Whether you’re hosting friends for the holidays or heading out of town to visit family, the Yuletide season typically means plenty of down time with loved ones. Before cabin fever settles in, visit a few of these festive pop-ups together to ring in a little extra Christmas cheer.
Gurney’s Resorts
This Northeastern luxury hotel brand is reinventing the igloo — you won’t find any ice fishing here. Both Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa and Gurney’s Newport Resort and Marina unveiled multi-sensory themed structures using cocktails, design, activities and music to ring in a unique brand of holiday cheer.
Through February, you can cozy up in the Astrology Igloo (featuring a velvet-draped table, crystal ball, tarot cards and an Oracle cocktail), Roaring ’20s Igloo (with The Great Gatsby soundtrack, a Daisy Buchanan cocktail and plenty of masks and props for dress-up) and an Après Ski Igloo (equipped with hot cocoa, board games, a shotski and an Irish coffee libation).
Other themes like Harry Potter, Tropical Summer, Santa’s Workshop and Log Cabin prove just as magical, especially paired with each waterfront property’s soothing view.
Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole
This Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Jackson Hole hideaway has leveled up après-ski this season with its pop-up champagne bar. Named for the ideal temperature at which bubbly is served, Fahrenheit 47 pours bespoke Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial cocktails (plus glasses of bubbles) for snow revelers to enjoy while taking in breathtaking panoramic Teton Mountain views.
Afterward, keep the party going in the hotel’s year-round heated swimming pool, made even cozier with a roaring fireplace, robes and towel warmers.
Rosewood
London
In partnership with vodka brand Absolut
Elyx, this Four-Star British beauty’s terrace has been transformed
into an enchanted Nordic winter wonderland.
Twinkling lights, birch branches, fur throws and luxe velvet pillows create a comfortable, Swedish-inspired lodge pop-up featuring hearty fare (cauliflower soup; potato, comté and caramelized onion pie) served alongside Instagram-worthy cocktails (The Nutcracker, enriched with peanut butter, coffee and seasonal spices) crafted from the brand’s single-estate winter wheat vodka.
The
Dolder Grand
For a holiday experience like no other,
visit the exclusive Krug Chalet at this majestic, Four-Star hillside retreat in
Zurich. The petite
wooden abode, which can accommodate a group of eight, features burnished wood
walls, fur-lined seats, glowing Edison bulbs, spruce trimmings and a sweeping
view of the city below.
Sip on Krug Grande Cuvèe while enjoying traditional Swiss cuisine, including an indulgent fondue created by chef Heiko Nieder and maître fromager (cheese expert) Rolf Beeler. Enhance the flavor of the melted cheese (and your glass of champagne) with a trio of Spanish meats: chorizo, 36-month-aged Iberian ham and dried Spanish black pudding.
The
Berkeley
Located between London’s Hyde Park
and Knightsbridge, this fashionable Four-Star hotel is a place to see and be
seen all year round. This rings especially true when the rooftop garden
transforms into a festive forest cinema for the holiday season.
The twinkling pine-lined, candlelit outdoor theater encourages you to wrap up in blankets and snuggle into bespoke wooden huts trimmed with cloud-like fur and satin pillows.
Through December 31, a big screen will show Christmas classics like Home Alone and The Holiday while you snack on winter favorites (truffle mac and cheese, and confit duck croquettes) and champagne. Smaller guests will also relish in never-ending hot cocoa and kid-friendly sliders and brownies.
The 2018 Fondue Express pop-up — North America’s first in-gondola dining experience — was such a hit, that the Watch Hill, Rhode Island, hotel expanded it this season. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Coast, Fondue Village offers a fire pit surrounded by Adirondack chairs and three stationary Veuve Clicquot gondolas (up from one last year). They resemble mini alpine ski lodges with pine, faux furs and details like a Swiss cuckoo clock and antler chandeliers.
Cozy up in the rustic-chic gondola for a four-course, champagne-paired dinner with warming raclette or fondue along with a Swiss plum tart accompanied by cinnamon ice cream. Gondola floors will be heated, but white Columbia Extreme Eco down jackets will also be available to warm you up.
