The Hudson Valley is anything but generic. Each community has its own distinctive zeitgeist, and our accommodations reflect that. The best are often founded by hospitality pros with local roots and connections, people who take great joy in welcoming guests to the community they deeply love.
“This is my fourth hotel and it’s one I got incredibly excited about doing,” says Bethany Souza, developer of the Factory in Beacon. “I grew up here and my father drove a truck for the Nabisco box factory that’s now the Dia museum. So the name is a nod to Beacon’s industrial past, and also to Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory.”
Innkeepers draw on our cultural and historical bounty to build the experiences they offer, seasoning with luxe amenities and fresh local food at arm’s reach, all to one end: Making guests feel exquisitely at home and inspiring the local love and delight that they themselves know so well.
The Henson | Hensonville
Tucked away in the Windham hamlet of Hensonville (pop. 378), the Henson offers 16 guest rooms flooded with natural light, warm tones, and generously appointed personal spaces in a renovated 19th-century inn a stone’s throw from both Windham and Hunter ski mountains. The garden is Ely and Danielle Franko’s answer to the question “How can we create an outdoor space that we’d absolutely fall in love with and never want to leave?”—intimate yet spacious, organic and dynamic. The rooftop deck is an ideal spot for a cocktail and a deep sigh of contentment, with views of Windham Mountain and Black Dome Valley to the east and the Catskills rolling away in the western distance. The restaurant, Matilda, does magical things with local produce, meat and dairy, and the same team operates a luncheonette and a general store within easy walking distance. “Juliet” rooms feature private balconies overlooking the garden.
Old Dutch Inn | Kinderhook
The Old Dutch Inn has been described as “the heart of the village,” and the four front rooms offer royalty-worthy views of the busy village square and village green. The inn dates back to the 1820s, and its public hall hosted an 1861 meeting at which the locals voted to raise a regiment for the Union. Nine guest rooms have been lovingly restored by locals who honored the rich history while adding an elevator, marble finishes in the bathrooms, rainfall showerheads, cast iron soaking tubs, smart TVs, and advanced air purification technology. Shared spaces include a lounge with kids’ corner, game room, gathering room, and business desk, should you need to get some work done. There’s no on-site dining, but guests receive complimentary gift cards to restaurants on the square, and you’re just 20 minutes from Olana, Art Omi, the Martin Van Buren Historical Site (he was a Kinderhook kid), and loads more attractions.
The Factory | Beacon
This boutique hotel is entered through a secret garden gate to a courtyard lush with flowers, sculpture, and evening firelight. Once a sewing factory where bomber jackets were made for World War II fighter pilots, the two-story building has been reinvented as 14 luxe rooms and suites, no two alike, decorated in all-original art (available to purchase and take home should you so desire) with QR codes that link to the artist’s bio and statement on the piece, and offering immersive, hands-on art making to guests. One, for example, surrounds guests with fiber art and has an eight-by-nine-foot wall into which they’re invited to weave strips of fabric and leather. And that’s just one. Creator Bethany Souza, a former HGTV on-air personality and native Beaconite, says every room has what she calls a “play” component of its own. Should you seek more fun, Beacon’s Main Street offers tons of it.
The Heartwood | Poughkeepsie
A new 50-room hotel at the edge of the historic and lovely Vassar College campus, The Heartwood features a lobby with floor-to-ceiling glass facing that view and an immersive art exhibit from conceptual artist Mark Dion, showcasing memorabilia from the college’s 163 years of history; other public spaces showcase Hudson Valley art, all of it curated by the college’s Francis Lehman Loeb art museum. There’s a focus on sustainability: natural materials and native landscaping, geothermal heating and cooling, and a zero-fossil fuel operation aided through photo-voltaic solar panels and solar thermal heating panels, and the property participates in Hotels for Trees, meaning that if you forego linen service they’ll plant a tree in your honor. En suite baths feature stone and marble finishes, rainfall showers and soaking tubs, and there’s a 24-hour gym. Dine at the locally gourmet Salt Line Restaurant, or grab a late drink at the intimate Night Owls cocktail lounge.
The Leeway | Mt. Tremper
Located on the Esopus Creek in Mt. Tremper, The Leeway is the former Kate’s Lazy Meadow and has kept the best of what B-52s singer Kate Pierson’s operation had going while giving the boutique luxury motel a well-deserved refresh. Rooms feature high-quality sound systems, locally roasted coffee, and outdoor gear to enhance your adventures; cabins and suites come in a variety of configurations to suit your needs and whims, and you’ll have reliable Wi-Fi, not always easy to find up in these hills. There’s a midcentury modern aura blended with up-to-the-minute luxe amenities and skilled, warm hospitality. The private creekbank is the ideal setting for long, relaxing afternoons or evenings, with picnic tables, grills, bonfire pit, comfy seats, ambient lighting, and hammocks to lounge in. You’re surrounded by mountains, and many of the loveliest hikes and attractions in the Catskills are just minutes away, as are Phoenicia and Woodstock.
Eldred Preserve | Eldred
Located in the hamlet of Eldred in the Sullivan County town of Highland, the Eldred is a thoughtfully sophisticated, resplendent reimagining and merger of classic hospitality brands by local entrepreneur Dan Silva and his wife. The lodging aspect, the Bradstan Boutique Hotel, offers 28 luxurious accommodations featuring five different thematic options, all of them fitted out with first-rate linens, furnishings and fixtures. There’s a private Sunrise Lake, private walking trail, 1,300-square-foot fitness studio, and a shuttle that will take you to nearby attractions like Bethel Woods and the Resorts World Casino. Five stand-alone cabins offer floor-to-ceiling windows and large fireplaces. Guests can dine at the Homestead Restaurant + Lounge, a farm-to-table steakhouse designed to bring the outdoors in, and explore the 600 acres of wildlands at their pleasure; there are paddle boats and kayaks available, should you prefer to watch the 300 species of resident birds from the water.
This article appears in Fall 2024/Winter 2025.
