Sweet Streets for the Holidays

It takes a "village" to build the annual gingerbread village, on display in the hotel's lobby.

"It's a collaborative effort between the engineering staff, carpenters, chefs and sous chefs," says General Manager David Eisenman. "The staff gets very engaged and more excited every year about seeing how we can make it new and different."

This year's display includes a gingerbread reproduction of the hotel, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the . Another 11 buildings, including a church and a train station, are featured in the scene, as well as a model train that runs around the town of sweet confections on 24 feet of track.

The ingredients for this gingerbread village won't fit on a recipe card. To make and decorate the buildings it took 145 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of flour, 2 gallons of molasses and honey, 1½ pounds of cinnamon and nutmeg, 15 pounds of pretzels, and 90 pounds of candy.

Planning for the annual display begins in October so it can be finished by the day before Thanksgiving.  Most buildings are made and decorated in the kitchen, then moved piece by piece to the lobby. This year's gingerbread hotel, much larger than the other buildings, had to be made in three pieces and actually assembled in the lobby.

The gingerbread village is a 12-year tradition at the hotel.

"It started off with two or three houses over in the corner and it just continues to grow," says Eisenman. "The Friday after Thanksgiving, we had a few hundred people come to see it.

The gingerbread village will be on display in the hotel's lobby through December.