The Catskills are buzzing with life and high-end hotels are being added to this upstate vacation home. It’s Chatwal Lodge, Auberge-operated Wildflower Farms, and the Hudson Valley outpost of Malibu’s wellness center, the Ranch.
The only problem with these new spots is the price: A summer season room at Wildflower Farms, for example, costs about $1,200 a night.
To find a better deal, all you need is a little Leeway – and that’s the name of the new affordable boutique motel that’s just opened in the heart of the region. Score a room on an October weekend there for just $325 a night.
The property, a 6-acre parcel right on Esopus Creek, was formerly Kate’s Lazy Meadow, a Day-Glo rehab of a 1950s motel overseen by B-52s sports singer Kate Pierson and her wife, who opened in ’04.
Seventeen years later, it was still technically open, but was being run more like a hostel for friends than a commercial crash pad.
Eventually, they put it up for sale for $2.2 million. Within hours of discovering the listing, Josh Reznick had decided to make an offer; he partnered with his friend Noah Nierenberg, whose wife had hosted her bachelorette party there.
The pair had scored a big payday after co-founding a digital advertising firm and wanted to get into real estate. They thought the motel was a great starting option. However, it was no small project.
“A number of the rooms had not been used for a while, and there was mold in some of them,” said Reznick of the nine-room property.
It is located on Route 28 in Mount Tremper, NY, which is tucked behind an easily missed sign and a tall fence on the south side of the road.
They renovated the cabins, ditching the kitsch for a more subtle style that Reznick called “modern rustic,” but could be thought of as a place removed from Brooklyn, with a man of hipster brands (Apotheke toilet, Brooklinen bed ).
However, some details remain from the Pierson era and before: the honey-colored wood paneling on the walls, for example, or small details like a heart-shaped cutout in the bathroom door in room no. 1.
This is one of Reznick’s own favorites, with its own kitchenette and TV room. His next choice is the more private room, No. 9, which is a duplex located at the far end of the property with an open floor plan including a spiral staircase and sleeping loft.
The entire operation is overseen by GM and part-owner Tena Hasanefendic—with her flares, oversized sunglasses, and charmingly laid-back vibe, she could be the lead singer of a B-52s tribute band. Wandering the property, she proudly points out the hammocks, picnic tables and barbecues set up for use overlooking the creek, plus the well-stocked kitchens.
Reznick said he hopes the hotel can be a hybrid between a motel and an Airbnb, aimed specifically at the new influx of people like Hasanefendic, who want a long vacation from New York City and rediscovered the Catskills during the pandemic.
“A lot of the rooms can function more like apartments, so when you’re working from home, you can come for the week and work a few days, then go down to the river afterwards,” he said, “We’re halfway there. .the point between somewhere completely cut off from the world and being in touch.”
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Image Source : nypost.com