Point Of View

Built by William Avery Rockefeller as a great camp in the Adirondacks of upstate New York, the point is a lakefront hideaway like no other.

- Andrew Conway

It's A Little After Sunrise on a frigid December morning, and I’m standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking the vast expanse of Upper Saranac Lake. An ethereal mist separates the mirror- still water and cloudless sky, shrouding a dense forest of firs dusted with snow.

I’m rugged up in my L.L. Bean parka, a woolly hat, gloves, scarf and boots, and warmed by a flask of steaming hot chocolate, thoughtfully delivered to my suite just before I headed out.

I’m a long way from the ocean, yet surrounded by an expanse of water that stretches to the horizon. A lone hawk whirls overhead, searching for its first meal of the day, and the silence is deafening.

It’s a far cry from last night’s festivities when 16 animated guests gathered for a special celebration in the Great Hall of The Point – an exclusive 11-suite Relais & Châteaux retreat, tucked away in the vast wilderness of the Adirondacks in Upstate New York.

In what can only be described as excellent timing for a Saturday night, the dinner coincided with a pre-Christmas Moët & Chandon Champagne tasting, which paired each of six gourmet courses with exceptional vintages.

Saturday and Wednesday evenings at The Point are designated formal black-tie affairs, and our fellow guests duly donned tuxedos and cocktail dresses for this singular occasion.

By the light of an enormous Christmas tree, we dined on caviar, squash agnolotti, poached Maine lobster, a Champagne (naturally) and pear sorbet, roasted pork loin and pumpkin pie soufflé, washed down with the best bubbles Moët could muster.

As the Great Hall echoed with amusing banter and laughter for several hours through the evening, I couldn’t help but wonder what The Point’s original owner, William Avery Rockefeller, would have thought of his beloved lodge had he hosted the dinner.