Best-of Guides New York

The Best Hotels for a City Escape from New York City

Even the most urbane city dwellers need a break from the hustle and bustle of New York— whether it’s a day at the beach or checking into a bucolic bolthole upstate. As soon as you pull into the driveway at Troutbeck in Armenia, New York, the stress of the city quickly vanishes. Since the 1770’s, the property has served as a country estate, a tavern and an arts club attracting all sorts of intellectuals and writers from David Thoreau to Mark Twain. Today this stylish country inn features seventeen elegant rooms with canopied beds (outfitted in Frette linens), Tivoli radios, and Malin and Goetz bathroom products. There are various cozy sitting areas and reading rooms filled with games and art books where guests can spend hours perusing with a coffee or cocktail in hand. For more active types, the 250-acre property features a swimming pool, tennis courts, a modern barn with wellness classes, and an elegant walled garden. It’s hard to believe that The Rockaway Hotel in Queens is only an hour from Manhattan’s city sidewalks. This 53-room breezy beachside hotel (think rattan chairs and blond wood everywhere) has become the hub for both diehard surfers and the area’s burgeoning creatives. While the hotel boasts an impressive collection of contemporary art, there’s also an outdoor heated pool with loungers on the rooftop, offering views of both the ocean and the city. There’s also a yoga deck and spa with an infrared sauna. Eastwind, a Scandi-style hotel just minutes from Windham ski resort mountain in the Catskills, will satisfy all your glamping fantasies. The lodge features seventeen rooms and A-frame wood cabins—some with wood-burning stoves. After a day on the slopes (there are also trails for hiking and biking in the summer months), kick back at the small cocktail bar with a cocktail and game of chess. There’s also fire pits (with s’mores kits), hammocks, and a sauna for even deeper relaxation. For more urban escapes, read below.

Updated on 16 January 2025

Autocamp Catskills

Autocamp Catskills
Saugerties

It’s hard to think of a hospitality concept better suited to the times than AutoCamp — purveyors of luxe Airstream trailers and stylish freestanding cabins, set in adventure-ready locations beloved by experience-hungry young travelers. AutoCamp Catskills, just outside of Saugerties, brings the luxury-boutique camping experience to upstate New York; accommodations include the aforementioned trailers and cabins as well as upscale “X Suites” and summertime-only canvas tents.

Eastwind - Hotel & Bar

Eastwind - Hotel & Bar
Windham

With outdoor recreation more popular than ever, we knew the Catskills, just a two-hour drive from New York City, couldn’t stay unfashionable forever. But it’s a bit surprising just how quickly a place that hasn’t been hip since our grandparents were kids has managed to reinvent itself. Eastwind Hotel & Bar, in the town of Windham, is a case in point. It’s co-owned by a German/Lithuanian couple who saw a bit of his own childhood in the landscapes and lodges of upstate New York, and who redesigned this 1920s-era lodge (and its outlying A-frame cabins) with an eye toward Scandinavian modernist style.

Journey East Hampton

Journey East Hampton
East Hampton

Montauk may be where most of the action is in today’s Long Island boutique-hotel scene, but we get the feeling that suits Journey East Hampton just fine. This is a hotel that’s less about chasing the next nightlife hot spot and more about providing an elegant escape for a clientele that’s more interested in a proper, private getaway — one that’s as cozy as it is stylish, and one where the experience is tailored to the guest, thanks to some thoughtfully personalized service.

The Rockaway Hotel

The Rockaway Hotel
Rockaway Beach

New York City isn’t known for its beaches, but the Rockaways are the exception, and the Rockaway Hotel brings a bit of downtown style to this ocean-facing stretch of deep outer Queens. Designed by the same Morris Adjmi responsible for Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel, it’s as hip as anything in town, and while summertime is when its beach-and-pool scene really shines, it’s relevant as a nearby getaway year-round. Its restaurant, bar, and café are still in the works, as is the spa, but for now it’s a welcome respite from crowded Manhattan and Brooklyn and an optimistic taste of a stylistic resurgence for the city’s beach communities.

Troutbeck

Troutbeck
Amenia

Troutbeck didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to style itself a creative retreat — it’s been walking the walk for well over a century, having welcomed Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, and many others along the way. And while this estate, in Amenia, two hours from Manhattan, has seen some changes over the years — Benton Cottage dates back to 1760, while the 17th-century Manor House was rebuilt in 1919 — it’s perhaps most remarkable for its continuity.

Hero image: Eastwind - Hotel & Bar