Grand Designs: USA & Canada

There doesn’t exist a hotel on earth that can match the majesty of a Yellowstone or Banff or Kruger or Komodo. Or does there?

This is part 3 of 4 in our Grand Designs series, featuring hotels in the U.S. and Canada. See the whole series: Part 1: Asia and Oceania // Part 2: Europe and Africa // Part 3: USA and Canada // Part 4: Latin America.

For luxury campsites near U.S. National Parks, of which there are many, see these 15 great glamping hotels.

Believe it or not, there are perfectly reasonable people who find a good piece of architecture and design to be as impressive as any earthly scenery — if not more so. You might be reading one of them right now. Nothing shameful about it. We’re not defensive. We’re special. A club of special people for whom a tasteful touch of humanity amid the randomness of nature helps us appreciate both even more.

The hotels listed below are located in or near some incredible national parks. They were chosen because they are monumental works of art and hospitality that club members have deemed aesthetically equal to the spectacular landscapes and cultural treasures that surround them. Read on to see if you’re one of us.
 

Hana Maui Resort

Maui, Hawaii

Hana Maui Resort goes less for architectural amazement and more for another kind of wonder: the 21st-century human who can detach from their favorite devices and cast off their reliance on modern conveniences. Located on this desolate eastern tip of Maui, the resort’s open-air cottages are appealingly rustic, providing an appropriate home base for exploring the volcanic features at nearby Haleakalā National Park.

Marquesa Hotel

Key West, Florida

The islands that make up Dry Tortugas National Park are the westernmost of the Florida Keys, and visitors typically reach them via a ferry boat or seaplane from Key West. Before you depart, rest up at the incomparable Marquesa Hotel — set in historic Old Town, this is the Key West of Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, an oasis of old-world refinement at the edge of the continent.

Blackberry Farm

Walland, Tennessee

Blackberry Farm may well be the most delightful place on the Eastern seaboard. Nestled in the foothills just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it includes the best parts of American hospitality. Picture this: 4200 acres of wildflower-strewn land, 44 rooms of feather beds and English country antiques. Then add a regime of iced tea picnics, horseback riding, tennis, fishing, and fireside dining.

Sage Lodge

Paradise Valley, Montana

There’s much more to Yellowstone than Old Faithful, and though most of the park lies within Wyoming, the neighboring portion of Montana is no less impressive. It’s here, by the park’s northern entrance, that you’ll find Sage Lodge, along the banks of the Yellowstone River in the aptly named Paradise Valley. The style is modern-rustic and the comforts are as plush as the landscape is rugged.

Black Rock Oceanfront Resort

Ucluelet, Canada

On the theory that there are enough rustic, woodsy old lodges in coastal British Columbia, Black Rock Oceanfront Resort hired a big-time modern design firm. It’s a decision that would have to be judged a success; the result is a hotel that’s not just stylish and comfortable, but quite close to the cutting edge in terms of sustainability, and located across Barkley Sound from Pacific Rim National Park.

Post Hotel & Spa

Lake Louise, Canada

This WWII-era ski lodge that would become the Post Hotel was given a thorough going-over by one of Canada’s leading architecture firms. The red roof remains, but beneath it is a thoroughly contemporary take on a rustic tradition. Public spaces are warm and inviting, with wood-paneled with timbered ceilings. And it’s all located at Lake Louise, in the heart of the picturesque Banff National Park.

Canyon Ranch Tuscon

Tucson, Arizona

To say that Canyon Ranch Tucson is an all-inclusive spa and wellness resort is a bit like saying the Beatles were a rock band from Liverpool — it’s certainly accurate, but it leaves out both of their central roles in defining their genres, as well as the significance of their continued influence on the form. There’s no better basecamp for popping in to nearby Saguaro National Park, east or west.

The Blackburn Inn

Staunton, Virginia

From a glance, you’d think there’d been some mistake — surely this lush neoclassical red-brick monument, now home to the Blackburn Inn, couldn’t have begun its life as the Western State Lunatic Asylum. Then again, Virginia isn’t like most places; nor is the town of Staunton, in the Shenandoah Valley, 40 miles to the west of Charlottesville and even closer to the Thorton Gap entrance of Shenandoah National Park.

Fogo Island Inn

Joe Batt’s Arm, Canada

Perhaps the only thing stopping the Fogo Island Inn from becoming the most famous high-design luxury hotel in the world is its far-flung location, on a tiny island off the coast of Newfoundland. Its remoteness is key to its appeal, along with its architecture, an ultra-modern reinterpretation of traditional, utilitarian Maritimes architecture. It’s enough to maybe keep you from leaving to visit Terra Nova National Park.

Camden Harbour Inn

Camden, Maine

A 19th-century mansion with a view of Camden, Maine’s picturesque harbor might sound like a recipe for a trip back in time. But the Camden Harbour Inn is owned not by the descendants of its original owners, but a pair of Dutchmen who’ve adopted Camden as their second home — and adapted this beautiful old house, 70 miles south of Acadia National Park, to its new use as a very modern boutique-style bed and breakfast.

Ofland Escalante

Escalante, Utah

With 22 acres of land and a collection of compact cabins and Airstream trailers, Ofland Escalante is pitched at outdoor-oriented travelers visiting Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a significant site for geology and paleontology in the spectacular landscape of southern Utah. But this area is also rife with national parks, including two that Ofland is sandwiched between, Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon.

Parker Palm Springs

Palm Springs, California

Two popular activities when visiting the Coachella Valley is to stay at a mid-century modern hotel in Palm Springs and enjoy a hike into nearby Joshua Tree National Park. You can figure out the second part. For the first, you can’t do much better than Parker Palm Springs, where designer Jonathan Adler alternately recalls the Mod Sixties, the feel-good Seventies, and the classic Rat Pack vibe the town is known for.

 
 
This is part 3 of 4 in our Grand Designs series, featuring hotels in the U.S. and Canada. See the whole series: Part 1: Asia and Oceania // Part 2: Europe and Africa // Part 3: USA and Canada // Part 4: Latin America. For luxury campsites near U.S. National Parks, of which there are many, see our list of 15 great glamping hotels.