35-foot fir in the Banquet Hall—and 75 more outside. A whopping 809 poinsettias grace the property, including George Vanderbilt’s conservatory, seen above. And 45,000 lights alongside 442 candles enhance the holiday glow. Those who haven’t booked a room on the property can still experience the magic via Candlelight Tours on Candlelight Christmas Evenings, now through January 3, 2026.
Book Now
While many hotels go for the classic red-and-green holiday color scheme, this grande dame leans into its year-round palette of dusty blue, copper, gold, and white. The lobby’s 15-foot tree is adorned in glass ornaments and garlands collected over the years by Managing Director Dee Patel. To really feel the holiday magic, step across the street to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to see the Nutcracker ballet, then return for the festive Nutcracker Tea in the Veranda, where the sweet treats and holiday drinks are accompanied by live music.
Book Now
Some hotels have gingerbread houses, but this Las Vegas legend has previously showcased a confectionery white tiger among polar bears, ornaments, and other sculptures crafted out of sugar, chocolate, and fondant. The feline beauty was part of last year’s 500-pound confectionery extravaganza; the Wynn’s Master Cake Artist, Flora Aghababyan, produces new marvels each year to create elaborate edible decor displayed in The Buffet. Meanwhile, the hotel’s Atrium is transformed into a forest of lit pine trees, poinsettias, and “snow,” alongside flowers including roses, French tulips, amaryllis, and ilex berries. There’s so much to see before you even venture out to a show or casino.
Book Now
The entire Walt Disney World complex—from theme parks to resorts—goes all out for the holidays, with wreaths, trees, and greenhouses lit with fairy lights. And while the famed Gingerbread Village won’t be up at the Grand Floridian this year (the resort is undergoing renovations), the other resorts are still wildly impressive.
Arguably, the most impressive decor can be found at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Both of the on-site properties, Jambo House and Kidani Village, feature towering Christmas trees covered in African handicrafts and decorations. There’s also a giraffe and zebra made of gingerbread—festive echoes of the live animals wandering the savanna outside the buildings’ walls.
Book Now
The Tête-à-Tête Sofa Is Making a 2026 Comeback
Inside a Lakeside Family Compound in Wisconsin
Why Your Kitchen Needs a “Cook’s Table”
The Genius Organizing Method That Experts Love
