Our family has already established we have a love affair with the opulent Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. If Utah has an equivalent, it is the Grand America Hotel. Built in the lavish manor of Europe’s grand hotels, it has the distinction of being the only AAA Five Diamond hotel in Salt Lake City and has more than 450,000 square feet of hand-tooled marble and granite.
On the day before Christmas, my generous mother-in-law treated the whole family to a delicious brunch.
I thought the extensive buffet would be the highlight and it was one of them. But what followed next was truly magical for the kids.
Every year, the Grand America unveils 13 whimsical hand-crafted window displays in their retail windows that are open to the public. This year was a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Santa’s workshop with 36 elves building everything from toy ray guns to motorized stockings to elf flying machines to my favorite: a yeti made of faux fur with marbles for eyes and press-on nails for teeth. 
To make it even more fun and interactive, there is a scavenger hunt where the kids answered easy questions at each display and upon completion, they received a chocolate prize. They played at JouJou, a fantastical toy boutique, and gawked at the life-sized gingerbread house made of 1,200-lbs of flour, 400 lbs of sugar, 1,200 eggs and 25 lbs of chocolate. 
Believe me, we’ve almost consumed its equivalent this holiday season. Thanks to my in-laws for the wonderful memories!
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 