Castle Hotel and Spa, Tarrytown
Majestically perched high atop a hill towering over the expanses of Westchester County with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and valley, a visit to the Castle Hotel and Spa offers an experience of luxury and pampering that rejuvenates while filling you with the feeling of time spent away, no matter if you reside locally or have traveled a long way for the experience.
Having just finished a major $10 million dollar renovation, the Castle reopened its doors in May after five months of construction and introduced the Thann Sanctuary Spa, which opened on September 1.
A blend of modern elements have been added to the Castle’s historical décor, which features mahogany book shelves, working fireplaces, intricately carved stairways, glowing sconces, elaborate stained glass windows, and antique and vintage items collected from around the globe.
The Castle was built in 1897 as a private residence of General Howard Carroll, a newspaperman, playwright and businessman, and took more than 100 craftsmen several years to complete. Originally named “Carrol Cliff,” it was inspired by the famous Castle Lismore in County Waterford, Ireland.
The finished castle boasted 45 rooms. From the beginning, the Oak Room served as the family dining room. Legend has it that the room’s wainscoting was brought over to Tarrytown from General Carroll’s house in St. Germain, outside Paris. Louis XIV it is said, had presented this house to James II when he fled to France after having been deposed in England. It was in this room that James’ grandson Prince Charles Edward (“Bonnie Prince Charles”) and Angus MacDonald, representing the Scottish highlanders, plotted the unsuccessful uprising of 1745 in the British Isles to overturn the German king and restore the lineage of James II.
General and Mrs. Carroll were notable social figures in Westchester County and New York City society. They entertained frequently and on a grand scale.
A new addition, completed in 1910, provided the Great Hall as the new dining room, an adjacent pantry, a formal ballroom, and additional servants’ quarters, garage and stables.
Following General Carroll’s death in 1916, his widow and children, Caramai, Arthur and Lauren, occupied the Castle until 1940, when it was rented for a brief period to a local school. Today, the elegant Ballroom at the Castle is still known as the Caramai Ballroom.
In 1941, Emerson and Ruth Axe bought the Castle and 64 acres of land for $45,000, and turned it into the headquarters of H.W. Axe & Company.
In 1981, the town of Tarrytown designated The Castle a historic landmark, protecting the outside structure from any alterations in the future. Between 1994 and 1996 the Castle was transformed into a luxury hotel with a gourmet restaurant and meeting and event facilities.
Sankara Hospitality Group, of Japan, now owns and manages the Castle.
The luxury facility features 31 guest rooms and suites, 4,100 square feet of meeting and event space, 24-hour health and fitness center, whirlpool, landscaped jogging paths, and an outdoor seasonal swimming pool.
The two largest rooms, The Great Room and the Caramai Ballroom, both hold up to 150 guests. However, the Castle will only host one event at a time in order to make that event more special and private.
Marc Lippman of Stamford, has been appointed Executive Chef of Culinary Operations at Castle Hotel & Spa including the award-winning restaurant, Equus.
Lippman has served as Executive Chef for some of the world’s most famous hotels, resorts and restaurants since he began his culinary career at New York City’s Bouley in 1991. He has been the Executive Chef at Miami Beach’s Raleigh Hotel; New York City’s Wild Blue at Windows on the World; and the famed Las Ventanas Al Paraiso, a Rosewood Hotel in Los Cabos, Mexico. He held the position of Executive Chef at the hip South Norwalk restaurant Ocean Drive and opened his first restaurant, Fraîche, in Fairfield’s Greenfield Hill neighborhood in November 2007. Chef Lippman was most recently the Executive Chef of Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant and Inn in Chappaqua.
His signature modern American cuisine garnered rave reviews and he has introduced Auberge-style cuisine to the Castle. “We wanted to create a new style of country cuisine: auberge, based on the idea of a simple, ecologically friendly place where you get away from it all and eat impeccably prepared food in an atmosphere of total relaxation and comfort” said Lippman. The Auberge-style cuisine features some influences of modern French cuisine to present the “kind of cuisine you expect to find at small luxury hotels or inns around the world.” True to his “less is more” philosophy, Lippman will rely heavily on the abundant and varied natural resources of the Hudson River Valley for inspiration.
The new Thann Sanctuary Spa is known for its specialized treatments throughout Asia and is the first of its kind in the United States. All of the Castle massage therapists are New York State licensed and many were sent to Thailand earlier this year to experience and assimilate the uniqueness of traditional Thai massage.
There is a full menu of massage treatments and a special VIP room is available for couples or individuals seeking amore private personal space and includes a shower, soaking tub with tranquil scenic views, massage beds, and a gazebo in a beautiful nature garden with the option of Thai Massage. Private use of the VIP room is reserved for a half hour prior to treatment and one hour after treatment for an additional charge.
For further restaurant, hotel and spa information visit the website at castlehotelandspa.com.
