One Aldwych’s Tremendous Christmas Tree, Photo Credit: One Aldwych
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans purchase 33 million Christmas trees every year. That’s a lot of firs and spruces that will need to be thrown away after Santa leaves.
Luckily, we have a solution for the wintertime waste: decorate the trees so lavishly that no one would dream of disposing them.
Take the 11 stunning examples we’ve collected here. Some have been exquisitely trimmed by a world-class fashion designer. Others have been constructed with unique materials.
All of them have been erected so marvelously that we wouldn’t be shocked if hotels chose to display them well into spring.
Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris
Because of the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel’s location on exclusive shopping street Avenue Montaigne, we expect its tree to be nothing short of a design marvel. Graciously, this tasteful white-and-gold beauty, decorated with the help of the House of Dior, doesn’t disappoint.
One Aldwych
This Four-Star London hotel had to pop 140 champagne bottles to adorn its 25-foot tree. Then resident florist Mark Siredzuk embellished the bottles with thousands of pearls, leaves and glitter to add more festive flair.
Le Royal Monceau — Raffles Paris
This Five-Star Paris hotel’s lobby tree sparkles brilliantly. That’s because French crystal studio Daum spent hundreds of hours crafting the pink-and-gold stunner made of 250 hanging pâte de verre (glass paste) snowflakes.
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Vancouver’s waterfront favorite picked Versace to dress its designer display for the second year. But instead of a traditional tree, the fashion powerhouse made a shimmering dusted gold silhouette filled with luxurious silk and velvet cushions.
Langham Place, New York
It looks like spring sprung in this Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel’s lobby. But there’s no mistaking it’s the holidays: More than 3,300 preserved roses in the brand’s signature pink hue grace the floral Christmas tree.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
Ebenezer Scrooge would even have a difficult time passing this Southwestern Pennsylvania retreat’s chandelier Christmas tree (30 feet tall, 75,000 lights) and not have his spirits at least somewhat brightened.
Montage Laguna Beach
If this Orange County Five-Star resort’s goal is to strengthen its reputation in the fashion world, a Christmas tree embellished with sparkling Jimmy Choo heels, diamond snowflakes and crystal garland is certainly a step in the right direction.
The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte
Just because this Four-Star property is a LEED Gold-certified hotel doesn’t mean it can’t have some fun. Its eco-friendly tree made with nearly 800 plastic green bottles proudly sits just outside of Bar Cocoa.
The Lanesborough
Should this regal Five-Star retreat’s seasonal afternoon tea fail to fill your holiday cravings, its stunning tree adorned in aqua teardrops, crystal balls and faux-snow-covered branches should do the trick.
The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Locals have visited this New Orleans hotel since the 1930s to stroll the “Waldorf Wonderland Lobby.” Forty-four snow-frosted birch trees with red bows and more than 22,000 glittering white lights illuminate a city block’s length in the property.
Claridge’s
The Five-Star London gem enlisted two of Apple’s top designers to trim its tree. The high-tech result is a magical forest with light boxes featuring black-and-white images of snowy birches, and cast models of Scots pine — layered with natural and photographed silver birches and firs — leading to a canopy of green pine.
