Book now for the holidays: Here are 20 festive family resorts, hotels for Christmas
Do I love a hotel or resort that’s all dressed up for the holidays? If the number of photos I have of my now-teenage daughter standing by an elaborate gingerbread house display, perched by an array of poinsettias, or posed in front of an over-the-top Christmas tree in a hotel lobby throughout the years is any indication, then the answer is a resounding yes.
Staying at family resorts and hotels is always fun, but when you add in hundreds of twinkling lights, festive greenery, sweet treats, and an atmosphere full of holiday happiness, that escape just feels even more magical. Whether you’re looking for a December weekend getaway or a special place to spend the Christmas holiday, here are the U.S. hotels and resorts that sparkle and shine the most over the holidays.
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1. Big Cedar Lodge
Ridgedale, Missouri
There’s nothing little about Big Cedar Lodge, so it’s not surprising that the expansive Ozark Mountains resort celebrates the Christmas season in a major way. Its annual Home for the Holidays extravaganza features an almost never-ending series of events and activities in November and December, including a seasonal ice skating rink, baking and craft workshops, visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, kids club pajama parties, and gingerbread bake-offs. There’s hot cocoa to sip, fires to settle in by, and more than two million holiday lights to admire.
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Guest rooms, cottages, and cabins serve as cozy, outdoors-inspired spots for winter getaways, and an array of dining options means you’ll never need to leave the resort. If all the holiday happenings aren’t enough to keep you busy, there’s also a spa, fitness center, and the Fun Mountain entertainment zone.
2. Boyne Mountain Resort
Boyne Falls, Michigan
Michigan's Boyne Mountain Resort makes for a fun family getaway no matter the month on the calendar, but the holiday season makes for an even more special escape. Not only can you enjoy some of the standard winter activities like ice skating, snow tubing, and skiing, you can also take part in special seasonal events during the resort’s annual Holiday Week (December 20 through January 1).
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Wagon rides, bonfires, s'mores and other festive treats, arts and crafts, and family-friendly holiday movies are all on the schedule. On Christmas Eve, Santa himself makes an appearance on the slopes and then poses for pictures later in the day. The 1,200-foot-long SkyBridge Michigan is also done up with holiday lights throughout the season, which you can admire as you cross the world’s longest timber-towered suspension bridge.
3. The Broadmoor
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Long appreciated for its blend of mountain adventure and European-style elegance, The Broadmoor has been drawing guests since 1918. There are even more reasons to choose it as your hotel for the holidays, though, when millions of lights are illuminated by Santa after Thanksgiving, adding an extra layer of magic to the property throughout the season. The resort's awe-inspiring annual gingerbread creation is also revealed at that time and remains on view through the New Year.
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Daily special events and activities take place during the Broadmoor's Twelve Days of Christmas event (December 20 through January 1), while its beloved family-friendly holiday variety show is on the calendar for multiple evenings in December. And the AAA Five-Diamond resort offers lots of ways for the whole family to stay busy, including 20 dining options, a spa, six lanes of bowling, a movie theater, and s'mores kits for gathering around the fire pit.
4. Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa
Lost Pines, Texas
With hiking and biking trails, yard games, friendly animal residents, an on-site water park, and Camp Hyatt programming for kids, there’s already a lot to love about the 405-acre Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa. It becomes one of the best hotels for Christmas, though, when all of its festivities turn this Austin-area property into a Texas-style winter wonderland.
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Strolling Christmas carolers provide a holiday soundtrack, while horse-drawn wagon rides help you take in all the seasonal decorations. The resort's crafts room becomes "Santa’s Workshop" during the month of December, offering all kinds of crafting activities. Themed s’mores experiences, cocktail classes, and breakfasts with Santa serve up fun food and drink, and a Christmas market makes holiday gift shopping a little easier.
5. Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
National Harbor, Maryland
Prepare to be dazzled by more than two million lights, 160 themed Christmas trees, more than 10,000 ornaments, and miles of garland at the sprawling 19-story Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center during the holidays. There’s also ice skating, snow tubing, snowball making, photos with Santa, singalongs, and gingerbread decorating to be enjoyed.
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You’ll want to plan time to rest up in the recently renovated guest rooms (which took design inspiration from the hotel’s location on the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.), because that’s only the beginning of the holiday fun. Christmas shows take place in the hotel's impressive atrium, a Christmas village takes over part of the convention center, and the popular ICE! event brings in more than two million pounds of ice that gets carved into imaginative seasonal displays (2023’s theme is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). You might need a vacation from your vacation after experiencing it all!
6. Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa (or Dollywood's HeartSong Lodge and Resort)
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Understated is not a word often associated with Dolly Parton, and the Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration at Dollywood is just as larger-than-life. Think more than six million lights, dozens of Christmas trees, and an impressive holiday drone show. Book a guest room or suite at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa or the new HeartSong Lodge and Resort to experience all of the holiday magic at Dollywood theme park and around the rest of the site.
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You get special theme park perks and transportation as a resort guest, and when you visit either of the two hotels for Christmas, they are also decked out with festive touches. Holiday-themed crafts and evening marshmallow roasts are on the schedule for Camp DW kids programming at both resorts. A two-story Christmas tree greets you as you arrive at DreamMore Resort and Spa, and the hotel also offers a Tree Décor Package that includes a three-foot faux Christmas tree for your room, cookies and holiday candy, a handwritten letter from Santa's elves, and a special ornament to commemorate your stay.
7. Paséa Hotel and Spa
Huntington Beach, California
Close to Huntington Beach Pier and set on the Pacific Ocean, Paséa Hotel and Spa has guest rooms and suites with private balconies and amenities like a pool, spa, and fitness studio. During the holiday season it unveils an oceanfront ice skating rink which hosts special theme nights and serves up hot chocolate and other holiday food and drink. You can reserve oceanfront or rink-front fire pits where you can enjoy special menu offerings to add to the wintery fun.
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When you visit this hotel for Christmas you'll find a 170-pound Gingerbread Hotel in the lobby built to scale from the hotel’s original blueprints. It takes 140 hours to create and incorporates 50 pounds of icing and almost 200 candy canes! The hotel’s Study Kitchen + Bar serves up special holiday fare during the season, and other events in December include a tree lighting ceremony and breakfast with Santa.
8. Hotel Bennett
Charleston, South Carolina
With an appealing location on King Street in the heart of downtown Charleston and luxe but still family-friendly guest rooms and suites, Hotel Bennett already has a lot going for it. But visit this hotel for Christmas and you’ll immediately be wowed by the life-size gingerbread house in the lobby made with pounds and pounds of candy and serving up cups of hot cocoa to get a stay started off in a sweet way.
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On weekends during December, your whole family can enjoy tea with Santa, with holiday treats for all and Champagne for the adults. Breakfast with Santa takes place closer to the big day, and there’s carols and holiday stories on the night before Christmas Eve. Plus all of the holiday festivities in downtown Charleston are just outside this Christmas hotel's front door.
9. Hotel Healdsburg
Healdsburg, California
During the holidays, Sonoma County's boutique Hotel Healdsburg welcomes the season with Christmas decorations and a roaring fireplace in the lobby. Weekend holiday teas feature pastries, scones and clotted cream, crudités, custom-blend teas, classic cocktails, and other goodies for both kids and grownups. A Saturday jazz music series creates a festive soundtrack in the lobby area.
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Add some special touches to your Christmas hotel stay by ordering an in-room Christmas tree that your family can decorate and a holiday cookie tray that can be waiting for you when you arrive. Commemorate the trip by booking a family photo session through the hotel or by picking up a meaningful souvenir in Healdsburg’s historic downtown.
10. Edgewood Tahoe Resort
Stateline, Nevada
Situated along the shores of Lake Tahoe, Edgewood Tahoe Resort ushers in the holidays with festive decorations, a range of spirited events, and the possibility of actual snow when you book this hotel for the Christmas season. Wintry fun at the resort includes cookie decorating workshops, holiday bingo, and story time with Mrs. Claus. Milk and cookies for Santa are delivered to your room on Christmas Eve.
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Winter visits to this boutique resort also mean activities like ice skating, snowshoeing, and skiing at nearby Heavenly Ski Resort. (Edgewood Tahoe has a Ski Butler program that delivers gear directly to your accommodations.) The resort’s elegant new Villa Suites are tailor-made for spending the holidays as a family, with multiple bedrooms, scenic views, and lots of space for gathering together.
11. Salish Lodge and Spa
Snoqualmie, Washington
Situated in the postcard-perfect foothills of the Cascade Mountains overlooking Snoqualmie Falls, Salish Lodge and Spa already has the winter wonderland part down. But somehow it gets even more magical over the holidays. The resort hosts a tree lighting ceremony with carolers and goodies for the kiddos, holiday teas, and visits from Santa in the dining room every Sunday morning during December.
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Don’t miss the iconic "Honey from Heaven" service during a morning meal, where servers drizzle honey from the onsite apiary onto biscuits from high above the plate. Each of the 86 guestrooms has a gas fireplace, spa-like shower, and stellar views. And a special "pillow menu" makes this one of the most comfortable hotels for Christmas, especially after a day spent exploring the area’s natural side.
12. Wailea Beach Resort
Maui, Hawaii
Celebrate the holiday season the Hawaiian way at Wailea Beach Resort on the south end of Maui. Christmas-themed events and activities such as holiday hula lessons, ornament making sessions, cookie decorating and s’mores, a daily Elf on the Shelf scavenger hunt, and Santa’s arrival via canoe make this a top choice among family hotels for Christmas. Start the day with sunrise yoga, sip frozen hot chocolate as a midday treat, and wind down at the sunset torch lighting ceremony each evening.
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You can dive deeper into Hawaiian culture via workshops that teach about traditions like bamboo stamping and ukulele music. Or you can take a literal dive at the hotel’s NALU pool, which has four water slides (including the longest waterslide on Maui), splash zones, and a swim-through grotto. There's arts and crafts, Hawaiian stories, and other activities at the kids club, and the whole family can catch a flick at the Movie House or stop by the GameSpace for some foosball or vintage arcade games.
13. Woodloch Pines Resort
Hawley, Pennsylvania
Perennially lauded as one of the best all-inclusive resorts in the U.S., family-friendly Woodloch Pines Resort adds even more fun to its already packed schedule as a Christmas hotel. That means holiday-themed scavenger hunts across the resort’s 135 acres, "bakery wars" to see which family creates the sweetest holiday treats, and rousing family-friendly games of chance to see which wooden reindeer crosses the finish line first.
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Grab some hot cocoa and mittens for a wagon ride through the resort’s Festival of Lights display, where Santa just might make an appearance. And this is all on top of the other wintertime activities you can always enjoy at the all-inclusive resort, like snow tubing and ice skating outside, plus indoor games, entertainment, arts and crafts, a playground, a pool, and a splash park.
14. Hotel del Coronado
Coronado, California
Celebrate the holidays in 1920s Art Deco style at the historic Hotel del Coronado. This iconic Southern California hotel definitely doesn’t skimp on holiday fun, offering seasonal experiences like a beachfront ice-skating rink and beachside "igloo" seating, photos with Santa, gingerbread house decorating, and holiday movies on the beach.
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On the resort’s Founders Lawn, a grove of Norfolk Island pine trees serves as the setting for a light show set to a 1920s jazz soundtrack that concludes with festive snow flurries. A new bar and lounge with a replica of the San Diego-area hotel's signature red turret serves up holiday cocktails and cocoa to enjoy during the display. Your whole family crew can also reserve a private fire pit on the beach for a special holiday s’mores experience.
15. Hotel Drover
Fort Worth, Texas
Book a stay at the Hotel Drover during the second half of December and you’ll be right in the middle of all kinds of holiday fun. During the hotel's 12 Days of Drover event, you can get photos with a Cowboy Santa, meet live reindeer, and sample tasty holiday treats.
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The hotel, whose name honors the cowboys who drove cattle to market across the Plains, sits within the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, which also does it up for the holidays. You can glide around the Stockyards Rodeo Rink on the lawn of the Livestock Exchange Building, hear stories told by Mrs. Claus, visit the Cocoa Corral, and take in the live music, lights, and 40-foot Christmas tree. And when you’ve had your fill of fun, your hotel for the holidays is just steps away, with rustic-luxe guest rooms and suites brimming with Texas style.
16. Waldorf Astoria Orlando
Orlando, Florida
You won’t experience any falling snow or icy temperatures while staying at Waldorf Astoria Orlando during the holiday season. Even if it looks like summer outside, though, it’s still plenty Christmasy within the hotel. Book one of the Holiday Suites Packages and you’ll get amenities like in-suite decorations, a cookie decorating kit, a holiday-themed turndown amenity, an exclusive Holiday Royal Tea experience held in your suite, and a holiday-themed poolside cabana for a day during your stay.
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You’ll also enjoy complimentary transportation to Disney's Orlando theme parks if you want to take part in all the holiday fun there. Of course, you’ll be entertained without ever leaving the resort with carolers in the lobby, story-time sessions with Mrs. Claus complete with milk and cookies, and year-round amenities that include a zero-entry pool and kids club. And if you extend your Christmas hotel stay through New Year’s Eve, your kids can enjoy a special party and buffet just for them while the grownups ring in the New Year with one of the resort’s holiday cocktails.
17. Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf
Washington, D.C.
Set on D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront, Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf offers great views in a refined setting. During the holidays, checking in is made sweeter with a hot chocolate cart in the lobby complete with marshmallows, candy canes, sprinkles, and whipped cream. Young guests can write letters to Santa and drop them off in a special mailbox, and an optional "Holiday Movie Night Package" includes a selection of classic holiday flicks, an in-room popcorn machine, and an array of Sugarfina sweets.
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At sundown during each night of Hanukkah (December 7 through 15 this year), you can sample babka and rugelach made by the hotel’s pastry team and watch the candle lighting ceremony in the hotel lobby. It’s also an easy stroll from the hotel to The Wharf’s seasonal ice-skating rink and Camp Wharf’s s'mores station.
18. Enchantment Resort
Sedona, Arizona
Set amid red rocks and green pine trees, Sedona's Enchantment Resort lives up to its name. It’s a pretty enchanting place to spend the holidays too. Arts and crafts sessions are held at "Santa’s Workshop," carolers sing festive tunes on Saturdays, Mrs. Claus leads story time sessions, and Santa himself poses for pictures with guests.
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You can take part in a holiday-themed culinary class or glide around the outdoor ice skating rink that offers memorable 360-degree views of Boynton Canyon. If the holiday season stresses you out at all, the resort also offers sound immersion and mandala art sessions to soothe your spirits, plus a winter solstice ceremony and the opportunity to make New Year’s manifestations to get 2024 started off in a positive way.
19. Jekyll Island Club Resort
Jekyll Island, Georgia
Make like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers once did and head to the Jekyll Island Club Resort for a special family getaway. At Christmastime, this historic Golden Isles resort (which also includes a more modern beachfront property) hosts afternoon teas, a gingerbread house decorating event, breakfast with the Grinch, lunch with Santa, and special holiday meals throughout the month of December.
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The Holly Jolly Jekyll festivities that take place throughout the island from November 24 to January 7 help make this one of the best hotels for Christmas in the whole country. Some 350 light displays made up of more than a million lights can be seen illuminating stately trees and in other spots all over the island, which you can check out on your own or via a trolley tour. The island’s mini golf course even turns into "Peppermint Land" for the season.
20. Aspen Meadows Resort
Aspen, Colorado
Odds are high for a white Christmas at Aspen Meadows Resort, which sits on 40 acres in Aspen’s West End neighborhood. There are all kinds of festivities at the resort leading up to the big day, including a reindeer village with carolers, snowmen building, gingerbread house and cookie decorating, sleigh rides, and s’mores around the fire. Holiday movie nights take place throughout December, and there’s lots of special holiday food and drink to enjoy.
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On all eight nights of Hanukkah, leaders from the Aspen Jewish Congregation and Aspen Chabad House take turns lighting the menorah as the sun sets, and latkes are served for attendees. The all-suite hotel is well-suited for family getaways with the recently renovated suites done up in primary colors in homage to the resort’s Bauhaus design roots. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide optimal mountain views.
The story festive family resorts and hotels for Christmas first appeared on FamilyVacationist.com.
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FamilyVacationist.com and TourScoop.com are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. FamilyVacationist covers family vacation ideas; family vacation spots; all-inclusive family resorts; and theme park vacations for families. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators, tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christmas family resorts near me: 20 festive spots across the US
