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Bretton Woods, New Hampshire: a hotel that hosted the IMF, and skiing since 1973

Carroll, NH

Part of Skiing New England

Bretton Woods is "an area within the town of Carroll, New Hampshire," per Wikipedia's "Bretton Woods, New Hampshire" article -- it is a place name, not its own municipality. The ski area itself opened for business on December 29, 1973, as an intermediate-terrain area with two double chairlifts, a T-bar, and an 18-mile Nordic trail network, according to New England Ski History -- decades after the site's namesake hotel had already made history.

  1. An Omni-owned ski area in Carroll, NH, opened in 1973.

  2. A National Historic Landmark hotel that hosted the 1944 conference founding the IMF and World Bank.

The Mount Washington Hotel and the IMF

The Mount Washington Hotel began construction in 1900 and opened on July 28, 1902, designed by architect Charles Alling Gifford, per Wikipedia's "Mount Washington Hotel" article. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986, and, earlier, it was the site of the 1944 United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, which led to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1945 -- the conference that gave the Bretton Woods system its name.

From CNL to Omni

In 2006, CNL Financial Group purchased the resort complex -- 991 acres including the Mount Washington Hotel, the Bretton Arms Country Inn, The Lodge at Bretton Woods, and the Bretton Woods Ski Area -- per Wikipedia's "Mount Washington Hotel" article. Omni Hotels & Resorts assumed management of both the Mount Washington Hotel and the Bretton Arms Inn in September 2009, and in December 2015 purchased the Bretton Woods Mountain Resort outright from CNL, including both hotels and the ski area -- making Omni the resort's current owner.

Frequently asked questions

When did skiing begin at Bretton Woods?
The Bretton Woods ski area opened for business on December 29, 1973, as an intermediate-terrain area with two double chairlifts, a T-bar, and an 18-mile Nordic trail network, according to New England Ski History -- decades after the neighboring Mount Washington Hotel opened in 1902.
Who owns Bretton Woods?
Omni Hotels & Resorts, since purchasing the Bretton Woods Mountain Resort -- both hotels and the ski area -- from CNL Financial Group in December 2015, per Wikipedia's "Mount Washington Hotel" article. Omni had managed the Mount Washington Hotel since September 2009.