6 Hotels with Spectacular Holiday Decorations

‘Tis the season to be merry, and hotels across the world are helping to ensure that everyone’s holidays are happy and bright. The six destinations on this list take that mission to a whole new level in the form of lavish, spectacular, and one-of-a-kind holiday decorations. Get seriously into the holiday spirit at any of these hotels.

1. Bellagio Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

Of all the hotels on this list, the Bellagio may take the cake for its opulent holiday décor. The hotel’s Conservatory and Botanical gardens (located in the atrium) feature 34,000 azaleas, mums, and poinsettias in addition to a “snow” tunnel, an igloo, animated snow globes, a polar bear and cubs made from 22,000 white carnations, floor-to-ceiling wintry decorations, and a 42-foot white fir decked out with 7,000 lights and 2,500 ornaments. Meanwhile, the hotel’s famous fountains have been choreographed in time with classic Christmas songs.

2. Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada

The Fairmont Pacific Rim prides itself on its luxurious style all year long, so it’s fitting that the hotel asked Versace Home Vancouver to design its Christmas decorations. In Versace fashion, the design house came up with something truly original: a Christmas “tree” made out of stacked, opulent chairs. The lobby also features a real, 15-foot tree that was also stylized by Versace Home.

3. Fairmont San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

For over a century, the entire lobby of San Francisco’s Fairmont has been transformed into a winter wonderland each holiday season. This year’s decorations include a 23-foot-tall Christmas tree in the main lobby, a sparkling tree of lights on top of the hotel’s Tower Building, and a 22-foot-high Gingerbread House made from thousands of gingerbread bricks and over a ton of icing and candy. Both guests and the public are invited to view the gigantic structure, enjoy complimentary refreshments, and write letters to Saint Nick in the lobby’s “North Pole Nook.”

4. JW Marriott Desert Ridge Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ

The highlight of Arizona’s largest luxury resort is, without a doubt, the hotel’s Gingerbread Village. To create the Wild-West-themed extravaganza, 15 pastry chefs spent over 400 hours shaping more than 2,000 pounds of gingerbread, 1,000 pounds of chocolate, and 700 pounds of sugar and candy. The result is an awe-inspiring, 900-square-foot celebration of all things winter. The village even features a 400-pound chocolate train and a five-foot-tall water tower.

5. Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, Riverside, CA

If you’re looking for a spectacular holiday light show, Riverside’s Mission Inn Hotel & Spa is the place to be. The Inn’s annual “festival of lights” features more than four million lights, horse-drawn carriage rides, an ornately decorated Christmas tree, the world’s largest human-made mistletoe (which measures 12’ X 8’), and appearances by Santa Claus himself. The entire City of Riverside gets in on the action by featuring its own light displays and decorations throughout downtown and setting up an outdoor ice-skating rink on the Main Street pedestrian mall.

6. Peninsula New York, NYC

When it comes to holiday decorations, the Peninsula goes all out for both quality and quantity. The outside of the hotel gets covered in wreaths and white lights, and the inner atrium is equally festive: The railings on the stately marble staircase are covered in poinsettias, and a number of lavish Christmas trees and (fake) reindeer get decked out in lights and tinsel. The hotel hosts carolers on the weekends leading up to Christmas Eve, and children are invited to the annual Gingerbread House Decorating event.