HOT SPRINGS — Tradition is important at the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa. At no time is that more evident than during the Christmas season.
For approximately 30 years, the hotel has built a gingerbread house for the season and invited the public to view the creation. This year’s Victorian gingerbread house went on display Thanksgiving Day and will remain in the hotel’s lobby through New Year’s Eve. There is no charge to see the house.
Scott Francis, director of food and beverage at the Arlington, said the hotel’s new chef, Jean Claude Bridoux, and his culinary team were responsible for the gingerbread and icing. Bridoux used his own recipe for the gingerbread.
“It takes about 2 1/2 weeks to put it all together,” Francis said. “Those who came for our Thanksgiving Day brunch got to see the finished product.”
The house stands more than 8 feet tall and required approximately 300 pounds of gingerbread, 350 pounds of candy and 250 pounds of frosting.
“They utilized 125 pounds flour, 50 pounds granulated sugar, 4 pounds baking soda, 3 pounds cinnamon, 90 pounds butter, 10 gallons molasses, 12 gallons buttermilk, 120 pounds powdered sugar and 9 gallons egg whites, along with other spices, which is the chef’s secret,” Francis said.
“All combined, this yielded 70 hotel sheet-cake pans (18- by 26-inches) of gingerbread and 22 gallons of icing.”
Francis said members of the hotel’s maintenance department brought the shell of the house into the hotel using a forklift.
“We save the wooden frame from year to year,” he said.
Francis said it takes about a week to bake the gingerbread and adhere it to the frame using a cement icing.
“It is then turned over to the staff, who puts the candy on with the cement icing,” he said, adding that it takes another week to put on the candy.
“We buy the candy fresh every year,” he said. “I am in charge of buying it.
“I taste it all,” he said with a grin. “Some I like, some I don’t. I buy it for how it looks.”
Francis said everything on the gingerbread house is edible, but he does not recommend trying to eat any of it. He estimates the cost of the gingerbread house to include from “$700 to $1,000 in product.”
After the gingerbread house is finished, other staff members come in and decorate in and around the house.
Francis said visitors are invited to guess the number of pieces of candy used to create the gingerbread house.
“I am the only one who knows the answer,” he said with a smile, adding that the number is “in the thousands.”
“The lady who won last year was within four pieces.”
The winner of the guessing game receives free tickets to the hotel’s seafood buffet.
Francis said some of the more interesting kinds of candy used to decorate the gingerbread house this year include old-fashioned wax bottles, Christmas candy corn, Hershey’s Miniatures, gumdrops and large gumballs. Whirly pops line the fence.
“We use different candies every year,” he said.
He said this is the second year the staff has made a darker-colored house.
“We used dark Karo syrup and molasses,” he said.
Francis said Carmen Jones, who manages the hotel’s front office, did the majority of the work decorating the outside of the house with the candy. Other staff members assisted Jones.
Francis said Gaye Hardin, administrative assistant to the general manager, and Nancy Gunter decorated the inside of the house, which is divided into several rooms, and the yard.
An “Elf on the Shelf” sits atop the gingerbread house, and a model train is placed in the front yard. There is also a mailbox where children can mail their letters to Santa at the North Pole.
“Every year, people come back and comment on the gingerbread house,” Francis said. “You’ll hear them say, ‘I remember …’
“It’s a lot of work, but well worth it.”
An added attraction to this year’s hotel decorations is a restored 1890s Portland Cutter sleigh that is on display in the dining room.
“It is owned and renovated by Tom and Barbara Hedrick of Hot Springs,” Hardin said. “They offered it to us to display during the holidays and thought it would be a nice fit in our historic hotel.”
Shifting his focus, Francis said this year’s New Year’s Eve will be a special time for the Arlington Hotel.
“It’s the 90th birthday of the hotel since the 1923 fire,” he said.
According to the hotel’s website, www.arlingtonhotel.com, the hotel reopened on Dec. 31, 1924, with a New Year’s Eve dinner-dance.
This year’s New Year’s Eve festivities will begin with a buffet at 5:30 p.m. in the Venetian Dining Room, followed by a gala dinner-dance at 7:30 in the Crystal Ballroom and a festival party at 8:30 in the Conference Center.
A New Year’s Day breakfast buffet will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Venetian Dining Room.
This year’s Christmas Day Feast will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Venetian Dining Room.
For more information on the gingerbread house or holiday activities at the Arlington, visit the hotel’s website or call (800) 643-1502.