Glenmere Mansion Earns Hideaway Report Recommendation

The honor adds more luster to an already impressive roster of accolades the boutique hotel, housed in a historic circa 1911 mansion built as the country home for a Gilded Age magnate, has garnered since opening in January 2010. The rare embrace within the first year an operation's existence by Relais & Chateaux and being named the No. 1 Romantic Hideaway in the World by International Hideaway among them.

With his rating of 93, making Glenmere one of "Andrew Harper's Favorite 500 Hotels in the World," Harper declares, "Since its debut last year, Glenmere Mansion, an 18-room Italianate villa, has received a chorus of swooning praise from the travel press. For once, I tend to concur. The result of a heroic refurbishment, Glenmere goes a long way to address the relative dearth of quality properties within easy driving distance of New York City."

Alan Stenberg, Glenmere's co-owner and innkeeper, is delighted with this latest recognition. "We know how exacting Andrew Harper's standards are, so we are thrilled to have his recommendation. We hope he'll come back after we've opened our spa later this year to sample what will the be the complete Glenmere Mansion experience as we originally envisioned it when we bought the property in 2006," he notes.

In keeping with the approach Stenberg and his partner in the project and co-innkeeper, Daniel DeSimone, have taken toward every detail of the Glenmere experience, the spa, as designed by Mindy Terry, founder and president of the globally renown Creative Spa Concepts will exude elegant luxury, drawing inspiration from the best practices of the most acclaimed spas in the world. The five-treatment suite, 7,000-square-foot facility will boast a Bath House, including an authentic Turkish hammam (one of only two in the state of New York), Vitality Aqua Massage Pool and cool mist room, among other attractions, and a Relax & Refresh Library, featuring a selection of teas, tonics, organic wines and spa tapas.

The spa will be yet another reason that, as Harper notes, Glenmere guests "seem in no hurry to leave." Despite its intimate size, the hotel fields two restaurants -- the fine dining Supper Room (which rated the highest score for decor (29) in the latest Zagat Survey for Westchester County / Hudson Valley and a remarkable 24 for food and 25 for service and the more casual Frogs End Tavern. Its 150 acres sport exquisite gardens, two miles of walking trails, two bocce courts, two tennis courts, croquet, heated outdoor pool and a 10-person whirlpool spa.

All of Andrew Harper's recommended properties possess exceptional character, a commitment to classic hospitality and a profound sense of place. Mr. Harper does not evaluate hotels by means of a checklist, but uses his three decades of experience to distinguish the truly enchanting from the merely excellent. In Glenmere Mansion's case, he characterizes it as a truly "outstanding hotel / resort of genuine sophistication."

Hotel Profile: Glenmere Mansion