The Grand America Hotel

Utah
United States

The Experience

Salt Lake City was presented as an idyllic stage for the 2002 Winter Olympics. They had the craggy Wasatch Mountains, abundant snowfall, an easily accessible international airport and a reputation of good-natured, God-fearing citizens. What Salt Lake City lacked was a grand hotel to house Olympic VIPs. Resident billionaire, Earl Robert Holding, who owns the Little America hotel in Salt Lake City as well as the Snowbasin Resort in Ogden and the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, saw an opportunity to create a new temple in his fair city. He brought in slabs of white granite from Vermont, Murano glass and Carrera marble from Italy, cherry-wood Richelieu furniture from France, and hand-sewn wool carpets from England. The result was a 24-story American-sized hotel (it takes up a full city block) with a touch of old-world opulence.

The Rooms

The hotel boasts 775 super-sized rooms, ranging in size from 700 to 880 square feet, plus three presidential suites with more than 2,000 square feet to roam. Silky Italian bedspreads, Egyptian cotton sheets and round-the-clock room service make sleeping in an easy decision. The color schemes range from palettes of royal blues to regal reds to rich golds. The bathrooms, much like the rest of the hotel, are fitted in marble.

The Service

Good posture must be a prerequisite for working at the Grand America as all staff members from bellman to servers stand tall and appear genuinely happy to help. Afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge is a practice in good manners for guests as they sit in overstuffed chairs surrounded by oil paintings, thick drapery, and the gentle chords of a harpist and nibble on shrimp and watercress finger sandwiches accompanied by a selection of teas or champagne.

The Highlights

A mix of business people and tourists, many clunking about in ski boots, are drawn to the fireplaced Lobby Lounge each morning for strong cappuccinos and a slice of pastry chef Kurtis Baguley’s polenta pound cake. The full scale in-house pastry kitchen also produces crusty European-style loaves of bread, homemade chocolates, and such memorable desserts as a croissant bread pudding with rum sauce.

 

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