The Biltmore. Not to be confused with the Biltmore

Travel

Dec 28

Over the Christmas holidays, my friend Sue and I took a trip to Asheville, North Carolina for the Candlelight Christmas Evenings at the Biltmore. Since I first visited the estate with my mom one summer several years ago, I have heard that the tour is even more spectacular at Christmastime with all of the beautiful decor and festivities. And so this holiday season I was finally able to go and I invited Sue.

While we were at the counter picking up our tickets, the employee told the story of a traveler from Australia who arrived at the Biltmore one night, but unfortunately, no one was able to retrieve her reservation. It turned out that the traveler mistakenly made reservations at the Biltmore Hotel (Coral Gables, FL) instead of the Biltmore Inn (Asheville). Yikes! Thankfully, after several calls and lots of compassion and some luck, they were able to straighten things out and get her situated in the right place.

Since I happened to be traveling to both destinations during the Christmas holiday, first to Asheville and then to Miami, I was inspired by the traveler’s story to write this blog. And so here I take a look at the two Biltmores, which are in no way related to one another by the way.

So let’s see….both were opened just a few decades within one another. The Biltmore House in Asheville, was opened as a country home for the Vanderbilts on Christmas Eve in 1895. The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, which was built as part of the Biltmore Hotel chain, opened on January 14, 1926. Both have European inspired architecture- the Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-style mansion inspired by ones of the Loire Valley in France. There’s even a room named after Louis XV. The Biltmore Hotel has more of a Mediterranean feel and includes elements of Spanish, Moorish, and Italian design. At both locations there is a gingerbread house display during the Christmas season. During the war years and Great Depression, like many other places, both suffered economically which is why the Biltmore House opened to the public in hopes of increasing tourism and revenue. The Biltmore Hotel, on the other hand was converted to a huge veteran’s hospital until 1968.

Besides the grandeur of the interiors at both sites, the grounds are just as spectacular. The estate in Asheville features European inspired gardens, while the property in Florida has an amazingly beautiful golf course and also features the largest hotel swimming pool in the continental United States.

Here are some pics that I took mainly using an iPhone (a couple were taken with my Canon). Keep in mind that photos of the interiors at the Biltmore House are not allowed which is why there are not as many. The few that are shown were taken with my phone secretly. Don’t tell anyone!

Biltmore Estate in Asheville