Opal Gems

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A Top 25 Best Hotel Portfolio in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards, 2025

Whether you're planning where to go next or what to do on an already‑booked vacation, discover the travel destinations with Opal

HEADER_Behind the Brushstrokes

The Hotel Today: Part 2

Simultaneously, while Belleview Inn’s restoration was being done, master Florida artist Christopher Still was conducting his own elaborate history project to create these commissioned works for the hotel.

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A large, elegant resort-style hotel with green roofs and white exterior sits behind a serene pool. Palm trees flank the building, and lounge chairs are arranged around the pool area under a partly cloudy sky.

The Hotel Today: Part 1

While the hotel is obviously not the same as it was when it was first built in 1897, there are so many preserved portions and unique nods to the past scattered throughout. You just need to know where to look.

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A grand hotel with multiple gables and white facade stands behind a pool area. The pool is oval-shaped with a smaller circular pool in the center. Palm trees and lounge chairs surround the pool, and the sky is partly cloudy.

The Project

Before the crumbling Hotel Belleview could be renovated and reborn as Belleview Inn, she needed to be moved to her new foundation. So how do you move a 1,750-ton structure the distance of roughly the length of a football field?

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Memories of the original belleview inn illustrated with vintage postcards, old photos and memorabilia

#MyBelleviewMemory

If these walls could talk, they’d whisper stories about past presidents wandering these halls, weddings taking place generation after generation within the ballrooms, special anniversary dinners, and more. But alas, walls cannot talk. Luckily, these longtime locals can.

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A historic black and white photo of a large, multi-story Victorian-style building with multiple gables and chimneys. The foreground features manicured gardens with various plants and flowers. Trees frame the building on both sides.

The Belleview Inn Story: Part 1

Henry Plant didn’t just build the original iteration of the hotel that is now The Belleview Inn. He’s the little-known individual responsible for kick-starting the development of Florida.

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A couple holding hands walks up a grassy hill at dusk, their eyes set on a large, illuminated building that echoes the classic architectural style reminiscent of Lake George history. The roof's cupola is silhouetted against a sky gracefully transitioning to night.

Unexpected Lake George History

Lake George is known for its French and Indian War history, yet there’s more to the region’s past than muskets and Mohicans. Its timeline of local A-listers ranges from Georgia O’Keeffe to Rachael Ray.

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