Plan Your Meetings

Six new hotels join National Trust Historic Hotels of America

The National Trust Historic Hotels of America’s newest properties, and the personalities associated with them, have made several contributions to American pop culture, inspiring Broadway plays, inventing teddy bears and introducing the concept of brunch to New York.

One-time ambassador to Luxemburg, Perle Mesta, was the daughter of the owner of The Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the inspiration for the Broadway musical “Call Me Madam.” The Kevin Costner movie “Tin Cup” was filmed at the Tubac Golf Resort in Tubac, Ariz. In the 1930s, Central Park walkers made a point to drop in for brunch at the Jumeirah Essex House, one of the first hotels to offer the mid-morning meal. Maids at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, Colo., pieced together the first teddy bear to cheer up Teddy Roosevelt after an unsuccessful hunting expedition. Other new member hotels are the Art Deco Colcord Hotel, which was built on Oklahoma City’s Lot No. 1 on Block No. 1, and San Diego, Calif.’s The Sofia Hotel, built by the Pickwick Company to house touring car customers in 1926.

Hotels must be at least 50 years old and be listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, or recognized locally as having historic significance to qualify for inclusion in the National Trust Historic Hotels portfolio. The organization represents 213 hotels in 39 states, many of which have meeting space and themed programs for groups.