Gilmore Girls Comes to Life With the Delamar West Hartford Hotel’s Immersive Experience Inspired by the Show

Courtesy of Everett Collection/Courtesy of Delamar Hotels

I have seen Gilmore Girls in its entirety more times than I can count.

The seven season aughts drama is the go-to comfort show for more than one generation, a series that has buoyed many through life's unpredictability with its nostalgic warmth. Fans repeatedly return to the show for emotional safe-keeping, as you can always depend on the tender spirit of Stars Hollow. But… what if you could immerse yourself in the town's essence, in the real-life locale of the where the show is based?

The Delamar West Hartford, a luxury hotel in Connecticut that opened in 2017, is now inviting guests to experience the world of Gilmore Girls through a new getaway package inspired by the series. The package references key moments from the show, directly paralleling some of the most iconic episodes and scenes and paying homage to the colorful main characters.

I experienced the Delamar's package firsthand with a special guest by my side: my grandmother, the Emily to my Rory. The experience was not only the perfect early Mother's Day gift, but a weekend adventure that we will cherish forever.

The bar for the package's meticulous detail orientation was set high early in our stay, as two coffee mugs from Luke's Diner awaited as as we entered our accommodations. We quickly dived deeper into the Gilmore universe, as we essentially re-enacted one of the funniest episodes of the show: the spa episode. In season 2, episode 16, titled “There's the Rub,” Lorelai attends a spa weekend against her will alongside her mother Emily. When Emily unwittingly signs them up for a couples massage, for time “efficiency,” Lorelai hilariously retorts: “A couple's massage is for a couple, not a couple of people.”

Going on a couples massage with my grandmother to keep in the theme of the weekend was priceless; while Emily might have talked Lorelai's ear off, my grandmother and I shared sidesplitting laughter after our massages, almost deliriously relaxed.

After our massages, it was tea time. We cosplayed members of the D.A.R. and attended afternoon tea at the Artisan Restaurant, a New England-inspired establishment within the hotel that sources fare from its onsite garden and local and regional farms. We sipped tea from fine china that would make even Emily Gilmore envious and devoured a scrumptious three-tiered tower of finger sandwiches, scones, and pastries. We returned to Artisan the next morning to enjoy bottomless coffee and complimentary breakfast, gearing up for a stacked itinerary. The next activity on the package's agenda was a picnic in the park, which we traveled to via a chauffeured classic car.

In the hotel's circular front driveway sat a 1941 Cadillac Series 60 Special Fleetwood, a gorgeous, restored vintage car older than my grandma. This part of the experience pays homage to Rory's beloved grandpa Richard Gilmore and his affinity for vintage cars. In the show, Richard famously restored a 1929 Packard Deluxe Eight Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton, type 640.

On our six minute drive to the nearby Elizabeth Park in the idyllic town of West Hartford (a town that is more heterogenous IRL than Stars Hollow), our driver explained that the Cadillac belongs to the personal vintage car collection of the hotel's founder, Charles Mallory. Passerby throughout the park ogled at the car, enchanted by its timeless charm.

Our driver set us up at a picnic table in the center of the park where we dined from a woven picnic basket, a reference to the annual Stars Hollow Picnic Basket Auction in season 2 episode 13 “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” But unlike Lorelai's shoddy basket with “two stale Pop-Tarts and a Slim Jim,” the Delamar's picnic menu included heaping, delicious portions complete with dessert.

At the end of our meal, we went back to the hotel to swap automobiles, as we'd need something that could go a bit faster to get us to our next destination: Yale. That's right, the ol' Ivy League stomping grounds of generations of Yalie Gilmores. We sped off towards New Haven in a 2006 Bentley and made our first stop at Rory's favorite place on campus, the Sterling Library. We walked the hushed, hallowed halls of the Nave and its exhibit galleries, then visited the university's art gallery. (I made sure not to leave campus before checking out the bookstore, as I was in search of a Yale crewneck like the one Emily wore to her chic tailgating party at the Yale-Harvard game in season 4 episode 9, “Ted Koppel's Big Night Out.")

After our big day on campus, we were more than ready for dinner — and the part of the experience I was most looking forward to had finally arrived. For one of our last meals at Artisan, we savored the special pre-fixe “Sookie” Menu curated by Chef Michael Giai, inspired by the show's most famous dishes made by Lorelai's eclectic best friend and renowned chef Sookie St. James. The menu is dubbed “a culinary masterpiece” by the hotel, and frankly, I could not agree more.

The starter and entrée menu include lobster bisque with fennel crackers (mentioned in season 1 and season 7), Sookie's Magic Risotto (after a food critic's review in season 1, Sookie famously retells the story of when she served her risotto to her mother on her deathbed, and she lived three more years), black bass a la plancha with fingerling potatoes and Sookie's ratatouille (which she makes in season 7 with another man's vegetables instead of Jackson's, her produce supplier husband), and Emeril's Osso Buco with polenta (the one dish on the menu made not by Sookie, but Lorelai's boyfriend Max Medina in season 1, episode 11).

For the final flavor of the night, the show-stopping dessert is red velvet raspberry baked alaska: the impressive dish Sookie makes for Jackson on their first date in season 1. A truly delectable culinary journey of the senses, the Sookie Menu was one of the best meals I have ever had. I have been dreaming about it ever since.

The Delamar West Hartford's Gilmore Girls Getaway Package requires a 2-night minimum stay and is available to book now until November 30th, 2024. For any GG fan looking for a memorable bonding experience with the Lane, Lorelai, Emily, or Dean/Jess/Logan/Luke in their life, this package is priceless — just remember to bring a book, talk fast, and let the coffee flow endlessly.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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