The 8 Best New Hotels in the Catskills and Hudson Valley to Open in 2022

After a deluge of new retreats in 2020 and 2021, the hotel boom in New York’s Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley shows no signs of slowing down. And now the luxury brands are arriving. On September 30, Auberge Resorts Collection opened its first New York property in the Hudson Valley, while the team behind the Chatwal in Manhattan started welcoming guests this spring to its rustic chic lodge in Sullivan County in the western Catskills.

There are also plenty of new offerings in the range of under $300 per night, from AutoCamp’s second East Coast glamping location near Woodstock to a renovated ski lodge near Hunter Mountain. Needless to say, these eight new hotels in the Catskills and Hudson Valley will make booking a weekend getaway from NYC more appealing than ever before, no matter what your budget is.

Courtesy of Bluebird Hunter Lodge

Bluebird Hunter Lodge

• Location: Hunter, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 125 miles
• Book now

The Bluebird Hunter Lodge is part of Bluebird by Lark, a growing collection of repurposed motels in the Northeast. A former ski lodge—a two-minute drive from popular Hunter Mountain Resort—this 45-room property is now a stylish boutique hotel with 1970s-inspired decor. Best yet? The price point is still under $300 per night. It’s open year-round for skiers, hikers, and leaf peepers.

Michelle Heimerman, AFAR’s photo editor, stayed here on a spontaneous weekend trip to the Catskills soon after it opened in the summer of 2022. “The thoughtfully designed, ski lodge-inspired rooms were both spacious and comfortable with beautiful views of Hunter Mountain,” Heimerman said. “If you go, ask the front desk for their hiking guide, complete with a color-coded chart of nearly 20 trails within a half hour of the hotel ranging in length and difficulty.”

Photo by Matt Kisiday

AutoCamp Catskills

• Location: Saugerties, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 110 miles
• Book now

The luxury glamping brand’s second East Coast location, AutoCamp Catskills is located on 37 wooded acres between the towns of Saugerties and Woodstock. Guests can book one of the brand’s sleek Airstreams, as well as canvas safari-style tents, cabins, and X Suites, which are tiny house–like structures that are ADA accessible.

Designed for people who want to get outdoors but don’t necessarily have all the gear to go camping, AutoCamp even has a self-checkout store in its Clubhouse at the center of the resort that sells everything from wood to bacon to local beer, coffee, and wine. There’s also a bar in the Clubhouse if you’d prefer to sip something around the retro-style fireplace while listening to the live music on the weekends.

Although there are nearly 100 campsites at this resort, each space is quiet and surprisingly private thanks to custom-designed Airstreams with windows on one side only. Even the landscaping is done strategically so you’re not staring at another group around their campfire. Individual Airstreams can sleep a family of four between a queen-sized mattress in the bedroom and a futon in the main living space (the bathrooms are also shockingly spacious). If you want to go with a group of friends, book one of the Basecamp sites that accommodates up to six between an Airstream and a canvas tent.

Photo by Michael Carnevale

Wylder Windham

• Location: Windham, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 135 miles
• Book now

From the same brand as Wylder Hope Valley in California and Wylder Tilghman Island in Maryland, Wylder Windham opened in mid-July 2022 in the northern Catskills about a three-hour drive north of Manhattan. Instead of focusing on new builds, the Wylder hospitality brand finds existing properties that are looking for a new lease on life. Formerly the Thompson House Resort, which originally opened in 1880 as a summer getaway for New Yorkers, Wylder Windham consists of seven free-standing buildings constructed in various eras, from a Victorian manor house to a 1980s motor lodge.

By late summer, four of the seven buildings had completed renovations and were welcoming guests. By November, all seven buildings should be available to book. The best part about the renovations—other than rustic chic decor and all new furniture—is that each building will be fully winterized so it can stay open year-round. It’s a key detail, considering Windham Mountain is just a three-minute drive away.

A true four-seasons resort, the hotel also has a massive pool open until 9 p.m. in the summer, two pickleball courts, an on-site restaurant and bakery, as well as swimming access to Batavia Kill, a creek that winds around the property. With more than 100 rooms and dedicated event space, it’s an ideal spot for an upstate wedding, work retreat, or a weekend away with a group of friends.

Photo by Max Flatow

Little Cat Lodge

• Location: Hillsdale, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 120 miles
• Book now

Little Cat Lodge opened in August 2022, where the Hudson Valley meets the Berkshires right on the New York–Massachusetts border. Formerly the Swiss Hutte, this almost 100-year-old 14-room hotel was lovingly renovated by Noah Bernamoff and Matt Kliegman, the pair behind NYC hot spots like Grand Army and Pebble Bar. They tapped Hudson Valley’s Loveisenough studio to help the hotel stay true to its alpine-inspired heritage with plenty of vintage art and decor, as well as custom-designed beds using maple wood sourced locally from the ski slopes of Catamount Mountain, which is right next door.

At this year-round destination, guests have access to a swimming pool and barrel saunas in the summer, while skiers can walk to Catamount Mountain Resort in the winter. Chef Jason Bond—previously of Boston’s Bondir Cambridge and Clover Food Lab—is behind the hotel’s two restaurants, simply called the Tavern and the Dining Room.

Photo by Lawrence Braun

The Bungalows at Kenoza Hall

• Location: Kenoza Lake, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 110 miles
• Book now

Foster Supply Hospitality, the western Catskills hotel boutique group that also owns the DeBruce and Hotel Darby, originally opened Kenoza Hall in 2020 with 22 rooms in a 1900s boarding house. In June 2022, the 55-acre lakefront property added 10 clapboard bungalows that look like they were pulled straight from a scene in Dirty Dancing. Eight of the bungalows have a one-bedroom design with king-size beds, private porches, living rooms with gas stoves, and extra-large soaking tubs (some are in the bedrooms while other layouts have them in the bathroom). For larger groups, there’s a single two-bedroom bungalow that shares a common space but has separate en suite bathrooms. The tenth—and largest—is the Grand Lake Bungalow, which comes with a spacious bedroom, two bathrooms, two decks, and an extra large living space that can also be used for entertaining or meetings.

The Bungalows’ English garden decor carries over design notes from the main hotel, with floral wallpaper on the entryway ceiling and behind the green velvet headboards. Custom armoires reveal mini bars complete with running water so you don’t have to fill up the tea kettle in the bathroom. The fridge is stocked with local brews from Upward Brewing Company in Livingston Manor and Pollinator Gin from Catskills Provisions Distillery down the road in Callicoon.

It’ll be tempting to stay tucked away in these ultra private cottages, but the hotel’s communal amenities—a pool and hot tub, plus a spa with private treatment rooms, sauna, and yoga studio—will tempt you out. After recent landscaping, the gardens around the hotel are now certified butterfly sanctuaries where it’s easy to spot endangered monarchs, as well as hummingbirds flitting from lavender bush to lavender bush. Bungalow guests alone have access to communal firepit areas in the gardens between each cottage.

Photo by Nicole Franzen

Benton House at Troutbeck

• Location: Amenia, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 100 miles
• Book now

Troutbeck opened with 17 rooms in its Manor House in 2017, but the historic Hudson Valley estate has operated as an inn and tavern since 1765. It added 13 new rooms with this year’s opening of Benton House, set just on the other side of the Webatuck River from the Manor House and accessed by a short walk over a stone bridge. Benton House features similar Shaker via midcentury decor by Champalimaud Design, the New York firm that also designed the hotel’s other interior spaces.

In the new Benton House rooms, guests can expect grass cloth wallpaper and subtle plaid and striped patterns throughout. Connecticut-based furniture maker Ian Ingersoll designed the king-size four-poster beds in each room in either a bold saffron yellow or rich navy blue. Though the decor of Benton House is similar to the rest of the estate, direct access to nature sets it apart: Private screened porches or balconies come with each of the rooms.

Courtesy of Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection

Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection

• Location: Gardiner, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 80 miles
• Book now

In late September 2022, the acclaimed Auberge Resorts Collection opened Wildflower Farms, a 65-cottage property set on 140 acres about a 90-minute drive north of Manhattan. Designed with floor-to-ceiling windows to let the outdoors in, each cottage also comes with a private patio.

Thistle, an Auberge Spa, has an indoor saltwater pool, two outdoor hot tubs, a dry sauna, and an herbal steam room. There’s also an on-property farm and orchard, a 3,000-square-foot fitness center and yoga studio, miles of hiking trails and climbing routes, and a restaurant with an open kitchen using produce grown on-site. Guests can spend their days foraging for ramps, helping feed the chickens on the working farm, or taking a cooking class. —Devorah Lev Tov

Photo by Tim Williams

The Chatwal Lodge

• Location: Bethel, New York
• Distance from NYC: Approximately 100 miles
• Book now

Located within an environmentally protected, private gated estate in the Catskills called the Chapin Estate, the Chatwal Lodge opened in May 2022, from the team behind the beloved Chatwal in Manhattan. The 11 luxury accommodations recall the rustic glamour of the Adirondacks Great Camps and are designed by Steve Dubrovsky, who specializes in that style.

During their stay, guests can hike the trails on the property’s 100 acres of forested wilderness set on the shores of the Toronto Reservoir Lake. In the summer, guests can swim in or canoe on the lake, while the hotel can arrange ice skating and cross-country skiing nearby in the winter. A farm-to-table restaurant serves rustic American cuisine. A range of Ayurvedic spa treatments are available in-room from nearby Yo1 Wellness Center. —Devorah Lev Tov