Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / Saranac Lake / Hotel Saranac, Curio Collection by Hilton
Hotel Saranac, Curio Collection by Hilton
Saranac Lake, New York, United States · Curio Collection · Accessible Luxury
Hotel Saranac opened in 1927 as the first fireproof hotel in the Adirondacks, a six-story Colonial Revival by William Scopes and Maurice Feustmann whose second-floor great hall copies the Grand Salon of Florence's Davanzati Palace. Paul Smith's College trained hoteliers here from 1962 to 2006. After a 2013 closing, a $35 million renovation reopened the National Register house in 2018.
- Opened 1927
- Neighborhood: Town of Harrietstown
- Architect: William Scopes and Maurice Feustmann
About Hotel Saranac, Curio Collection by Hilton
- Steel framing and concrete floors underpinned the 1927 claim as the first fireproof hotel in the Adirondacks.
- Paul Smith's College owned the hotel from 1962 to 2006 as a teaching house for hotel, resort, and culinary students.
- It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Historic Hotels of America member.
History
Hotel Saranac opened in 1927 in Saranac Lake, New York, and was designed by architects William Scopes and Maurice Feustmann in an austere Colonial Revival, sometimes described as Neo-Georgian, idiom. The six-story brick hotel was built with steel framing and concrete floors, a fire-safety choice that helped distinguish it at the time; contemporary accounts and later histories note that it was promoted as the first fireproof hotel in the Adirondacks. Its second-floor great hall, modeled on the Grand Salon of the Davanzati Palace in Florence, gave the building an unusually formal interior heart for a mountain-town hotel.
For decades, the property served as one of the Adirondacks’ principal social addresses. It later passed into the stewardship of Paul Smith’s College, which owned and operated it from 1962 to 2006 and used it as a training ground for students in hotel, resort, and culinary management. After closing in 2013, the hotel underwent a $35 million renovation and reopened in 2018, returning the landmark to service with its historic character intact.
The hotel’s own materials underscore that preservation effort: Hotel Saranac says it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, belongs to Historic Hotels of America, and retains its century-old character while being restored for contemporary use. The property’s current branding also emphasizes its long local role as a landmark in the heart of Saranac Lake.
That combination of early-20th-century architecture, educational reuse, and a carefully managed revival makes Hotel Saranac more than a restored lodging; it is a surviving civic monument tied closely to the town’s identity and the Adirondack resort era.
The setting
3 miles from skiing at the Mt.
Restaurants and bars
- The Great Hall Bar — Bar · Cocktail bar
Amenities
- Spa
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
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