It is said to have been the inspiration behind the hotel in Dirty Dancing, a film which premiered the year after Grossinger's closed.
It was founded in 1919 by married couple Asher and Malke Grossinger but really hit its stride in the 1950s and 60s when Jennie, their daughter, acted as hostess. The emphasis was on glamour but with a personal touch and it soon gained the nickname "The Waldorf of The Catskills"
The outside of the building as shown on the postcard below (sent in 1967 by someone attending a banquet for School Business Officials) is fairly uninspiring looking.
However, the site itself was very impressive with 35 buildings in 1200 acres of land which included its own airstrip and post office complete with its own zip code.
The card (written in 1965 to someone's mum, someone with handwriting so terrible that's all I can make out) below gives some impression of the size.
The rooms such as the Terrace Lounge and The Pink Elephant Bar were bright and colourful. The former was modernised by Morris Lapidus a name synonymous with 50s and 60s hotel architecture.
There were a variety of activities the guests could enjoy, they didn't even have to wait for winter to go skiing as the hotel became the first place to use artificial snow in 1952.
There was also an ice rink and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
Jennie died in 1972 but the hotel did still attract guests until cheaper foreign air travel in the late 70s and early 80s and changing tastes meant that resort hotels fell out of favour.
It was closed in 1986 and thirty years later the buildings remain decaying and abandoned. That is all except the golf course which is still active and possibly one of the eeriest golf courses around.
More information including photos of before and after can be found here
http://joe4speed.com/grossingers.htm
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