Fall Inn : Hotels with Amazing Fall Color Views

by T+L

Everyone knows where to find America’s boldest fall colors: the crimson of a maple leaf in Vermont, an oak’s burnished orange in the Smoky Mountains, the brilliant gold of an aspen in, well, you know. But what’s the fun of a great leaf-viewing locale when you’re holed up in a hotel overlooking a parking lot?

This annual metamorphosis happens so fast that when the leaves hit their stride, you want to maximize your time with a winning view. That means staying in a place where you can wake to a sweeping swath of color right outside your window, take morning coffee with the light glinting off the reds and yellows, stroll the grounds kicking leaves, and enjoy a late-afternoon cocktail as shadows begin to blanket nature’s palette.

Unearthing such autumnal accommodations, however, is no easy task: Hoteliers bought up the best vantage points years ago, so your selection of full-color properties is limited. (The upside? In some cases, staying in an historic hotel.) But we did the legwork for you, finding great spots across the country where you can fully embrace the classic fall experience while relaxing in luxury. Plus, we’ll tell you when to go and which rooms offer the best views.

Happy peeping.

Equinox Golf Resort & Spa
Manchester Village, Vermont

The Setting
The maples and oaks around this 2,300-acre resort have been drawing visitors since 1769. Reds and oranges fill the grounds and climb up the surrounding Green and Taconic mountain ranges.

Rooms To Book
You’ll find color outside most of the 195 rooms, but your best bet is to grab a room on the 3rd- or 4th-floor south wing, facing the mountains and their maples and oaks.

Bonus Views
Sit out on the back deck in a rocking chair, or in an Adirondack chair on the lawn facing Mt. Equinox.

Get Outside
Hike the 800-acre preserve behind the hotel with marked trails, or take a fly-fishing lesson on the private trout pond.

The Season
Mid-September through Mid-October.
fall rates start at $449.

Keswick Hall
Keswick, Virginia

The Setting
This Orient-Express hotel is set at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, close to Monticello, surrounded by a color explosion courtesy of maples, oaks, and birches.

Rooms To Book
Since only some rooms offer views of the countryside, stick to the State Rooms and Balcony State Rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors, with their large windows and terraces overlooking colorful oaks, dogwoods, hickories, and poplars. Thomas Jefferson never had it so good.

Bonus Views
Sit down to a meal in Fossett’s Restaurant, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, or have a drink out on Fossett’s terrace.

Get Outside
Play a round of golf surrounded by the colors, or try the off-site horseback riding. For a true bird’s-eye view, though, take off in a hot-air balloon.

The Season
October, into November.
fall rates start at $325 midweek, $395 weekend.

The Balsams
Dixville Notch, New Hampshire

The Setting
The resort’s lakeside spot in the Northern White Mountains offers maple reds and beech yellows in surround-sound, along with color-heavy views of Vermont’s Mt. Monadnock and Quebec’s Mt. Hereford.

Rooms To Book
Since the resort sits at the base of a mountain, the best color views are on the opposite side, overlooking the lake.

Bonus Views
Grab drinks on the veranda, then ask for a lakeside table in the dining room.

Get Outside
The resort runs guided hikes, or take out a mountain bike along the trails—rentals are complimentary.

The Season
The northern clime makes this season short: mid-September to early October.
fall rates from $138.

Little Nell
Aspen, Colorado

The Setting
At the base of Aspen Mountain, this perennial award-winner gives you a prime spot to watch the gold (and a smattering of reds and oranges) cascading down the slope.

Rooms To Book
Those on the top (4th) floor have the best views of Aspen Mountain; choose one of the three suites and you’ll score a balcony.

Bonus Views
Have a drink on the patio outside Montagna restaurant (from Master Sommelier Richard Bett’s award-winning wine list); the Tavern also serves up golden opportunities.

Get Outside
Go hiking or biking; this is Colorado, after all, and the mountain’s right outside the door.

The Season
Autumn in the Rockies can be unpredictable (and short-lived); October’s usually a safe bet.
fall rates from $360 for a mountain-view room.

Inn on Biltmore Estate
Asheville, North Carolina

The Setting
Inspired by the mansion it shares grounds with, the inn is surrounded by sycamores, hickories, oaks, and pines and looks out onto the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Rooms To Book
While most of the 204 rooms have views over the 8,000-acre grounds, the nine suites bring the mountains into view and maximize the color quotient.

Bonus Views
Breakfast and dinner in the Dining Room are practically mandatory for color viewing; in between, have drinks on the Veranda.

Get Outside
A menu of activities gets you into the color, including biking, rafting, horseback riding, flyfishing, and the inn’s Land Rover Driving Experience.

The Season
Color usually begins to show in late Sept.; the long season runs through early November.
fall rates start at $299.

Topnotch Resort and Spa
Stowe, Vermont

The Setting
A European country manor style imbues this 120-acre resort in the Green Mountains, just two miles from Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest mountain.

Rooms To Book
You’ll find the best Green Mountain views on the second and third floors, especially from the Champlain Suite and the Governor’s Suite. Better still? The on-property resort homes, with large terraces and balconies.

Bonus Views
Norma’s Restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows and offers spectacular vistas of Mt. Mansfield and the surrounding mountains. Or borrow a pashmina and dine outside under a heat lamp.

Get Outside
Soak in the colors while fly-fishing and horseback riding.

The Season
End of September-end of October.
fall rates start at $385.

Columbia Gorge Hotel
Hood River, Oregon

The Setting
This luxury hotel sits 200 feet above Hood River and 45 feet from the edge of the Columbia Gorge, where Oregon ash and vine maples paint a canvas around tightly packed firs and pines.

Rooms To Book
Corner rooms on the hotel’s river side give you two walls of windows to take in the Pacific majesty.

Bonus Views
Have coffee out on the terrace before sitting down to breakfast (and lunch and dinner) in the window-laden dining room.

Get Outside
Drive the colorful “Fruit Loop” up the Hood River Valley.

The Season
Mid-September through Mid-October.
fall rates from $169.

Mount Washington Resort
Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

The Setting
In the shadow of its 6,288-foot namesake mountain, this resort was built specifically to take advantage of the White Mountain National Forest view.

Rooms To Book
Ask for the front side (or sunset view) to get a close-up of a different mountain—Mt. Rosebrook—and its maple, oak, beech, and poplar. The resort is currently renovating all its guest rooms, so ask for availability of a new room.

Bonus Views
Pull up a wicker chair and have a drink on the veranda surrounded by colors, followed by dinner in the renovated dining room with its big picture windows.

Get Outside
Hiking, mountain biking, fishing, golf, and scenic chairlift rides all make for colorful excursions.

The Season
Mid-September to mid-October.
fall rates from $189 per person, (includes breakfast and dinner).

15 Beautiful College Campuses

America's most scenic colleges and universities can be destinations in their own right. Here are some of our favorites.

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

The arched Sample Gates, made of Indiana limestone, flank the entrance to the Old Crescent part of the IU campus.

Many of the landmark structures on campus, including the red-roofed Student Building, were constructed between 1884 and 1908.

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

The only campus in the country that’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the university was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson.

He designed the landmark rotunda shown here; guided tours of the building are offered daily.

Brooklyn College, New York

The layout of the red-brick Georgian-style buildings on this campus was inspired by Thomas Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia. Built during the Great Depression, the college is currently undergoing a major capital improvement project that will add another large quadrangle.

Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

The largest Catholic university on the West Coast, LMU is ideally situated on a bluff overlooking West L.A., giving students access to beaches and the Southern California lifestyle.

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

Located between New York City and Philadelphia, this scenic campus is notable for its speaker series; recent lecturers have included Jon Stewart and Colin Powell.

Elon University, Elon, North Carolina

Elon is nestled in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, between the mountains and the beach.

This photo shows the historic heart of the campus, which includes Alamance Hall and Fonville Fountain.

Pepperdine University, Malibu, California

The 830-acre hilltop campus of this Christian school offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee

The striking stone-walled Paul J. Barret Jr. Library is the centerpiece of the 100-acre Rhodes campus,

a wooded oasis in a bustling Southern city.

University of Washington, Seattle

Each spring the university's main campus erupts with cherry blossoms that fall like snow on the green lawn below.

The campus also features a lakeside football stadium that’s accessible by boat.

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

The Gothic spires of Harkness Tower soar over this historic Ivy League campus.

Fans of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" may recognize some of the buildings on campus,

which were the backdrops to a chase scene in the movie.

Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

Just west of Boston, the 500-acre campus of this liberal arts college is worth a side trip to see Lake Waban, its open meadows, woodlands and botanical gardens.

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Located less than two miles from downtown Nashville, this verdant campus was designated a botanical garden in 1988 and has a parklike feel. One tree — the Bicentennial Oak — was alive during the American Revolution.

Wagner College, Staten Island, New York

A free ride on the Staten Island ferry from Manhattan leads to the ivy-covered buildings on Wagner's hilltop campus.

Views of the Atlantic and New York Harbor and access to New York City make this a college worth visiting, even if you're not a student.

Stanford University, Stanford, California

The sandstone arches of the inner quad at Stanford are among the oldest buildings on this 8,000-plus acre campus.

Located an hour’s drive from San Francisco, Stanford was designed by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler’s proximity to 40 miles of sandy beaches is one of the perks of attending this sun-drenched college.

On campus, the historic Ponce de Leon Hall, once a luxurious hotel, was decorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany.