7 Stunning Gingerbread Displays – Forbes Travel Guide Story
Hotels often go all out celebrate holidays. However, these seven hotels go a step further and create unique gingerbread masterpieces. Pastry chefs, like Santa’s elves, put in countless hours of labor and hundreds of pounds of sugar and spices to create whimsical candy structures guaranteed to provide tons of seasonal joy.
From a life-size tram to the lobby bar, these imaginative gingerbread displays will be a feast for the eyes.
Four Seasons Resort Orlando, Walt Disney World Resort
It’s only fitting that the most magical place on earth should experience an extra dose of holiday magic. Rabii Saber, executive pastry chef at the Forbes Travel Guide four-star hotel, took up the challenge and created a dessert inspired by Candy Land. This charming creation features many whimsical design elements, including plenty of pastel frosting, a snow-topped roof made of sugar, a ground covered in crushed M&Ms, chocolate donut details, and Nutcracker guards wearing pink and blue logos.
Exaggerated gingerbread displays are the norm at this five-star hotel. This year’s centerpiece commemorates the 2025 U.S. Senior Open golf tournament, which will be held this summer at the Colorado Springs resort. The hotel’s culinary team used a slew of ingredients — 958 pounds of powdered sugar, 475 pounds of flour, 1,801 eggs and 19 pounds of holiday spices — to create a life-size electric gingerbread golf cart. There was Santa Claus in the car, sitting next to an elf caddy, ready to tee off.
The four-star Ritz-Carlton New Orleans’ annual life-size gingerbread trolley rolls into the station, carrying Big Easy legends on board. Look for cookie comics from singer/songwriter Jon Batiste, author Truman Capote, chef Emeril Lagasse, musician Allen Toussaint, singer Irma Thomas and jazz artist Jeremy Davenport, who inspired the hotel’s Davenport Lounge. The hotel’s in-house pastry team used 445 pounds of flour, 475 pounds of sugar, 400 eggs and 80 pounds of butter to create the incredible, edible, star-studded structure.
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
Climb aboard this five-star hotel’s charming gingerbread elevator and experience a winter wonderland. Executive pastry chef Keaton Vasek and his team spent more than 450 hours and used more than 1,300 cookie bricks to create the whimsical interior of this working machine. Enjoy holiday music, twinkling lights and delightful seasonal scents as you ride. The joyful journey will take you to the hotel’s Terrace 16 restaurant, where more festive fare and stunning views of Chicago await.
Turning Stone Resort Casino Inn
This four-star hotel in upstate New York creates a real-life resort in the form of a gingerbread village inspired by holiday classics. Get ready to find the spirit of the season at every turn, including polar express– Inspiration Train Station, christmas story-like colonial residences and home alone– Affected cabins. This stunning village is made up of 1,000 pounds of icing, 210 pounds of yellow starbursts, 178 pounds of gummies, 100 pounds of sugar, 1,520 Andes candies, 1,360 Hershey’s Kisses, 1,008 mini candies, 504 red and white ribbons Candy, built with 360 watermelon hollow candies. and eight pounds of black licorice.
Get into the festive spirit aboard the five-star hotel’s eight-foot-tall gingerbread Hobie Cat sailboat. This unique creation pays homage to Orange County water sports and replicates the revolutionary sailboat launched by the late sailing legend Hobie Alter in the 1960s. Crafted by the Laguna Beach hotel’s executive pastry chef Lee Smith and his staff, this extra-sweet ride is made from 308 pounds of gingerbread and 44 pounds of icing.
The lobby lounge at this four-star oceanfront resort has never been more festive, thanks to a seven-by-seven-foot gingerbread village and an open bar. Guests can order a holiday cocktail or a cup of hot chocolate in the dazzling space, then enjoy live music and free cookies in the comfort of their home. Talented chef Pierino Jermonti and his team at Hotel Rancho Palos Verdes in California created this delightful structure using more than 1,000 pounds of homemade gingerbread.
