The Grand Hotel

3 Historic Autograph Collection Hotels - AFAR

"Overlooking Mobile Bay and set amid 200‑year‑old oaks draped in Spanish moss, this historic resort—established in 1847 and long nicknamed the “Queen of Southern Resorts”—spans roughly 550 acres with a white‑sand beach and evokes the era when well‑to‑do Victorian families arrived by steamship. A recent multimillion‑dollar renovation refreshed 405 rooms and added an enormous spa, tennis courts, and two championship 18‑hole golf courses, while the original stone-and-brick fireplace and an on‑site historian keep the property's layered past—once a military hospital and later an Air Force training facility—front and center. Every afternoon starting at 3:45 p.m., a procession culminates with the firing of a Civil War‑replica cannon on the bay’s edge as a ceremonial tribute to those who served, reflecting the resort’s timeless Southern hospitality." - AFAR