.jpg "16 Idyllic Hotels in the Catskills, Where Design Meets the Upstate Wild")
I’ve been going to the Catskills for as long as I can remember, and I still adore the feeling when the drive north begins to feel less like a commute and more like a true escape from the city. As a native New Yorker, I’ve spent years getting to know this upstate mountain region in every season: summer afternoons bouncing between swimming holes and farm stands, brilliant fall drives beneath canopies of red and gold, spring weekends when the woods suddenly turn electric green, and winter stays where a fire and a good dinner can easily constitute the entire itinerary.
These feelings of comfort, simplicity, and adventure are part of what makes the region such an enduring weekend escape—and what makes its hotel scene so appealing. The best hotels in the Catskills range from characterful country inns and beautifully restored motels to secluded woodland retreats and sprawling estates, many with fireplaces, pools, standout restaurants, and rooms that invite you to linger just a little longer. Some are destinations in themselves; others put you in just the right spot for hiking, antiquing, swimming, or wandering through the region’s small towns. After a lifetime of returning to the Catskills, these are the hotels I’d book for an upstate New York getaway, no matter the season.
At Blue Fox Motel, the refreshed midcentury cabins will make you swoon.
Jessica Chapel
Hotel Lilien’s cozy, sweet design will stick with you long after your visit.
Jessica Chapel
- Our top picks
- More editor-recommended hotels in the Catskills
- Frequently asked questions
- Best for families: Urban Cowboy Lodge
- Best for design lovers: Hotel Lilien
- Best for spruced-up glamping: Postcard Cabins Eastern Catskills
- Best for barnhouse wellness: Inness
- Best for an upscale, farm-to-table retreat: Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection
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AutoCamp Catskills
Best for: An iconic Airstream base tucked in the trees
A little under two hours from New York City, AutoCamp Catskills has a lively, communal atmosphere that revolves around spending time outdoors. Stay in one of its signature midcentury-style Airstreams, tents, or cabins, which feature comfortable furnishings, luxury amenities, and a firepit that you can pair with a grill kit or s’mores kit purchased from the General Store. Start your day with complimentary granola and coffee in the Clubhouse before you explore the hiking trails, lawn games, or sauna around the property; grab a grain bowl or sandwich for lunch from the on-site café, The Kitchen; and end your day with a Paint and Sip during happy hour. When you’re ready to venture outside the property, there’s plenty of swimming, hiking, and shopping to do in nearby Saugerties or Woodstock, and you’re also not far from Hunter or Windham Mountains for skiing in the winter. Whether you stay put or venture out, AutoCamp Catskills provides a more social glamping experience that’s particularly well suited to families. It feels less like camping and more like camp in the best way for adults and kids alike. You can bring your dog, too! —Alex Egan
Location: Saugerties
Address:882 NY-212, Saugerties, NY 12477Check Availability at Booking.com
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Postcard Cabins Eastern Catskills
Best for: Nature lovers looking to glamp with amenities
Postcard Cabins lets you experience the best parts of camping without (most of) the downsides. Spend your days hiking to nearby waterfalls before cooking dinner over an open flame and making s’mores around a campfire, then sleep in a comfortable queen-size bed in an aesthetic, climate-controlled cabin and wake up to a hot shower. The cabins are tiny, as advertised, but every inch of space is used thoughtfully, and each features a floor-to-ceiling window facing the woods, making you feel immersed in nature. With a firepit, stroopwafel s’mores kit, nature-themed books, and a vintage-style radio all included with your cabin, Postcard Cabins encourages you to unplug. Plus, dogs are welcomed warmly with included dog bowls, treats, and a lead that allows them to sniff around safely. The entirely contactless experience provides the quiet and independence of a classic campsite, while staff is still just a text away. It’s truly the best of both worlds. —A.E.
Location: Catskill
Address:282 Cairo Junction Rd, Catskill, NY 12414
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The Debruce
Hot List 2018
Best for: A mix of cozy and convenience
This is the sort of old-school mountain resort you don’t see much of these days, a place where you can fly fish, or hike on private trails, or sit by the fire slowly draining a bottle of wine, or swim in the pool, or just nap, gloriously. The edges are still rough at The DeBruce, which is set in a decades-old building that was, long ago, a hotel. It’s been repainted and spruced up, but the Dirty Dancing–style rathskeller on the ground floor and the lack of straight edges in the hallways are either charming or not. With a lot of visiting folk from Brooklyn, The DeBruce is about two hours northwest of New York City, and it’s the sort of escape-the-city retreat that’s big with weekenders and people looking to populate their Instagrams. It’s one of Foster Supply Hospitality’s luxe upstate New York hotels, a sister to North Branch Inn and Arnold House. —Paul Brady
Location: Livingston Manor
Address:982 Debruce Rd, Livingston Manor, NY 12758Check Availability at The DeBruce
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The Henson
Hot List 2025
Best for: Proximity to outdoor fun
Just two-and-a-half hours from Manhattan, the eastern Catskill Mountains provide a haven from the constant buzz of city life—and The Henson, with its elegant-but-cozy-inn vibe, creates an atmosphere that’s both quiet and chic. The rooms feature design-forward touches, and common areas look straight out of a painting, with a chunky bouclé sofa, cool coffee table books, and a crackling fireplace. The property’s restaurant, Matilda—from two notable New York City chefs—is a destination in and of itself too. While The Henson is well within driving distance to other pockets of the Catskills, you probably won’t feel any urge to stray far. —Emily Adler
Location: Hensonville
Address:39 Goshen Rd, Hensonville, NY 12439Check Availability at The Henson
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Camptown
Head north along the Hudson River, and you’ll find 26 log cabins (plus 24 hotel rooms) at Camptown—a boutique property in a quiet hamlet called Leeds on NY 23. Stay here when you’re seeking a weekend of antiquing in nearby Hudson, hiking at Kaaterskill Falls, dining at a destination restaurant a few feet from your room, or enjoying cozy nights in—with all the benefits of thoughtful hotel service and amenities. Casa Susanna, the ever-abuzz on-site restaurant, is a total standout: The dinner and brunch I had there were two of the best meals I had all year. The Mexican spot has a masa program in which they make tortillas from scratch, and the wine list emphasizes low-intervention wines, including compelling, hard-to-find wines from Mexico. I highly recommend making a reservation if you find yourself in the area, even if you’re not staying the night. —Alex Erdekian
Location: Leeds
Address:810 Co Rd 23B, Leeds, NY 12451Check Availability at Michelin Guide
Check Availability at Mr & Mrs Smith
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Wylder Hotel Windham, an SLH Hotel
Best for: Families and friend groups seeking a stylish playground
Tucked in the Great Northern Catskills, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of New York City, Wylder is in the town of Windham, known for skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and more. The property hosts plenty of activities and amenities on-site to help you relax and connect with the stunning mountain landscape, including a heated outdoor pool, wood-fired saunas, pickleball courts, electric mountain bikes, firepits, and more. The 110 suites and guest rooms are spread out between seven historic lodges, inns, manors, and cottages, which means there are great options for groups, couples, and families. The rooms have the feel of a classic inn or a country B&B, with oak floors, furniture made by local craftsmen, and modern features like a tablet that acts as a digital concierge for any room requests. —Dana Kravis
Location: Windham
Address:19 NY-296, Windham, NY 12496
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The Bend
Best for: Grown-up summer camp energy
Situated in Phoenicia, a small hamlet within the town of Shandaken, The Bend is an easy drive from the city—around two hours from Midtown—making it a great spot for weekend getaways and longer stays alike. It puts you right in the heart of the Catskills Mountains and replaces the loudness of the city with the quiet hum of nature (you might just spot a black bear while you’re here). With only five rooms, all one- or two-bedrooms, even at its busiest, this adults-only micro-resort won’t feel overcrowded. Phoenicia Diner is just down the street, as is the town’s Main Street, and both Woodstock and Hunter Mountain are within a 20-minute drive. Come here for a peaceful getaway surrounded by nature and a touch of wellness—it’s an ideal spot to recharge. —Madison Flager
Location: Phoenicia
Address:169 NY-214, Phoenicia, NY 12464 -
Inness
Hot List 2022Readers’ Choice Awards 2022
Best for: An upscale, design-focused retreat
Within minutes of arriving at this rustic but refined compound in Accord, you realize what a welcome shift it heralds for hospitality in the Catskills. With its 28 cabins and 12-room farmhouse and social hub, it marries Scandinavian-style minimalism and throwback Americana, with echoes of the Borscht Belt summer resorts that used to be ubiquitous in this part of the state. There is an excellent restaurant, naturally, with a menu of comfort food with shades of Italian and Middle Eastern cooking. The surrounding area is paradise for hikers and cyclists from spring through fall; in winter, the cabins, with their simple Shaker-style furniture and wood-burning stoves, are cozy refuges for relaxing under a throw and gazing out at the frost-kissed landscape. Kingston and Woodstock are nearby, though guests do not have to leave the property to have an ultimate upstate getaway here. On the hilly and expansive site, there’s a nine-hole golf course, tennis courts, two pools, and walking trails. —Jesse Ashlock
Location: Accord
Address:10 Bank St, Accord, NY 12404
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Urban Cowboy Lodge
Hot List 2021
Best for: A Western-inspired stay filled with fun
Turns out, gathering around the campfire hasn’t gone the way of the hotel business center—at least not at Urban Cowboy Lodge. Set on a 68-acre tract in the Catskills, with a cluster of wooden buildings that fan out neatly atop a hill, the hotel looks and sometimes feels like a summer camp. It’s an apt comparison when you consider its merrily irreverent staff and adult-friendly, join-if-you-want-to, fine-if-you-don’t approach to programming, which ranges from fireside rounds of reggae bingo in the antler-bedecked common area to morning hikes and piano nights on the baby grand. The ethos extends to the decor, which includes vintage sports equipment bolted to the walls and a riot of Native American–inspired prints that cover everything from the couch cushions to the wallpaper. It’s the first rural foray for founders Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks, who teamed up with hotel developer Phil Hospod of Dovetail + Co. for this venture—and who previously brought country flair and a community ethos with Urban Cowboy locations in Brooklyn and Nashville. But if that tack feels purposefully contrarian in the city, it’s right at home here in the mountains. —Betsy Blumenthal
Location: Big Indian
Address:37 Alpine Rd, Big Indian, NY 12410 -
Hotel Lilien
Best for: A chic, renovated inn near a colorful main street
In Greene County’s town of Tannersville, you’ll find the 18-room restored getaway that is Hotel Lilien, formerly the Washington Irving Inn. The Victorian gem dates back to the 1890s and was impeccably restored with modern touches—most noticeable in the guest bathrooms, which now boast brass fixtures, marble floors, and large tubs with rain shower overheads. Luxury lies in the velvety feel of the property, where natural light pours in from the stained-glass windows and bounces off the interior’s dark wood paneling. Since its opening, the cocktail bar and dining spaces have become a hub for the trendy crowd, who have the option to join guests enjoying the wood-burning stove. The hotel is just five minutes away from the region’s buzzy Hunter Mountain, has a sprawling lawn, and boasts a poolside lunch menu for the summer season. In the fall, it’s one of the best on this list for leaf-peeping.
Location: Tannersville
Address:6629 NY-23A, Tannersville, NY 12485Check Availability at Mr. and Mrs. Smith
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Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection
Hot List 2023Readers’ Choice Awards 2023, 2024
Best for: Ultra-luxe stays tucked beneath tree canopies
Step onto this picturesque Auberge Collection campus, in a meadow in the shadow of New York’s iconic Shawangunk Mountains, and you feel almost as if you’ve entered the world of a Hudson River School painting. It’s that pretty. And for all its considerable comforts—the instant it opened its doors in 2022, it became the premier luxury escape in the Catskills—the hotel rightly recognizes that nature is its greatest amenity. Located on a 140-acre site that was once a tree nursery and a dairy farm, Wildflower leans into the region’s agricultural heritage with a working farm that supplies ingredients for cooking classes, the menu of the hotel’s progressive New American restaurant, Clay, and many of the treatments at the excellent spa, Thistle. Guests can swing by to tour the crops, feed the animals, and collect eggs from the chicken coop (to take home or pass along to the kitchen staff at Clay to prepare for breakfast). Just 4% of the property has been developed, leaving an extensive network of forest trails for visitors to explore on their own or to visit with a guide for ramp planting or forest-bathing experiences. And it’s easy to continue drinking in the beauty of the place from the 65 rooms, all freestanding cabins, cottages, and suites. In addition to offering fireplaces, well-curated minibars, and a stylishly warm, natural design aesthetic, they have extensive private terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows framing a view of woods, meadows, or mountains. —J.A.
Location: Gardiner
Address:2702 Main St, Gardiner, NY 12525 -
Eastwind Oliverea Valley
This cozy getaway is designed for vintage lovers and hygge seekers—and is almost guaranteed to make it onto your Instagram feed. Tucked deeper into nature than its older sibling in Windham (the property sits in the tiny town of Big Indian, a stream-filled valley in the central Catskills), Eastwind Oliverea Valley derives its special sauce from its harmony with its surroundings, complementing rather than taking away from the landscape. Its fire-warmed lounge, sauna, and proximity to ski slopes make for ideal wintertime companions, but come summer, a pool, outdoor yoga, and even DJ sets draw the crowds. A small but excellent seasonal food menu and cocktail list round out its offerings. —Arati Menon
Location: Big Indian
Address:212 McKenley Hollow Rd, Big Indian, NY 12410
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Scribner’s Catskill Lodge
Hot List 2017Readers’ Choice Awards 2017
Best for: A trendy mountain basecamp
Scribner’s is impossible to miss; its all-black wood exterior bold on a sloping hillside at the tail end of Hunter, New York’s Main Street. From the lobby and recreation areas to the rooms, the design is pure Scoutcore with green-and-blue plaid carpet, pennant flags, and shelves loaded with novels. The crowd dresses to match—you might see young parents in denim and flannels gathered around the outdoor firepit, or groups of 30-something city slickers in Carhartt shooting pool—and you get the feeling that those Birkenstocks and Blundstones are pulling double duty now that their owners are upstate for a weekend. It’s cozy, but never rambunctious; a couple sipping neat whiskeys beside an Australian Shepherd on the patio is on a similar wavelength to the guest slouched in a leather chair, engrossed in their book (or the Scribner Hollow Post “newspaper” left in every room, which actually has some pretty good articles on nearby makers and food). —Megan Spurrell
Location: Hunter
Address:13 Scribner Hollow Rd, Hunter, NY 12442 -
The Bradstan Boutique Hotel at The Eldred Preserve
Best for: Romance and serenity
Located in the western Catskills, in the Sullivan County town of Highland, the Eldred Preserve lives up to its design intention of evoking a “jewel in the woods.” The rustic and upscale 3,000-acre property is expansive, with floor-to-ceiling windows balanced with stone, and a light-oak palette on the walls. While there is much to do nearby, just a quick drive away from the hip and arty towns of Livingston Manor and Bethel, the resort is the epitome of a woodsy escape, thanks to its various nature trails and three ponds on the grounds. Pick your antidote: The Eldred offers 23 guest rooms, 5 private cabins, and over 8,000 square feet of event space (both indoor and outdoor).
Location: Eldred
Address:1040 State Rte 55, Eldred, NY 12732Check Availability at Hotels.com
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Piaule Catskill
Hot List 2022
Best for: Minimalist and deeply relaxing nature retreats in the woods
Of the crop of boutique hotels that have emerged in the Catskills over the past few years, none more easily combines intelligent sustainable design, wellness, and stylish escapism than Piaule. If views from the 24 designer cabins aren’t enough to set you up for a day of mindfulness, the spa surely will. Large and communal, it consists of raw cedar walls with that wonderful scent lingering just so, and spaces including a relaxation room, cold plunge pool, and a large saltwater pool. The entire property is so polished, yet there is an element of leave-you-aloneness that any New Yorker will surely appreciate. —Erin Florio
Location: Catskill
Address:333 Mossy Hill Rd, Catskill, NY 12414Check Availability at Piaule Catskill
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Blue Fox Motel
Best for: Nostalgic, campy stays
Every charming detail of Narrowsburg’s Blue Fox Motel feels intentional. There’s a lot of heart in this boutique property—probably because the co-owners (who are also life partners) recently refurbished the 1950s rustic retreat with the original motel model in mind. Spread across a woodsy paradise, the property includes 11 standard rooms, 4 suites, and 3 cabins, all catering to a balance of old-time charm and refined luxury. The pool is open (and happening) in the warmer months and hosts a popular (and queer-friendly) Sunday pool party, where guests can take advantage of a poolside pizza bar. Now open for 2026 is a pickleball court and honky tonk bar, which serves a weekend brunch. A sweet plus: The motel’s classic and seasonal American restaurant is a warm yet swanky destination unto itself, run by one of the two co-founders, who is a former New York City restaurateur.
Location: Narrowsburg
Address:5670 NY-97, Narrowsburg, NY 12764Check Availability at Blue Fox Motel
Where should I stay in the Catskills?
From trailhead lodges to art-filled inns, the decision of where to stay depends on the tone you want to set for your getaway. In towns like Phoenicia, Big Indian, and Tannersville, you’ll find restored mountain lodges and design-forward motels surrounded by waterfalls, hiking trails, and swimming holes. Big Indian, in particular, offers a quieter, more secluded slice of the Catskills—dense forest, winding roads, and stays that put you within minutes of Slide Mountain and the Esopus Creek.
Around Woodstock and Kingston, expect artsy spots that nod to the region’s bohemian legacy, with galleries, vintage shops, and standout farm-to-table dining. For winter ski escapes on the slopes of Hunter and Windham, look for hotels with mountain views and cozy fireplaces. Come summer, lakefront stays near Catskill and Saugerties trade snow for sun and live music nights.
When is the best time to visit the Catskills?
The Catskills are basically four destinations in one, each season reshaping the landscape and the mood. Spring, from April to June, brings thawed rivers, waterfalls in full rush, and wildflowers along hiking trails. Summer, from July to late August, hums with lake swims, tubing on the Esopus Creek, and outdoor concerts in Woodstock and Saugerties. Fall, from late September to early November, is peak magic for fiery maples, cider festivals, and mountain drives through Hunter and Windham. Winter, from December to around March, draws skiers and comfy-vibe-seekers to slopeside lodges and fireside dining.
Which hotels in the Catskills offer the best views and amenities?
The top stays in the Catskills balance mountain views with top-notch modern amenities. Eastwind Oliverea Valley captures Nordic simplicity amid forested peaks—its saunas, hammocks, and riverside setting are ideal after a day on the trails. Nearby, The Bradstan Boutique Hotel at the Eldred Preserve brings waterfront, tree-covered luxury, blending eco-minded design (hello, floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic forest views) with cozy interiors. For architecture lovers, Piaule Catskill redefines the modern cabin with glass-walled rooms that seem to float amongst the trees, complete with a spa and soaking pools.
How we choose the best hotels in the Catskills
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
Source: www.cntraveler.com
