The Graham & Co.

If this goes much further we’re going to have to stop banging on about the old Catskills, the Catskills of mass tourism, summer camps and the big resorts of the postwar Borscht Belt. Soon there’ll be nothing but hip little hideaways on the Graham & Co. model, tiny outposts of rustic Americana founded by worldly, stylish Brooklynites, surrounded by the scenery that made the reputations of the painters of the Hudson River School back in the nineteenth century.

Well, we can dream. Fact is, for now just one Graham & Co. is enough. Or almost enough. A renovated twenty-room motor lodge in Phoenicia, just west of Woodstock, it’s the sort of place that might qualify as central New York State’s best-kept secret, if only people would stop raving about it for a second. Vintage charm, a savvy collector’s eye, and a keen design sensibility make city-bred boutique-hotel freaks feel right at home, while free bikes, patchy cell service and a trumped-up Catskills vs. Hamptons rivalry help you get in a mood to properly unplug.

Some rooms have kitchenettes, in summer a swimming pool beckons, and they’re working on a liquor license — in the meantime, however, it’s all about the bonfire, which lends the social life just a bit (the good bit) of a summer-camp vibe. White-glove luxury it most certainly isn’t, but as a friendly, stylish and accessible entrée into New York mountain life — and an affordable escape just two and a half hours from the city — it’s pretty tough to beat.

Text Courtesy of Tablet Hotels