10 Hotels Perfect for a Weekend Escape from New York City
New York City has everything you could ever need. Have dinner at a table that took you three months to book. Follow it with a Broadway show where someone famous is sitting two rows away, and top it off with a midnight bagel and lox. And as any true New Yorker knows, one second you’re knee-deep in Central Park’s snow in the middle of February; the next you’re running the West Side Highway in excruciating August heat and humidity. At times like that, you might wonder why you live here. You know you wouldn’t trade it for the world, but part of living here is accepting that every once in a while you have to get out of the city and breathe some fresh air.
Then the problem is physically getting out. The cabs to flights, or the subway to a train out of the city are a battleground on Friday afternoons. Traffic won’t be much better, but at least there is something special about getting in a car and driving out of the city—your music, your air-conditioning preference, and only the people you want to be there with you.
The good news is that once you’re out of the five boroughs, you don’t have to go far, and you don’t have to settle for second-rate. One of the greatest things about choosing to live here is that the city is surrounded, east and west, by beautiful landscapes, and the past few years have seen an abundance of new properties popping up, along with plenty of world-class renovations. Whether you’re choosing the Catskills or something out east like Southampton or Shelter Island, map out your summer stay with these ten new hotels that are within a few hours’ drive away from it all.
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Kurt Vonnegut wrote a poem for The New Yorker in 2005 called “Joe Heller,” who was the author of Catch-22. The poem is about something Heller said to Vonnegut while they were partying at a billionaire’s house on Shelter Island.
“I said, ‘Joe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday may have made more money than your novel Catch-22 has earned in its entire history?’
“And Joe said, ‘I’ve got something he can never have.’
“And I said, ‘What on earth could that be, Joe?’
“And Joe said, ‘The knowledge that I’ve got enough.’ ”
If you haven’t been to Shelter Island, it’s about four or five miles from end to end, tucked between the North and South forks of Long Island. That’s a few hours from New York City and just a few minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. Importantly, there’s no bridge to Shelter Island. To get there, you take a ferry from either Sag Harbor or Greenport, both of which are packed with vacationers from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The ride lasts only five minutes, but when you step off, you’re a world away from the Hamptons. One of the oldest hotels on the island is the Pridwin. In 2022, it completed a two-year renovation. If two great American directors, Wes Anderson and Frank Capra, collaborated on a hotel, it would be the Pridwin. The vintage sailboats, green window casements, and pastel nostalgia are all Anderson. Capra gives you the idea that summer is when Americans slow down long enough to appreciate what they’ve got.
There are 33 rooms and 16 private cottages at the Pridwin. My wife and I stayed in one of those cottages, which overlooked Crescent Bay. We had drinks at the Crescent Bar—a margarita for her, a martini for me—and dinner on the Terrace, consisting of jumbo shrimp, focaccia, and the local fluke for two. We took about 250 selfies against the golden sunset. It was about as close to perfect as a summer evening gets. If someone had asked me whether I’d rather be a billionaire or there on the Terrace at the Pridwin, cottage keys in my pocket, sharing a drink and a meal with my wife on this perfect summer night, I’d have happily taken the Pridwin. I’ve got enough. Rooms from $629. —Michael Sebastian
Heading up into the woods of Vermont is how you truly get away from it all—the most “away from it all” on this list, at least. Twin Farms, spread across 300 acres, began as a nine-room hotel in 1993. It has since expanded to include family cottages, which are ideal for extended city escapes. Its newest addition takes things to new heights with luxury tree houses.
These aren’t your childhood tree-house daydreams either: The rooms are even better than you could have ever imagined. Not only are they more luxurious than standard hotel suites, but they are roomier than my first one-bedroom apartment. The all-marble bathrooms feature heated floors and a soaking tub in front of a massive window framing the forest. But if you really want to soak it up, visit the Japanese-style onsen on the property.
At the restaurant, you’ll find locally made butter and cheese, even honey and maple syrup from Twin Farms’ own property. Back in your room, perched on tall stilts at eye level with the surrounding trees, the huge, rounded balcony is where you’ll really want to spend most of your time. Order breakfast to your room and it arrives in a charming picnic basket. A picnic in the woods? No one will know you’re bathing in luxury too. Rooms from $2,800. —Krista Jones
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Did I expect my favorite hotel stay of the year to be in I Don’t Know Where, New Jersey? (Peapack, formally.) Absolutely not. Am I still thinking about it? All the time. Perched on top of a towering hill, the hotel grounds boast a gorgeous wellness spa, a cozy restaurant, and a lobby that looks like it belongs somewhere in the Biltmore. And if you think you’ve seen a nice pool, this one will seriously make you rethink that.
The kicker: Pendry Natirar is fueled by the sprawling farm on the property, which you can tour and where you can say hi to the chickens and pick up goodies. (I’m still using the honey they gave me.) It all makes for an intimate, Hudson-esque adventure but without the hike upstate. Yes, you get all this and you’re just one hour outside the city. Rooms from $675. —Brady Langmann
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect escape from the madness of Manhattan than Wildflower Farms. It’s luxe—lavish, actually—with 65 freestanding cabins, cottages, and suites dotting the property. Each has floor-to-ceiling windows and a patio that looks out at a sea of trees and, in some cases, the nearby Shawangunk Ridge. (Some also have outdoor showers.) Inside are comforting quilts splayed across big ol’ beds and welcoming chairs. And there’s a whole lot or a little you can do on the property, depending on your mood.
There are plenty of ways to embrace farm life, with cooking, baking, and cocktail classes using produce from the grounds, plus muddier fare, like the daily farm sessions, which get visitors out into the rows of plants and the greenhouses. Or head out and feed the animals if you’d like. In the winter you can go ice climbing, and hiking is encouraged year-round.
Of course, you can also do nothing. Lounge behind your cabin, or stroll over to the stunning main patio and ... sit. It’s wonderful! You’ll get no judgment from us. Either way, the hotel’s main building has a spa, which, no matter your speed, is a must-visit, and same goes for Clay, the New American restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Come hungry. Rooms from $1,000. —Madison Vain
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Staying at Seven Beach Lane in welcoming Westhampton Beach feels like visiting a friend’s coastal mansion—the one that’s been in his family since the Gilded Age. The historic 16-room inn blends luxurious updates (a heated saltwater pool, marble showers, Malin + Goetz amenities) with relaxed charm. Start your morning with fresh breakfast and house-made hot sauce, then bike to the beach on one of the hotel’s custom cruisers. Evenings bring cocktails in the moody bar, while your locally sourced dinner is best enjoyed al fresco in the garden so you don’t miss those legendary out-east sunsets. This is the Hamptons without the hassle. Rooms from $749. —Abigail Covington
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Tucked away in the lower-left corner of Massachusetts, Prospect Berkshires is hardly the first property to deliver a luxury camping experience (aka glamping, a cursed term). But it’s the rare one that actually delivers on the price of admission. Perched on the side of a gorgeous, sprawling lake—you can rent a kayak or go cold-plunging in the morning if you dare—Prospect Berkshires pairs cozy cabins with a tennis court, a pool, and private waterfront saunas. The s’more on top? Its on-site restaurant, the Cliff House, whips up a delicious countrified menu. Rooms from $350. —B.L.
There is really no need to venture into the outside world once you’re in the Henson’s cocoon. Grab a cocktail and your book, kick your shoes off, and park yourself on the couch, just like you would in your own living room. Feed the fire, listen to its crackle, and play board games all day. Breakfast is a dream—homemade Pop-Tarts, local butter, farm-fresh soft-boiled eggs in delicate cups—and you will want to eat dinner at Matilda, the restaurant on site, as many nights in a row as you stay. Rooms from $279. —Lauren Kranc
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When the Six Bells opened its doors in 2025, it didn’t take long to find an audience and social following. Located in Rosendale, New York, roughly two hours from the city, the charming inn was redesigned and feels like a dollhouse with a big push behind its own in-house products and merch. The bones of the original building, which was formerly the 1850 House Inn & Tavern, are still very much there—creaky floors, charmed wood, and rooms that somehow feel like they were decorated decades ago—all while being right on trend. Each room has its own theme and set of quirks that feel cute and quaint. Breakfast in the communal area is coffee, berries, and whatever they have that day. It feels much more like a rustic inn and tavern than more modern surrounding properties, which just might be exactly what you’re looking for if you really want to unplug and do some vintage shopping in town. Rooms from $400. —K.J.
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With its triangular cedar bungalows, Eastwind Oliverea Valley creates a beautiful image at night: Fires blaze, the windows emit a golden light, folks get ready for nightcaps in the buzzing restaurant that doubles as the hotel’s bar and lobby. There are lodge-style rooms if you want a bit more of a rustic hotel experience, but the cabin suites are more private and have nooks that serve as perfect little offices, a terrace, a shower with a skylight, and a lofted bed that makes you feel as though you’re sleeping in a tent. It will have you wondering: Is this the Catskills or Scandinavia? Rooms from $329. —Kevin Sintumuang
The name is apt: a little collection of spiffed-up cabins, anchored by a revived motor lodge with snug, smartly designed rooms. It’s like summer camp for grown-ups. Camptown is refined but feels rustic and honest too: There’s a new pool with a bar, and you can get artisanal meats and sausages from the pantry for the grills placed throughout the property. It’s a place where you’ll want to sit out on your porch or gather around the fire pit—every location seems to have areas where you can just lounge and listen to the birds or to the water from last night’s rain dripping from the trees. It also happens to be home to Casa Susanna, where chef Efrén Hernández, Esquire’s 2023 Rising Star of the Year, cooks some of the best Mexican cuisine in America. To begin the day with scrambled eggs on red corn tortillas with salsa macha and end it with a low-intervention Mexican wine and duck-leg confit with mole negro isn’t really roughing it, but who’s keeping score? Rooms from $199. —K.S.
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