Among the hotels, the gem of Saratoga, and one of the finest, if not the finest, hotel in this country is

Congress Hall.

[Illustration:  CONGRESS HALL.]

Extending from Spring to Congress street, with a front on Broadway of 416 feet, and reaching with its two mammoth wings 300 feet back, it is architecturally a perfect beauty.  The rooms are large and elegant.  The halls are ten feet wide, and broad, commodious stairways, with the finest elevator in the country, render every portion readily accessible.  A front piazza, 20 feet wide and 240 feet in length, with numerous others within the grounds, and a promenade on the top of the hotel affording a charming view, contribute to render the house attractive.  The dining halls, parlors, etc., are superb and ample, and everything about the house is on a scale of unequaled magnificence and grandeur.

The proprieters have endeavored to incorporate into this hotel everything that can afford comfort and pleasure, at whatever expense.

The cut of Congress Hall will give some idea of its outlines, but fails to do it justice.  It must be seen to be appreciated, and when seen commands the unqualified admiration of the beholder.  It was erected in 1868, by H.H.  Hathorn, Esq., the proprietor of the old Congress Hall, and one of the most influential citizens of Saratoga.

The Grand Union Hotel.

This mammoth establishment is located on the west side of Broadway, and with its magnificent grounds embraces a space seven acres in extent, covering nearly an entire square.  It is a splendid brick structure, with a street frontage of 1,364 feet.  The office, parlor, dining room and dancing hall are unequaled for size, graceful architecture and splendid equipments and finish—­the former exhibiting a lavish display of white and colored marbles, while a series of colonnades rise from the center to the dome.  Within the capacious grounds are several elegant cottages, which are greatly sought for by the elite.  A vertical railway, comprising the latest improvements, renders the six stories so easy of access as to be equally desirable to guests.

[Illustration:  GRAND UNION HOTEL SARATOGA]

The capacity of this house is greater than that of any other in the world.  Some idea of its immensity may be formed from the following statistics:  Length of piazzas, one mile; halls, two miles; carpeting, twelve acres; marble tiling, one acre; number of rooms, eight hundred and twenty-four; doors, one thousand four hundred and seventy-four; windows, one thousand eight hundred and ninety one; the dining room is two hundred and fifty feet by fifty-three feet and twenty feet high, and will accommodate at one time 1,200 people.

Music on the lawn at nine in the morning and at three and a half in the afternoon.  Hops every evening; balls on Tuesday evening.

During the present year this hotel has fallen into the hands of Messrs. Breslin, Gardner & Co., of the Gilsey House, N.Y., gentlemen who are unsurpassed as hotel managers.