Hotels are a staple of the Adirondacks. Since the days of Paul Smith’s Hotel, founded in 1859, they have provided a window of opportunity for people around the world to view the peaks, lakes and woods of New York’s largest park.

They are known for hosting some of the most wealthy, powerful and relevant people of their times, and are sometimes the hubs for local social events, such as weddings, graduations and meetings.

Architectural Digest’s list focuses on remodels, the sometimes literal trials by fire many of the properties have endured and the recent renovations that put them in AD-worthy territory.

The Point on Upper Saranac Lake starts writer Keith Flanagan’s list. This Great Camp complex of log buildings was owned by William Avery Rockefeller back in the day and recently got a multimillion-dollar renovation, led by Lake Placid architect Andrew Chary.

The Hotel Saranac is seen on Jan. 3 from Academy Street in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

Flanagan remarks that the Hotel Saranac is the last one standing of 13 Saranac Lake hotels, partially due to the fact that it was “originally billed as the Adirondacks’ first ‘fireproof’ hotel.” After a four-year, $30 million renovation the hotel reopened last January.

Though the Lake Placid Lodge’s first cabin was built in 1882, it burnt in 2005 and was rebuilt. Flanagan said, “History was not forgotten but perhaps was outdone.”

The Lake House in Lake Placid had a recent overhaul in a 1960s motor inn style by the architectural firm Mapos. This annex of the nearby High Peaks Resort overlooks Mirror Lake.

The Sagamore on Lake George was opened in 1883, but is not on its third iteration, with the current building being built in 1983.

Camp Orenda is a Johnsburg glamping ground that opened in 2011 with furnished canvas tents, combining the great outdoors with the convenient indoors through roofless showers and open-air kitchens.

Inside the Lake Placid Lodge, January 2010 (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

Timberlock on Indian Lake takes it a step further, offering no electricity or cell phone reception. Flanagan wrote that the area naturally draws visitors into its entertainment possibilities of fishing, swimming, archery, canoeing and tennis. Flanagan writes that, “the only application of tinder that may ever work is the one destined for campfire.”

USA Luge supporters gather at the Lake House hotel in Lake Placid to watch Chris Mazdzer compete on “Dancing with the Stars.” (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)