A masterpiece of American Craftsman style architecture (for those who can't picture that, it looks very much like the grandest of the U.S. National Park Lodges), the Grove Park Inn celebrated its 100th birthday in 2013. And what a century it' s been! Some 10 U.S. Presidents stayed here over the years as did such luminaries as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, William Jennings Bryan, and John D. Rockefeller. At the start of World War II, the Inn became a very luxurious internment camp for Axis diplomats; later in the war,  the Navy took it over and used it as a rehab center for returning sailors. The Wall Street Journal reported, in 2013, that during the Cold War, the plan was to send the Supreme Court here in the case of a nuclear attack on Washington, DC. That seems appropriate as William Howard Taft announced his resignation from the Supreme Court in 1930 from the hotel's lobby.

 
On the eve of its birthday, the inn underwent a thorough renovation and a change of ownership (to Omni). Gone were the old dark furnishings in the guest rooms (to the dismay of many) in favor of a specialized computer desks, lots of melon-colored throws and a more contemporary look overall. The inn has also benefited from the 2001 creation of a $43 million, 40,000-square-foot modernized, underground spa which is considered one of the best hotel spas in the world.  The other public areas haven't changed as drastically and they still impress, particularly the  to the 18,000 square-foot Grand Ballroom. As you might imagine, there are amusements galore, from golf to tennis to well, gawking at celebrities (Barack Obama and Jerry Seinfeld have been fairly recent guests). 
 
One warning: The Grove Park Inn is famously haunted by a woman in a pink dress. To avoid her, avoid room 545.