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).
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