A four diamond resort, The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa has a rich history.
Constructed in 1913, the hotel was the inspiration of E.W. Grove, who was from St. Louis and made his fortune bottling an elixir of his own making called Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic. The spirit of healing and the healthy life extended from his tonic to his hotel, which he said he designed as “a big home where every modern convenience could be found, but with all the old-fashioned qualities of genuineness with no sham” (Grove Park Inn). In an era that was interested in providing rest cures and sanatoriums for the sick, Grove’s vision was not only progressive but also proactive in providing the healthy with calm, healing spaces for the prevention of disease. Grove Park notes that “even more impressive than the grandeur and the spectacle of the achievement [of building the “landmark hotel in less than one year”], the most notable feature of the new resort was the idea it represented: to provide its guests with a unique respite from the outside world” ( Stay Magazine 2010:2).
According to Grove Park historians, the inn was
"modeled after the grand old railway hotels of the West" and "built
from a sketch made by Grove’s son-in-law, the enterprising
Fred Seely (who would become its first general manager). It took a
crew of 400 men only 12 months to build the majestic landmark,
dragging hundreds of tons of boulders up the mountainside with the
aid of teams of mules, ropes and pulleys, wagons and a lone steam
shovel" (The Grove Park Inn). However, the Great Depression
and WWII were lean years for the Inn, and by the end of the war,
"the only thing that kept the Inn standing was the prohibitive cost
of tearing it down" (Grove Park Inn). In 1955, Charles and
Elaine Sammons invested in Grove Park and began the process of
shepherding it to a full restoration. By 1973, they saw it
placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The
series of restorations and renovations that began during this
period would result in the construction of the Sammons and
Vanderbilt wings and the hotel's world-class Spa. True to
Grove's original vision, the Inn has continued to provide a
“respite” over the years.
Many would agree. Ten U.S. presidents have holidayed at The
Grove Park, including Presidents William Howard Taft, Woodrow
Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and Bill
J. Clinton. Most recently, President Barack H. Obama
campaigned in Asheville and, last year, spent his summer vacation
here. Authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife
Zelda have vacationed here; statesmen, businessmen, and inventors
like Henry Kissinger, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey
Firstone have played golf here, and stars such as Harry Houdini,
Jack Lemmon, Anthony Hopkins, Judy Collins, Gene Hackman, and even
Mickey Mouse have spent the night here.
With views of the Blue Ridge from just about every vantage point in
the hotel, two 14-foot stone fireplaces with working elevators
concealed in their chimneys, the 24-foot ceilings of the Great
Hall, a mountain view terrace ready and waiting for guests to
linger for a while over morning coffee or catch up with one another
in oversized rocking chairs, three full-service restaurants, two
cafés, and three bars, the Grove Park is, itself, a
destination.
Guests also enjoy the healing mineral waters and energizing
treatments that can be found in Grove Park’s 43,000
square-foot spa that was ranked 13th in the world by Travel &
Leisure in 2008 and 7th in North America in 2010.
Condé Nast Traveler Magazine named the Grove
Park’s 18-hole golf course as one of the top fifteen courses
in the southern U.S. in 2011. And the International Resort
and Hotel Association gave the Grove Park their Green Award for
Luxury Hotels and ranked them #3 in the world for attending to
mother earth.
Come enjoy a weekend dedicated to discussions of eighteenth-century
literature, history, philosophy, art, and drama in an historic,
turn-of-the-century setting.
Remember to make your hotel reservations with The Grove Park
Inn by January 20, 2012, to receive the special $145 conference
rate.
In order to receive this special rate, please let the hotel know
that you will be attending the SCSECS conference and that your
Group Reservation ID Number is 1001458. Please give both
conference name and ID number to ensure that you receive the
correct rate and that SCSECS receives credit for meeting our room
block obligation.
To encourage student participation, we have reserved a limited
number of rooms in Grove Park's historic main building for our
student members. The Grove Park Inn is offering those rooms
to our student members at the special rate of $119. To
receive this rate, you will need to present your valid student
identification card.
All images reproduced here courtesy of The
Grove Park Inn. Quotes from
Stay Magazine, 2010,
and the Grove Park Inn website through the kind permission of The
Grove Park Inn.
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You may contact The Grove Park Inn in these
ways. To ensure that you receive our SCSECS conference rate of
$145 and that SCSECS receives credit for your reservation,
please book your reservation by phone.
By Phone or Fax: Voice: (800) 438-5800 Fax: (828) 253-7053 By Post: The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa 290 Macon Avenue Asheville, NC 28804 By Email: bookit@groveparkinn.com Online: Click here to go to the hotel's website. |